College basketball rankings: Tennessee, No. 9 in Top 25 And 1, set to make 2020-21 season debut
The Vols will open their 2020-21 campaign on Tuesday night when they take on Colorado in nonconference action
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
Multiple teams have already played six games. Tennessee is among those that have played none. So, at this moment, Rick Barnes' Vols are the only ranked team in college basketball with a 0-0 record.
But that should change Tuesday.
Barring a last-minute postponement or cancellation -- and only a fool would rule that out as a possibility given the way things are going -- the Vols will open in a few hours against Colorado inside Thompson-Boling Arena. It'll come on the 14th day of this pandemic-dominated season in which multiple positive COVID-19 tests connected to Tennessee's program have already resulted in the cancellation of matchups with Charlotte, VCU, Gonzaga, Notre Dame and UT Martin.
So, is UT ready?
"We had a chance to go up and down the floor three times in two weeks leading into [this game]," said Barnes, who made it clear on Monday that his players are excited to play but not necessarily ready to play.
Such is the case for many.
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Roughly 30 percent of all games scheduled for this past weekend were either postponed or canceled because of issues with COVID-19, and more than 30 programs are currently shut down -- top-ranked Gonzaga among them. As I wrote on Saturday, this is just how the season is going to go. Get used to it. But, that said, it's still wild that the SEC favorite remains 0-0 two weeks into things. So while there are bigger games on Tuesday's schedule -- like Creighton at Kansas, North Carolina at Iowa, and Illinois at Duke -- I'm as interested in Colorado at Tennessee as I am in anything because it'll be the first opportunity to see how Barnes blends his five-star freshmen (Keon Johnson, Jaden Springer) with his established veterans (John Fulkerson, Yves Pons).
Tennessee is No. 9 in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Vols are listed as 5.5-point favorites over Colorado.
Tuesday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Corey Kispert finished with 19 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 87-82 victory over West Virginia. Andrew Nembhard added 19 points and six assists off the bench. | -- | 15-1 |
| 2 |  | Adam Flagler got 18 points off the bench in Wednesday's 82-69 victory over Illinois. Davion Mitchell added 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds. | -- | 10-3 |
| 3 |  | Luka Garza finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 99-58 victory over Western Illinois. The senior center is averaging 34.0 points and 9.7 rebounds through three games. | -- | 12-2 |
| 4 |  | Jalen Wilson finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday's 65-61 victory over North Dakota State. The Jayhawks' lone loss is a neutral-court loss to top-ranked Gonzaga. | -- | 10-4 |
| 5 |  | Joey Hauser made six 3-pointers and finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's 79-61 victory over Western Michigan. Aaron Henry added 12 points and five assists. | -- | 12-2 |
| 6 |  | Marcus Zegarowski finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in Friday's 93-58 victory over Kennesaw State. Ryan Kalkbrenner added 14 points and six rebounds off the bench. | -- | 9-5 |
| 7 |  | The Illini allowed Baylor to shoot 45.5% from the field in Wednesday's 82-69 loss in Indianapolis. Illinois gave up 51 points in the second half. | -- | 11-3 |
| 8 |  | Matthew Hurt made six 3-pointers and finished with 24 points and six rebounds in Friday's 76-54 victory over Bellarmine. Duke's lone loss is a single-digit loss to Michigan State. | -- | 13-1 |
| 9 | | The start of the Vols' season has been delayed because of COVID-19 issues. Tennessee is now scheduled to open Tuesday against Colorado. | -- | 10-4 |
| 10 |  | Keve Aluma finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday's 64-57 victory over VMI. The Hokies' 4-0 record features a win over Villanova. | -- | 12-3 |
| 11 |  | Jeremiah Robinson-Earl finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in Sunday's 68-64 victory at Texas. The Wildcats' lone loss is an overtime loss to Virginia Tech. | -- | 12-2 |
| 12 |  | Miles McBride finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in Sunday's 80-71 victory over Georgetown. The Mountaineers' lone loss is a single-digit loss to top-ranked Gonzaga. | -- | 9-5 |
| 13 |  | Jay Huff finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 71-64 OT victory over Kent State. Sam Hauser added 18 points and seven rebounds. | -- | 12-2 |
| 14 |  | Quentin Grimes finished with 23 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 77-67 victory over South Carolina. The Cougars are 4-0 with a neutral-court win over Texas Tech. | -- | 13-1 |
| 15 |  | Texas finished with 12 turnovers and just nine assists in Sunday's 68-64 loss to Villanova. The Longhorns' 4-1 record is highlighted by wins over North Carolina and Indiana. | -- | 9-5 |
| 16 |  | Kyler Edwards finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in Sunday's 81-40 victory over Grambling. Marcus Santos-Silva added eight points and six rebounds. | -- | 11-3 |
| 17 |  | Micah Potter gave up an offensive rebound and the winning bucket in the final second of Friday's 67-65 loss at Marquette. Brad Davison finished with zero field goals and five fouls. | -- | 9-5 |
| 18 |  | E.J. Liddell finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 77-44 victory over Morehead State. Kyle Young added 10 points and nine rebounds. | -- | 10-3 |
| 19 |  | The Tar Heels were just 1-of-9 from 3-point range in Wednesday's 69-67 loss to Texas. Caleb Love finished with four turnovers and zero assists. | -- | 13-2 |
| 20 |  | Jacob Gilyard finished with 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals in Monday's 77-72 victory over Wofford. The Spiders' 3-0 record features a double-digit win at Kentucky. | -- | 10-4 |
| 21 |  | Ron Harper Jr. finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in Sunday's 70-56 victory over Hofstra. Jacob Young added 17 points and three rebounds. | -- | 7-7 |
| 22 |  | Remy Martin finished with 22 points and five assists in Thursday's 70-62 victory at California. The Sun Devils' lone loss is a neutral-court loss to Villanova. | -- | 9-5 |
| 23 |  | M.J. Walker finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 86-58 victory over North Florida. Balsa Koprivica added 13 points and five rebounds. | -- | 7-8 |
| 24 |  | Dre Davis finished with 21 points and two assists in Tuesday's 75-54 victory over Western Kentucky. The Cardinals' 4-0 record also features a win over Seton Hall. | -- | 11-3 |
| 25 |  | Hunter Dickinson got 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench in Sunday's 80-58 victory over UCF. The Wolverines' four wins have come by an average of 16.3 points. | -- | 13-0 |
| 26 |  | Hasahn French finished with 15 points, six assists and four rebounds in Saturday's 107-54 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff. SLU's 3-0 record features a win over LSU. | -- | 13-1 |
