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Women’s SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 9: Are Lady Vols No. 1?

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers fans get ready before a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers fans get ready before a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images /

How about those Missouri Tigers! These guys are 14-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference. Sure, one of their conference wins is an ugly one agains the Alabama Crimson Tide. And their conference loss to the LSU Tigers is at home.

But all of that is now irrelevant. They beat the South Carolina Gamecocks. At this point, Mizzou and South Carolina have the same number of losses. Their strength of schedule rankings according to the RPI are just two spots apart.

And Missouri beat South Carolina on Sunday. All of this means that at this point we have no choice but to put Missouri ahead of them in our SEC Power Rankings. After a long rebuilding process, you just can’t ignore what Robin Pingeton has done in Missouri.

It’s been a slow rebuild, starting with two losing seasons. Then it went to three Women’s NIT appearances. And two NCAA Tournament appearances followed that.

But this year, the Tigers are on track to have by far their best season under her. They are looking great, and there’s a chance it’s only going to get better. After all, this team is already No. 14 in the RPI.

And coming up, they face the Vanderbilt Commodores and Ole Miss Rebels on the road before hosting the Arkansas Razorbacks. So this team should be 17-4 and 5-1 very soon before the tougher stretch of their conference season begins. And that just shows how far this team has come as a program. South Carolina was a program-defining win.