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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) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

Last week: Defeated the Florida Gators; Lost to Vanderbilt Commodores

Last rank: 12th

A Monday night embarrassment was devastating for the Kentucky Wildcats. This team had a chance to move into the Top 10 of our SEC Power Rankings with two conference wins. It would also have gotten them back above .500.

But instead, they suffered a blowout loss at the hands of the team with the worst overall record in the SEC, the Vanderbilt Commodores. It was terrible from the start, as Kentucky was never really threatening and lost the game 70-55.

Despite a Top 50 strength of schedule, this team’s losing record has it outside of the Top 100 of the RPI. Given the consistency he’s built in Lexington, Matthew Mitchell gets a mulligan. But it’s pretty clear that their eight-year streak of going to the NCAA Tournament is about to come to an end.

Fortunately for this team, there is a chance to get back on track. The ‘Cats have six days off before hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks next Sunday, and there’s no telling how healthy Dawn Staley’s team will be at that point. If they can pull off the miracle, they then get to host the Alabama Crimson Tide, another winnable game. A home game against the Auburn Tigers is also still on the horizon.

However, it’s hard to see them turning things around significantly enough. In fact, it’s hard to see them winning any of those games we just mentioned except for Auburn. This is a bad Wildcats team. And that’s why they’re down here.