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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: Lost to the Missouri Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats

Last rank: 14th

We were all ready to debate about whether or not the Vanderbilt Commodores or Florida Gators should be last place in our SEC Power Rankings. But then Vandy scored a huge home win over the Kentucky Wildcats Monday night.

Now, rather than debate whether or not they belong in last place, we’re debating if Vanderbilt is too low. Sure, they have the worst overall record of any team in the SEC by a long shot. But at the same time, their strength of schedule is ranked No. 11 in the country.

And Kentucky was the first SEC team they played this season not ranked in the Top 50 in the RPI. So they’ve had a brutal conference stretch.

Still, Stephanie White can’t be happy with her team’s progression this year. She likely hoped to take another step her second year on the job, and they’ve taken a major step backwards. You just can’t argue with being nearly 10 games under .500, regardless of your schedule.

They’ve lost to four teams outside of the Top 100 of the RPI. So the bad losses have as much to do with this record as that schedule. But hey, maybe a big win over UK is just what they need to turn things around.

Unfortunately for them, their next three games are at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies with a road trip to the Alabama Crimson Tide in between. So it doesn’t get any easier. And really, the only team they had a case to be ahead of in our SEC Power Rankings is the next one. We go to them next.