The Volunteers were led by fourth-year head coach Rick Barnes.

[1] The team played its home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

In the SEC Tournament, they defeated Mississippi State and Kentucky to make it to the championship.

The Vols finished the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 26–9, 13–5 in SEC play to earn a share of the SEC regular season championship.

2 seed in the SEC tournament, they defeated Mississippi State and Arkansas before losing to Kentucky in the championship game.