For the third straight year, Tennessee was picked to finish 13th by the media in the pre-season poll.
Preseason Poll
1. Kentucky
2.Florida
3. Texaxs A&M
4. Alabama
5. Missouri
6. Arkansas
7. Vanderbilt
8. Georgia
9. Auburn.
10. Ole Miss
11. South Carolina
12. Mississippi State
13. Tennessee
14. LSU
The Vols played better than expected at times last year with big wins over Kentucky and Kansas State but failed to close out crucial games as well. They lost by five points or less in six games.
As far as this year’s pre-season results, the team has been here before and this time around, they aren’t phased.
“I don’t really have a reaction, I don’t really care," said head coach Rick Barnes. "I don’t even know why we have pre-season polls anyway, but it is what it is. That’s why we’re going to play this season and when it’s all over we’ll worry about that last poll.”
"Throughout all my life I've learned you can be underrated," said sophomore forward Grant Willilams. "But, it doesn't really effect you on the court. In high school, I was probably one of the guys that nobody knew about and now I'm playing in the SEC, and you would have never thought of it. Media and everything, I just let them do what they do and I just focus on the court. "
"At least we didn't go to 14th that's how we can look at it," said junior forward Admiral Schofield. "At the end of the day all we can do is come out and take this opportunity this season to prove everyone wrong. But, it's not even really about that. It's about proving ourselves who we really are, and we know who we are as a team. We know we're talented, we know we can compete with anybody, but it's about finishing this year and taking care of details."