1978–79 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

1978–79 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEast
Record21–12 (12–6 SEC)
Head coach
Home arenaStokely Athletic Center
1978–79 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 LSU 14 4   .778 23 6   .793
Tennessee 12 6   .667 21 12   .636
Vanderbilt 11 7   .611 18 9   .667
Alabama 11 7   .611 22 11   .667
Mississippi State 11 7   .611 19 9   .679
Kentucky 10 8   .556 19 12   .613
Georgia 7 11   .389 14 14   .500
Ole Miss 6 12   .333 11 16   .407
Auburn 5 13   .278 13 16   .448
Florida 3 15   .167 8 19   .296
1979 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 1978–79 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1978–79 college basketball season. Led by first-year head coach Don DeVoe, the team played their home games at the Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers finished with a record of 21–12 (12–6 SEC, 2nd) and, after winning the SEC tournament, received an automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA tournament as the 8 seed in the Mideast region. After an opening round win over Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee was defeated by No. 1 seed Notre Dame.

This was the first of five straight seasons of NCAA Tournament basketball for the Tennessee men's program.