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Tennessee Lady Vols Move Up Two Spots in RPI After Beating LSU Tigers

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 1, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick (left) and guard Alexa Middleton , right, watches from the sidelines during the second half against Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 72-65. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK
Jan 1, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick (left) and guard Alexa Middleton , right, watches from the sidelines during the second half against Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 72-65. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols moved up two spots in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Ratings Percentage Index after beating LSU 77-58. The Volunteers are now No. 13.

They have seven losses on the year, but the Tennessee Lady Vols continue to climb that RPI ladder as they keep on racking up quality wins.

Now on a red-hot four-game winning streak, Holly Warlick’s team scored two huge victories over the South Carolina Gamecocks and LSU Tigers this week alone.

Both teams were in the Top 25 of the RPI. South Carolina was in the Top 5.

So the wins have moved the schedule strength of the Tennessee Lady Vols up from No. 3 to No. 2. And now, they are slowly moving up the rankings in the RPI themselves.

At 15-7 and 6-3 in the SEC, Tennessee came in at No. 13 in the RPI after its win over LSU. With the No. 2 strength of schedule, it’s about wins now more than schedule strength.

They currently have the third highest RPI ranking of all SEC teams, behind South Carolina at No. 3 and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at No. 4. But the win moved them slightly ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats, who dropped one spot to No. 15, where Tennessee was before beating LSU.

So the Vols, who have a 3-2 record against Top 10 RPI teams, five wins against Top 30 RPI teams, and six wins against Top 50 RPI teams, should be thrilled about their easy schedule coming up.

Three of their next five teams are outside of the Top 100 of the RPI. They still have two more difficult games, against the Missouri Tigers and Auburn Tigers.

But both of those games are at home.

With the quality wins in place, taking advantage of an easier schedule boost their win totals without dropping their extremely difficult schedule ranking, only improving their standing in the RPI.

They are in perfect position to win their next six games, making for a 10-game winning streak, before facing Mississippi State on the road in their final regular season game.

And if they can do that, they’ll be in the Top 5 of the RPI and vying for a No. 1 seed by that point.