Tennessee has been picked by SEC media to finish third and Vanderbilt 11 th in the SEC men’s basketball standings this season.

The Vols are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw the team go 30-8, reach an NCAA Regional Final and finish No. 5 in the final AP poll.

Vanderbilt was 20-13 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016-17 before losing in the first round to St. Mary’s.

A pair of UT players — freshman forward Nate Ament and senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie — were named to the preseason All-SEC second team.

The 6-10, 207-pound Ament, a five-star recruit, is the only freshman in the league who collected preseason All-SEC honors.

Gillespie, meanwhile, played his first two years at Belmont. He spent last season at Maryland, where he was named third

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