Tennessee Basketball handled its business in the first game with the No. 1 ranking next to its name, beating Miami 75-62 Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Now the undefeated and top-ranked Vols (9-0) go on the road looking to prove again they’re the best team in college basketball, facing Illinois (7-2) on Saturday (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, FOX) at State Farm Center in Champaign.
That’s the challenge each time out, according to Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark. Proving you’re the No. 1 team while every opponent looks for a statement win to knock the Vols off their perch.
Tennessee Basketball off its best start since 2000-01
“The chip on our shoulder is that every time we step on the floor,” Clark said before practice on Thursday, “you have to show everyone that’s watching, if we are the No. 1 team in the country, show them why we are. Right?
“And then amongst each other, as teammates, hold each other accountable to be the No. 1 team in the country on a daily basis.”
Tennessee is off to its best start in the Rick Barnes era and the program’s best start since the 2000-01 team also started 9-0. The 1999-2000 team started 10-0, which the Vols will try to match on Saturday.
It’s just the third time in program history that Tennessee has been ranked No. 1. The 2008 team spent one week there while the 2019 team held the spot for four weeks.
Those teams did so in February. This Tennessee team reached No. 1 on Monday, after four of the top five teams in last week’s rankings all lost on the road.
‘We all have the same approach … No. 1 is great, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t consistently prove it’
Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler said Tuesday night that his team would be “ducking no smoke” and “ducking no competition” while ranked No. 1. The Vols want to compete, regardless of the size of the target on their back.
“To be honest,” Clark said, “man, like, even talking about it when we go in and watch film here, the excitement that we have to play, it’s honestly infectious amongst the whole group. And everybody kind of carries on the same, I think we all have the same approach to where No. 1 is great, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t consistently prove it, right?”
Saturday is the next opportunity to do so. And the toughest test of the season to date.
“We talked about that before our last game,” Clark said. “Like, man, listen. Be excited. Be happy. Wear this pride that you’re the No. 1 team in the country.”