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Tennessee Lady Vols Close Regular Season With Top 15 RPI Ranking

By Caleb Calhoun

Dec 4, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers head coach Holly Warlick speaks with her team during the second half against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena. Baylor won 88 to 66. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 4, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers head coach Holly Warlick speaks with her team during the second half against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena. Baylor won 88 to 66. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols closed out the year with an impressive spot in the women’s basketball Ratings Percentage Index. See where the Volunteers finished.

They finished 19-10 and 10-6 in the SEC with two road wins over the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the South Carolina Gamecocks. All of that was enough for the Tennessee Lady Vols to have a Top 15 ranking going into postseason play.

Holly Warlick’s group finished right at No. 15 in the RPI, helped tremendously by their No. 4 ranked strength of schedule.

They finished fourth among SEC teams, one spot behind the Kentucky Wildcats and with the Gamecocks and Bulldogs both in the Top 5.

Tennessee may have had 10 losses in a wildly inconsistent season, but they also went 3-2 against teams in the Top 5 of the RPI. In addition to South Carolina and Mississippi State, they also upset the No. 2 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish while losing to the No. 4 ranked Baylor Bears and losing to Mississippi State once.

They also beat the Stanford Cardinal to finish with a 4-2 record against Top 10 RPI teams. When you add their loss to the Texas Longhorns along with their victories over the Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia Bulldogs, they finished with a 6-3 record against teams in the Top 20 of the RPI.

Despite all of this, they did not manage to get a Top 4 seed in the SEC Tournament due to their record.

However, given their inconsistency on the year, this team could lose the first game on Thursday or make a run and win every game the rest of the way, in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.

You just never know with this group.

But given the way things went throughout the season, especially with the lack of depth and a brutal schedule, getting a Top 15 finish is something to be proud of.

It may not be up to the Tennessee Lady Vols’ standards, but they dealt with adversity in impressive fashion.

So they deserve credit for this ranking.