Tennessee and Kentucky appear to be on a collision course in the Southeastern Conference as both programs are now ranked in the top 5 nationally.

For the third week in a row, the Volunteers possess the top spot in the AP college basketball poll. Tennessee has gotten off to a 20-1 start to the season with a perfect 8-0 SEC mark. The Vols went on the road last week and beat both South Carolina and Texas A&M in convincing fashion to remain unbeaten in conference play.

Tennessee’s next game will be at home against Missouri on Tuesday.

Kentucky is right on UT’s heels in the SEC, as the 18-3 Wildcats have a 7-1 SEC record after winning at Vanderbilt and at Florida last week. The Wildcats will next host South Carolina on Tuesday.

LSU is the only other SEC team ranked in this week’s poll and the Tigers dropped two spots after falling to Arkansas by one point over the weekend. The Tigers travel to Mississippi State on Wednesday.

The AP ranks the following SEC teams in its new poll, which debuted Monday:

#1 Tennessee

#5 Kentucky (up two spots)

#21 LSU (down two spots)

Mississippi State falls out of the top 25

Others receiving votes: Washington 135, Mississippi State 133, Auburn 128, Kansas St 114, Baylor 44, Wofford 15, Lipscomb 5, Syracuse 3.