Tennessee's surge in the polls continued Monday.

The Vols, off to an unbeaten start through the first month of the season, climbed four spots to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Top 25.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Tennessee (7-0) is the second highest ranked team from the SEC in the rankings this week, trailing only No. 2 Auburn. The Vols lead No. 4 Kentucky, No. 10 Alabama, No. 13 Florida, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 22 Texas A&M and No. 23 Ole Miss.

The Vols beat Virginia and Baylor in the Baha Mar Championship nearly two weeks ago before routing UT Martin by 43 points.

Tennessee will enter its most critical stretch of non-conference play this week, first against Syracuse (6-2) in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Food City Center on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

The Vols will play Miami in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City next week before going on the road to play the second of a home-and-home series against No. 19 Illinois.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee sits atop SEC-heavy NET rankings

Tennessee, which beat Syracuse in the Maui Invitational last season, is projected to beat the Orange, 83-62 according to KenPom.

The Vols are the second-ranked team nationally by KenPom and No. 1 in the latest college basketball NET rankings.

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.