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 9.

Football: Things are never dull on Rocky Top and last week was no exception. Everyone expected a slow week of football news as the staff was dedicating most of their time preparing for spring practice, but news broke early Monday that Jay Graham was leaving his alma mater to take a similar position at Florida State. Jones quickly turned his attention to replacing Graham, and interviewed several highly regarded coaches throughout the week. In the end, Jones got his man in Robert Gillespie, who Vol fans may remember from his time carrying the ball for the Florida Gators. In Gillespie, the Vols are getting a coach who is familiar with the SEC as both a player and a coach. He has a track record of coaching successful running backs, and is known as one of the best recruiters in the nation. We took a more extensive look at Gillespie here.

Jones will hold a press conference Friday to open spring practice, and the Vols will hit the field Saturday for their first official practice of the Butch Jones era. There are numerous position battles to watch, with none more anticipated than the one between quarterbacks Justin Worley and Nathan Peterman. Worley certainly has the edge in experience, but Peterman is the better natural fit for the offense this staff wants to run. We’ll take a closer look at the quarterback battle Tuesday, and will release daily articles breaking down position battles throughout the week.

On the recruiting trail, the Vols continue to make up ground. Tennessee has offered over 150 players in the 2014 class, and will likely secure several commitments throughout the spring as prospects continue to take visits to campus. We’ve looked at the recruitment of over a dozen top prospects on our “2014 Vol Targets” page, and will continue to add to it this week.

Basketball: The Vols went 1-1 this week, and despite a loss at Georgia, remain in position to earn an NCAA Tournament birth if they can win a few more games. Tennessee upset Florida Tuesday night in a nationally televised game, before losing at Georgia Saturday. Interestingly, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, a bracket expert, didn’t have the Vols in the field of 68 before the loss in Athens, but moved them into the field Saturday evening. That’s right. Even with a loss, Tennessee improved their tournament footing because several other bubble teams also lost. Ole Miss suffered an inexplicable defeat at Mississippi State. Kentucky fell at Arkansas. Alabama lost at Florida. The Vols are ranked 56th in the RPI, and play at Auburn (RPI 227th) Wednesday at 9 p.m. (TV: CSS). Tennessee closes out the regular season at home against Missouri (RPI 33rd), Saturday at 4 p.m. (TV: ESPN or ESPN2).

Jordan McRae has been carrying the Vols the last few games. He scored a career-high 35 points Saturday on just 15 attempts, and had a game-high 27 in UT’s win over Florida. He is averaging 29.8 points in his last four games. After playing very well in the six games since his return from a hamstring injury, Trae Golden disappeared against Georgia. He scored just four points on 1-10 shooting, and was scoreless until the game was already decided. Tennessee needs to get him going again, but Auburn is a team they should handle, even if Golden turns in another abysmal effort. Missouri will make the field of 68 barring a collapse, but has just two road wins this year—at Mississippi State and at South Carolina. Look for the Vols to go 2-0 this week and head to Nashville in position to play their way into the NCAA Tournament.

Lady Vols: Like their male counterparts, the Lady Vols went 1-1 last week, but the similarities end there. Tennessee clinched the SEC regular season crown Thursday with a win over Texas A&M before falling at Kentucky Sunday. The Lady Vols entered the season without Pat Summitt at the helm, and had to replace five starters from last season. Picked to finish no better than fourth in the SEC, to say they’ve exceeded expectations is a colossal understatement. Holly Warlick’s team saw multiple players miss games due to injury, but overcame that to go 14-2 in conference play in her first season as a head coach. The Lady Vols head to Atlanta looking to win the SEC Tournament and improve their postseason seeding.

Isabelle Harrison, who injured her right knee Thursday, had an MRI Friday but the results of that test are not known. She didn’t play Sunday at Kentucky, and the Lady Vols need her length inside to make a run deep into March.