Livescore
Tennessee is good. Really good, sometimes. But the Vols are undeniably flawed relative to most other teams at the tip-top of the sport, and that was on full display again Wednesday night when they lost by double-digits to a Florida squad that entered with nine losses and zero victories over schools ranked in the top 45 of the NET.
Final score: Florida 67, Tennessee 54.
It was the third time this season UT has lost as at least a 5.5-point favorite.
The Vols’ first goofy loss was as a 16-point favorite in Nashville against a Colorado team that is now 4-8 in the Pac-12. Their second goofy loss was as a 11.5-point favorite at home against a Kentucky team that is otherwise 2-3 on the road with zero wins over schools ranked in the top 105 of the NET. Their third goofy loss came Wednesday night as a 5.5-point road favorite against a Florida team that entered with a 1-7 record in Quadrant-1 opportunities.
These are all facts. It’s why the Vols’ body of work has never lined up, and still doesn’t line up, with how much the predictive metrics love them (even if some UT fans seem too confused on the topic to recognize the difference between the two things).
The main issue is on offense.
Tennessee shot 25.4% from the field vs. Colorado, 14.3% from 3-point range vs. Kentucky and 27.9% from the field vs. Florida. Too often, the Vols struggle to score points, which creates situations where even their top-ranked defense isn’t enough to avoid head-scratching defeats. On that note, consider that Tennessee now has three losses to teams ranked outside of the top 30 of the NET.
That’s why UT is down to No. 10 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Three losses to sub-30 NET teams is a lot for a top-10 team at this point in the season — evidence being that No. 1 Purdue, No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 Texas have zero such losses; No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Houston, No. 7 Kansas State and No. 8 UCLA have just one such loss; No. 9 Virginia has just two. The only other school besides Tennessee in the top 10 of Thursday’s Top 25 And 1 with three losses to sub-30 NET teams is No. 6 Arizona. However, Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats have seven Q1 wins (compared to the Vols’ four Q1 wins) to help offset their problematic loss-column — among them a 75-70 victory over Tennessee.
Another thing worth noting is that Tennessee is the only school in the top 10 of the Top 25 And 1 that doesn’t at least rank in the top 35 of both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. The Vols’ are now 41st in adjusted offensive efficiency, which is eight spots lower than any other team in the top 10 of the Top 25 And 1.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
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