Tennessee passed its first test in SEC play. Now it faces a bigger one.

The Vols, ranked No. 1 for the fifth-straight week and the last remaining unbeaten team in Division I college basketball, will go on the road for the first time in the league against No. 8 Florida on Tuesday.

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Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC) will be going up against arguably its biggest challenge to date vs. a Gators (13-1, 0-1) team that is among the best in the league in both scoring and rebounding despite coming off of a 106-100 loss at Kentucky.

The backdrop of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, where the Vols haven’t won since 2019, presents its own set of difficulties that the short-handed Tennessee roster will have to face.

Already without forward J.P. Estrella for the season, the “questionable” status of forward Cade Phillips could potentially shorten the Vols’ bench.

The good news for the Vols is that they are coming off of a historically good performance on the boards. They out-rebounded Arkansas, 51-29 on the way to a convincing 76-52 win in their conference opener last Saturday.

Transfer forward Igor Milicic Jr. was the headliner with 18 rebounds—the most by any SEC player in a league game in more than 20 years and the most by a Tennessee player in a decade.

A similar showing, plus the kind of performance that guard Chaz Lanier had with a season-high 29 points, will be paramount in the Vols keeping pace with Florida’s offense and scoring a major road victory in January.

Here is everything you need to know about the match up.

Who: No. 1 Tennessee (14-0) at No. 8 Florida (13-1)

When: Tuesday, Jan. 7 | 7 p.m. ET

Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ESPN2 (Karl Ravech, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst)

Radio: Vol Network (Bob Kesling, play-by-play; Steve Hamer, analyst)

Series: 141st meeting all-time (Tennessee leads, 81-59)

KenPom: Tennessee 74, Florida 73

POINTS PER GAME

Florida 88.3

Tennessee 79.8

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Tennessee 48.1%

Florida 47.8%

THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE

Tennessee 35.7%

Florida 34.6%

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee basketball prepared for '15-round boxing match' with Florida

ASSISTS

Tennessee 16.9

Florida 16.1

REBOUNDS

Florida 45.1

Tennessee 39.8

BLOCKS

Florida 5.3

Tennessee 5.2

-- Tennessee has won 81 games over Florida in a series that dates back to 1927. It tied with Auburn for the fourth-most wins that the Vols have over an SEC opponent behind Vanderbilt (131), Georgia (99) and Mississippi State (90).

-- Tennessee holds a 5-4 edge in SEC road openers under Rick Barnes and are 4-2 in its last six conference road debuts. The Vols are 8-2 vs. Florida in the last 10 games of the series, but have lost their last two meetings in Gainesville.

-- Tennessee remained at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the fifth-straight week on Monday, marking the Vols' longest stay at No. 1 in program history. Tennessee is 14-2 all-time as the No. 1 team and 13-1 under Barnes.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee basketball remains atop AP Top 25 for fifth-straight week

-- Tennessee is off to its best start in more than 100 years. The Vols' win over Arkansas last Saturday pushed them to 14-0 for the second time after the 1922-23 team won 14-straight to begin its season.

-- Florida finished 24-12 last season and reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament in head coach Todd Golden's second season. The Gators were picked to finish sixth in the SEC preseason media poll.

-- Florida is led in scoring by preseason First Team All-SEC guard Walter Clayton Jr., who is averaging 18.3 points and 3.9 assists per game. Clayton is tied for fourth in scoring in the league, four spots behind Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier, who leads with 20.3 points per game.

Notes and numbers according to Tennessee and Florida game notes

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