1978–79 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

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, 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.

Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season

!colspan=9 style=| SEC tournament

!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament