Welcome to our weekly column, “The State of the Vols.” Here we’ll summarize and analyze the previous week’s action while looking forward to the coming week for Vol football, basketball, and Lady Vol basketball. Check back next Monday for volume 2.

Football: Tennessee’s recruiting class jumped 20 spots from 45th to 25th in the Rivals.com team rankings from January 1st to January 7th. The Vols have been stuck on 18 commits since 4-star wide receiver Ryan Jenkins switched his commitment from Clemson to Tennessee last week, and this class and has seen its rankings slip a few spots. Expect that to change as Tennessee will likely pick up a few commitments in the coming days.

Jones and his staff hosted 10 recruits this weekend: Woody Quinn (2-star JUCO tight end), Jonathan Walton (3-star linebacker), Riley Ferguson (3-star QB and Vol commit), Marquez North (4-star receiver), Christian Morris (3-star offensive tackle), Jason Carr (4-star defensive end and soft Vol commit), John Franklin (3-star dual-threat quarterback), Jermaine Grace (3-star linebacker), Johnathan Ford (4-star running back), and Chongo Kondolo (3-star JUCO offensive tackle).

We suspected Woody Quinn could be the first of this group to commit to the Vols. He left impressed with Jones and announced his commitment this afternoon. Quinn gives the Vols 19 commits in this class.

Jones also established a solid relationship with 4-star running back Johnathan Ford. Though Ford is committed to Vanderbilt, Jones has a good shot at convincing him to wear orange and white instead of black and gold.

It’s worth noting that 4-star receiver Marquez North, canceled a planned visit with Clemson to make an unofficial visit to Tennessee this weekend. North is visiting North Carolina next weekend, but it’s fair to say the Vols lead for his services at this point. Here’s a full breakdown of these 10 visitors including our take on where they stand with the Vols. 

Moving forward, Jones and his staff expect to host around 20 recruits the weekend of January 18th, with the group expected to be headlined by 5-star defensive end Carl Lawson. Rated as the No. 2 player in the nation by Rivals, Lawson is committed to Auburn but is still considering other options. Once the visit list is finalized, we’ll have a breakdown of where each recruit stands heading into this key weekend for the Vols. Look for that later in the week.

Tennessee’s class is currently ranked 30th by 247 Sports, 24th by Rivals, and 32nd by ESPN. As Tennessee closes on some of these recruits, expect these rankings to continue to climb. As soon as anyone commits, we’ll breakdown what role they may play for Jones’ first Tennessee team. Additionally, we’ll have a running article with analysis of each Vol commit coming in the middle of the week.

Vol Basketball: It’s safe to say the week did not go as planned for the Vols as Cuonzo and company went 0-2 losing at home to Ole Miss and on the road to Alabama. The Vols are 0-2 in SEC play and have yet to win a true road game this season (0-3). To make matters worse, Cuonzo’s squad is headed to Rupp Arena for a Tuesday night matchup with the Wildcats. Read our preview here.

After Tennessee’s visit to Rupp, they return home to play Mississippi State Saturday at 4 p.m. While the Vols haven’t won in Rupp since 2006, Tennessee simply must defeat Mississippi State at home Saturday if they hope to remain in the NCAA Tournament hunt. If the Vols split this week, they’ll be 1-3 in SEC play…the same record they started with last year. Tennessee recovered from that 1-3 start to go 10-6 in conference play and finish second in the SEC. A 10-6 record in SEC play this year would put the Vols at 18-10. With a couple of wins in the SEC Tournament the Vols would likely earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

For Cuonzo’s squad to go dancing, they need McRae to continue his sparkling play. The junior forward is averaging 24.3 points the last three games and is Tennessee’s leading scorer at 13.2 points per game. Martin also needs more production from injured point guard Trae Golden. Over the last 4 games, Golden has battled a shoulder injury and is just 7-35 from the field (20%).

Lady Vol Basketball: Holly Warlick’s squad continues to prove the doubters wrong. Tennessee wrapped up a 2-0 week Sunday with a 78-75 OT win at Florida. Thursday the 10th-ranked Lady Vols beat Missouri by a score of 84-39. The Lady Vols escaped Gainesville with a 78-75 OT victory Sunday.

Despite injuries to Cierra Burdick and Andraya Carter, the Lady Vols have posted an impressive 6-2 record against teams ranked in the top 25. Isabelle Harrison and Bashaara Graves are destroying opponents in the paint. The pair is averaging 25.1 combined points and 17.3 combined rebounds per game. This week, Warlick’s squad travels to Auburn (Thursday, 9 p.m. TV: CSS) before returning home to face Alabama (Sunday, 1 p.m. TV: CSS). Expect the Lady Vols to go 2-0 this week and push their record to 15-3.

Remember to visit and comment on our “Welcome to FootballTime.com” post to be entered to win TWO Kentucky-Tennessee basketball tickets. We’ll announce the winner Monday, January 21st.