For Kentucky, the game before The Game was a tough one on paper — a Tuesday night road contest against Rick Barnes' Tennessee Vols, who were ranked No. 1 in the country just a few weeks ago and listed as 10.

Tennessee basketball spent five weeks ranked No. 1 before falling in the polls in recent weeks following its first three losses.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced rankings for boys and girls basketball for the 2024-25 season on Monday, with the poll presented by CoachT.com.

SEC play has not been kind to the Tennessee Volunteers. On Tuesday night, the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats handed the No. 8 Vols their first loss at home this seaso

Duke had already won at Wake Forest to extend its winning streak to 13 games, and now Auburn was down four points to Tennessee in the final two minutes at home, at which point Saturday looked like it might deliver a development that would create change at the top of the Top 25 And 1.

CBS Sports college basketball writer Gary Parrish has made significant midweek changes to his Top 25 and 1 rankings.

Tennessee basketball lost its first game of the season at Florida, which dropped the Vols from the No. 1 spot after five weeks.

There was change at the top of this week's USA TODAY Sports Bracketology with Alabama rising to a No. 1 seed at the expense of SEC rival Tennessee.