KNOXVILLE—Welcome to our weekly column, “The State of the Vols.” Here we 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 8.

Football: In contrast to last week when over 20 prospects made well-publicized visits Rocky Top, this was a relatively quiet week for Jones and his staff, at least publicly, crazy week behind the scenes forJones and his staff as the news broke today that running backs coach Jay Graham was leaving Tennessee for a similar position at Florida State. The Vols will have to move quickly to find a replacement, as spring practice is rapidly approaching. Here’s our story on Graham plus information on two rumored replacements. Graham’s reasons for leaving may not be fully revealed, but he’ll likely have more responsibilities at Florida State and will have the chance to work with his friend and mentor Randy Sanders.

In other news, Butch Jones did make an appearance in Nashville with former Vol All-American Eric Berry at SportsFest, and continues to build goodwill across the state and with former players. Berry repeatedly praised Jones’ policy of welcoming former players with open arms, and it’s refreshing to see a Vol coach embrace players who gave their all for Tennessee.

The Vol staff continues to work behind the scenes evaluating recruits and preparing for spring practice, which starts in just 12 days. We have a series of spring practice primer articles set to begin running this week. We’ll also continue our 2014 recruiting spotlight series. Up next: Dillon Bates and Dominque Booth.

Basketball: The Vols continued their stellar play with two big wins, opening the week with an 82-72 win over LSU and closing with a 93-85 victory at Texas A&M that went a school-record four overtime periods. In the win over LSU, Jordan McRae scored a career-high 34 points while Trae Golden added 20 points and eight assists. In the paint, Jarnell Stokes grabbed yet another double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

On the road at A&M, Trae Golden led the Vols to victory with a career-high 32 points. Jarnell added a double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Jordan McRae recorded 23 points. Golden is averaging 20.8 points in the five games since he returned from a hamstring injury—all wins. The victory over the Aggies marked Tennessee’s first road win over a team with a winning record. A team many counted out just weeks ago now has serious NCAA Tournament aspirations. Golden stated after the win over the Aggies, “We came all the way to Texas. We’re not trying to go all the way back to Tennessee with no loss. We’ve got NCAA dreams.”

The Vols have won five consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the SEC, and are up to 56th in the RPI. Tennessee hosts No. 4 Florida Tuesday night at 9 p.m. in a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN. If UT can knock off the Gators, it would certainly go a long way toward making Golden’s “NCAA dreams” a reality. Cuonzo’s Vols have a legitimately good chance of running the table, especially with their history of beating Florida. The Vols swept the Gators last season, and that Florida team went on to play in the Elite Eight. Tennessee simply isn’t scared of the Gators. Look for them to upset Florida and move into the field of 68 in some projections.

After hosting Florida, UT hits the road to face Georgia, Saturday at 1:30, in a matchup that will be televised by the SEC Network. The Bulldogs upset the Vols in Knoxville earlier this month, but Golden didn’t play in that game due to a hamstring injury. Tennessee will get revenge against Georgia in Athens and move to 18-10.

We added a “2013 Vol Basketball Signees” page with information on each of Tennessee’s three signees. The Vols are also pursuing 2013 guard Darius Thompson, who decommitted from Vanderbilt this week. Most think he’s likely to end up at Tennessee, but UT has some competition from Virginia, Alabama, N.C. State, Texas A&M, and Auburn. Thompson is a 3-star combo guard who is averaging 15.5 points and 6.2 assists this season.

Lady Vols: It wasn’t always pretty, but Tennessee went 2-0 this week. Thanks to losses by Texas A&M and Kentucky, the Lady Vols own a two game lead in the race for the SEC title with just two games to play. Tennessee easily handled Auburn Thursday in an 83-61 win as Simmons led all scorers with 24 points. Sunday, UT overcame an 11-point second half deficit to pick up a road win over the Razorbacks. Simmons again led all scorers with 18 points.

This week, Tennessee hosts No. 13 Texas A&M, Thursday at 7 p.m. (TV: CSS), then travels to Rupp to close out the season, Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (TV: ESPNU). The Lady Vols only have to win one game to clinch the regular season crown, and should do so Thursday. Tennessee hasn’t played particularly well on the road, and their game at Kentucky is a toss-up.

Also of note, Isabelle Harrison returned to the court Sunday to play three minutes and grab two rebounds. She could see even more minutes this week as she continues to recover from knee surgery.