Welcome to our weekly column, the State of the Vols. Here we look at the pulse of UT football and basketball. Check back next Monday to keep abreast of what’s going on and what’s coming up with UT sports.

Football: The Vols are in a bit of a lull between National Signing Day and the start of spring practice, but that hasn’t kept Butch Jones and Co. from working hard on the recruiting trail. Fresh off signing the No. 5 class in the nation, the Vols are off to a great start with two future recruiting classes. Tennessee already has seven 2015 commitments—good for 5th nationally per 247Sports. The Vols have pledges from four 2015 Rivals Top 250 prospects, three ESPN Top 300 recruits, and four 247Sports Top 300 prospects.

The 2016 Vol recruiting class is also off to a hot start and has added two commitments since National Signing Day. Dorian Banks, a 5-9, 170 pound athlete from Sevierville, TN with 4.4 40-yard dash speed became the second 2016 Vol commit just one day after signing day. He could play a variety of positions depending on his development but certainly has the speed to play in the SEC. The Vols added their third 2016 pledge over the weekend in the form of 6-4, 260 pound defensive end Emmit Gooden.

Butch Jones continues to make good on his promise to keep in-state talent at home—four 2015 commits and all three 2016 commits are from Tennessee. The Vols hosted a big junior day over the weekend so don’t be surprised if they pick up a commitment in the coming days. Jones remains one of the nation’s hottest recruiters and that doesn’t look like it’ll be changing anytime soon.

On the field, Tennessee is going through offseason workouts and gearing up for spring practice. Junior defensive tackle Trevarris Saulsberry, redshirt freshman receiver Ryan Jenkins, and sophomore tight end A.J. Branisel are all coming off injuries and won’t partake in the contact portion of spring practice. Jenkins has been nursing knee problems since last August and has only participated in a handful of practices since stepping on campus. Jenkins, Branisel, and Saulsberry should be ready for fall camp barring any setbacks.

The tentative schedule for spring practice is listed below. Practices are NOT open to the public.

March 6 – Pre-Spring Practice Press Conference
March practice days: 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 27, 29, 30
April practice days: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10
April 2 – NFL Pro Day
April 3-5 – Spring Coaches Clinic
April 12 – Orange and White Game, 3 p.m., Neyland Stadium

Basketball: It was a rough week for Vol hoops. They entered the week needing to go 1-1 against Florida and Missouri and, despite flirting with victory late in each game, went winless. The Vols have lost three of their last four games. Sitting at 15-10 (6-6 in the SEC), Tennessee has six regular season games remaining—three on the road and three at home.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Tennessee is squarely on the bubble. The good news is its a really, REALLY weak bubble. Even after going 0-2 this week, USA Today has them as one of the last five teams in the tournament. ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi has the Vols and the Tigers as two of the last four teams in the tournament. Though the SEC is down this year, it’s worth noting that UT has played the ninth-toughest schedule in the nation. Half of their remaining games are against current RPI top-100 opponents (Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Missouri).

With an RPI of 52, the Vols have quite a bit of work to do to get off the bubble. Even if they go 6-0 or 5-1 down the stretch, they’ll likely need to win a game or two in the SEC Tournament to absolutely guarantee them a tourney bid and make Selection Sunday an enjoyable experience. If they go 4-2 or worse to close out the season, you can expect to be sweating when NCAA berths are announced (barring an SEC Tournament Championship, of course).

In order to go dancing, the Vols need more consistent scorers to emerge. Josh Richardson is shooting 42% from 3 this season—currently 9th in the SEC. He needs to take way more shots. If I’m Martin, I’d threaten to bench him if he didn’t start taking a handful of “bad” shots per game. Other than guys named Stokes and McRae, Richardson is the best scoring threat on the team. His shot attempts need to reflect that.

This week, the Vols host Georgia (RPI 89th) Tuesday at 9 pm (TV: ESPNU) and play at Texas A&M (RPI 218th) Saturday at 3 pm (TV: ESPNU). Tennessee’s margin for error is razor-thin at this point. They desperately need to go 2-0 this week, start building momentum, and avoid a costly loss.