# 2005–06 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

The 2005–06 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first-year head coach Bruce Pearl, the Volunteers played their home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee finished on top of the SEC East division standings, but were knocked out of the SEC Tournament in the quarterfinal round. After receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East region, Tennessee slid past Winthrop in the opening round before losing to No. 7 seed Wichita State in the second round. The team finished the season with a 22–8 record (12–4 SEC).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 18, 2005* | | East Tennessee State | W 106–83 | 1–0 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Nov 22, 2005* | | Louisiana-Lafayette | W 83–76 | 2–0 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Nov 25, 2005* | | Eastern Kentucky | W 92–58 | 3–0 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Nov 30, 2005* | | vs. Murray State | W 64–53 | 4–0 | Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, Tennessee |
| Dec 6, 2005* | | Appalachian State | W 89–81 | 5–0 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 17, 2005* | | at No. 6 Texas | W 95–78 | 6–0 | Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas |
| Dec 22, 2005* | No. 23 | vs. Oklahoma State | L 73–89 | 6–1 | Ford Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Dec 27, 2005* | | Alabama A&M | W 93–68 | 7–1 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 29, 2005* | | Lipscomb | W 69–58 | 8–1 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 4, 2006* | | South Alabama | W 87–69 | 9–1 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| SEC regular season ||||||
| Jan 8, 2006 | | at South Carolina | W 76–69 | 10–1 (1–0) | Colonial Life Arena Columbia, South Carolina |
| Jan 11, 2006 | | Georgia | W 89–76 | 11–1 (2–0) | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 14, 2006 | | at LSU | L 74–88 | 11–2 (2–1) | Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Jan 18, 2006* | | at No. 4 Memphis | L 79–88 | 11–3 | FedExForum Memphis, Tennessee |
| Jan 21, 2006 | | No. 2 Florida | W 80–76 | 12–3 (3–1) | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 25, 2006 | No. 19 | at Mississippi State | W 88–65 | 13–3 (4–1) | Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi |
| Jan 28, 2006 | No. 19 | South Carolina | W 81–65 | 14–3 (5–1) | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Mar 4, 2006 | No. 11 | at Vanderbilt | W 68–59 | 21–6 (12–4) | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| SEC tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 2006* | No. 14 | vs. South Carolina Quarterfinals | L 71–79 | 21–7 | Bridgestone Arena Nashville, Tennessee |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2006* | (2 E) No. 18 | vs. (15 E) Winthrop First Round | W 63–61 | 22–7 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 18, 2006* | (2 E) No. 18 | vs. (7 E) Wichita State Second Round | L 73–80 | 22–8 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||