All for Tennessee
Fansided

Women’s SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 16: Did loss drop Lady Vols?

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers students celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers students celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 15
Next
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images /

Last week: Defeated the Auburn Tigers; Lost to the Tennessee Volunteers

Last rank: 5th

We still don’t know the status of A’ja Wilson. And her injury is enough for us to say that the South Carolina Gamecocks belong down here in our SEC Power Rankings. After all, these are based on how you’re playing at the time.

And at the moment, with Wilson hurt, the Gamecocks are a good team. But they aren’t the national championship-caliber team they were last year. That showed on Sunday.

South Carolina suffered a blowout loss at the hands of the Tennessee Lady Vols in Columbia. It didn’t look good from the start. Overall, I’d still put this team in the Top 10 in all major polls. And they’ll be fine in the long-term.

But Wilson being hurt is a killer. Even playing, you can’t guarantee she’s 100 percent. That’s why we have South Carolina down here.

Still, they’re a lock for the NCAA Tournament and likely a high seed with the No. 14 ranked RPI and the No. 23 ranked strength of schedule. They have five huge wins against Top 40 RPI teams.

And in the most fortunate of circumstances, they get an easy stretch on their schedule just as they try to get Wilson healthy. They’re on the road, but the Vanderbilt Commodores and Kentucky Wildcats are easy-win games. Then they get the Arkansas Razorbacks at home.

As a result, these guys shouldn’t need Wilson now for at least a full two weeks. And that puts them in great shape to move up these rankings.