A decade ago, Bruce Pearl of Auburn and Kelvin Sampson of Houston were looking to resurrect their careers after being handed show-cause penalties by the NCAA for recruiting violations.

Houston’s relentless defense confused and harassed Tennessee and carried the Cougars into their seventh Final Four and first since 2021, with L.

Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee outhustled and outplayed Kentucky on both ends of the court in a 78-65 victory that sent the Volunteers to a second consecutive Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Years of bracket chaos have given way to the year of the power conference.

Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points as fourth-ranked Florida won its fifth Southeastern Conference Tournament title and first since 2014 Sunday, beating the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers 86-77.

Zakai Zeigler scored 20 points as No. 8 Tennessee held off regular-season champion and third-ranked Auburn 70-65 to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 2022.

Kim Caldwell will be back on the sideline Monday night when her 17th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols host the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

Jason Edwards scored 18 points as Vanderbilt held off No. 6 Tennessee 76-75 for the Commodores’ second straight win.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes believes losing at Florida will be good for his team.

Tennessee picked up four more first-place votes and remains at No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week in the AP Top 25 college basketball poll.

Chaz Lanier scored 29 points to lead No. 1 Tennessee over No. 23 Arkansas 76-52 and tie for the best start to a season in program history.

Tennessee remained No. 1 for the second consecutive week, though Auburn has closed the gap at No. 2.

Tennessee is the new No. 1 in men's college basketball after a massive shakeup in the AP Top 25.

One week after Bill Self became the winningest coach at Kansas, the Hall of Famer joined John Calipari and Rick Barnes as the only active Division I head coaches with 800 wins.

UConn combo guard Stephon Castle, Tennessee's Dalton Knecht and a backcourt duo from Kentucky are the headliners on the list of top guards in the upcoming NBA draft.

Zach Edey of Purdue is The Associated Press Player of the Year in men's college basketbal.

Dalton Knecht had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Tennessee moved within a victory of its first trip to the Final Four, beating Creighton 82-75 in a Midwest Region semifinal.

Dalton Knecht scored 18 points and made four free throws in the final 8.8 seconds as Tennessee topped Texas 62-58 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18 points and ninth-seeded Mississippi State simply dominated fifth-ranked Tennessee 73-56 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

It’s been a rough few days for the headliners in the AP Top 25.

Purdue is back at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll after its run to the Maui Invitational title.

Fletcher Loyer scored 27 points, Zach Edey had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds and No. 2 Purdue escaped with a 71-67 win over No. 7 Tennessee in the Maui Invitational semifinals.

Florida Atlantic isn’t looking for a slipper to wear at the Sweet 16 dance in the East Region, they want the March Madness crown.

D’Andre Gholston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri a stunning 86-85 victory over No. 6 Tennessee.

Colin Castleton had 20 points and nine rebounds, Kyle Lofton added 14 points and Florida used a 13-0 run late in the second half to upend No. 2 Tennessee 67-54 on Wednesday night.

Antonio Reeves scored 18 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead Kentucky to a 63-56 victory over No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday.

Santiago Vescovi scored 20 points while No. 22 Tennessee locked down on third-ranked Kansas to beat the reigning national champions 64-50 in the championship game at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Gonzaga will head into the NCAA Tournament exactly where it ended up in the final AP Top 25 — right on top.

Santiago Vescovi scored 17 points and Josiah-Jordan James had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help ninth-ranked Tennessee beat Texas A&M 65-50 to claim its first men’s SEC basketball tournament title in 43 years.

Freshman guard Zakai Zeigler, whose family was left homeless by a fire in New York City last weekend, made two key free throws in the final seconds to help No. 13 Tennessee hold off No. 14 Arkansas 78-74.

Texas’ primary that put the 2022 midterm election season in full swing saw no significant issues at polling locations.

Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points and Zakai Zeigler had 11 of his 13 points in the second half to lead No. 17 Tennessee to a 67-62 victory over No. 3 Auburn.

Kevin Obanor had 17 points with five 3-pointers and 14th-ranked Texas Tech beat No. 23 Texas 77-64 in Chris Beard’s return.

Baylor remained No. 1 for the third straight week in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll, receiving all 61 first-place votes from a national media panel.

Sixth-ranked Arizona begins one of the toughest two-week runs in college basketball on Wednesday night, when the Wildcats head to Knoxville to face No. 19 Tennessee in one of this week’s marquee nonconference matchups.

The men’s basketball game between No. 18 Tennessee and Memphis was canceled about an hour before tipoff due to COVID-19 issues within the Tigers’ program.

Jermaine Samuels scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 5 Villanova eased to a 71-53 win over No. 17 Tennessee Saturday in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Connecticut.

The opening week of the college basketball season, as it usually is, was filled with marquee games.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)INDIANAPOLIS – Oregon State opened the season picked to finish 12th in its conference but instead won its first Pac-12 Tournament title. Roman Silva scored 16 points and Oregon State took advantage of Tennessee's icy perimeter shooting to become the latest No. 12 seed to win its opening NCAA Tournament game, beating the fifth-seeded Vols 70-56 in the Midwest Region Friday night. “We know there was some doubt and we had to ignore all that,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. Oregon State was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 and exceeded expectations by finishing sixth in the regular season.

(AP Photo/Chase Stevens)INDIANAPOLIS – There has never been a better time to have senior leadership in the NCAA Tournament than this season. AdVirginia intends to play after withdrawing from the ACC Tournament because of COVID-19 protocols, which means fans will get to say Sam Hauser running the show. Dru Smith is their leading scorer and Jeremiah Tilmon finally reached his potential this season, and both aim to help Missouri snap a four-game NCAA Tournament skid. Herb Jones is an All-American candidate and Jaden Shackelford is Alabama's leading scorer, but John Petty Jr. makes the SEC Tournament champs go. Then there's Tennessee forward John Fulkerson, who sustained facial fractures in an SEC Tournament win over Florida and underwent surgery Sunday.

18 Tennessee never trailed Saturday in beating 15th-ranked Kansas 80-61 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. This was just Tennessee's second win all-time against Kansas in six games. David McCormack led the Jayhawks with 17 points, Marcus Garrett added 15 and Jalen Wilson had 10. Kansas shot only 7 of 26 through the first 20 minutes and kept from being blown out by hitting 11 of 12 at the free throw line. Tennessee: The Vols have proven they can play stingy defense, and they dominated on the boards 38-23, scoring 14 second-chance points.

The Crimson Tide (7-3, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) turned a one-point halftime lead into a double-digit advantage midway through the second behind Petty’s trio of 3s and two more long-range makes by Joshua Primo. Primo and Herbert Jones finished with 11 points, and Jahvon Quinerly scored 10. Tennessee (7-1, 1-1) struggled from the field the entire game, hitting 21 of 66 shots (32%). Alabama's 31-29 lead at the break happened with the Crimson Tide shooting 39% (12 of 31), while Tennessee struggled shooting 33% (11 of 33). UP NEXTAlabama: The Crimson Tide will be home Tuesday to face Florida, which beat LSU on Saturday.

A fight between players spills into the crowd during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game between Kansas and Kansas State in Lawrence, Kan., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Kansas defeated Kansas State 81-59. Kansas State shot technical free throws to booing from a few thousand fans, and the one make necessitated a change to the final box score. And while Self said he didn't agree with the steal and layup attempt, he did acknowledge that Kansas State was merely playing to the final whistle. Asked what his message was in the locker room after the game, Self replied: “There was no discussion on what happened from their vantage point.