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Women’s basketball Jan. 23 SEC Power Rankings: Lady Vols take significant dive

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Volunteers fans hold up a cardboard photo of women's basketball coach Pat Summitt during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Volunteers fans hold up a cardboard photo of women's basketball coach Pat Summitt during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images /

Last week: Lost to Texas A&M Aggies; Defeated Vanderbilt Commodores

Last rank: 7th

Just like the LSU Tigers, the Alabama Crimson Tide keep hitting pars. They lost this week to the Texas A&M Aggies as well but managed to beat the Vanderbilt Commodores. That keeps them above .500 in the SEC with a solid winning record at 14-6.

However, their RPI ranking is significantly worse than the LSU Tigers. That’s because their No. 77 ranked strength of schedule is holding them back, putting their RPI at No. 74. Still, that means they are a bubble team.

After all, we are keeping them ahead of LSU in our SEC Power Rankings because of their 65-51 win over the Tigers. And they haven’t had any questionable losses since November, which is a good sign for this team going forward.

Kristy Curry has done a great job rebuilding a program that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in 20 years and had just one winning season in the 11 years before she took over as head coach. Last year, she finally ended that streak of losing seasons, which was 13 in 14 years.

But now, in her fifth year, she desperately wants to get over the NIT hump, where she’s gone the past two years. Doing that would show she truly is rebuilding the Tide. They’re about to have a chance for three easy wins with the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn Tigers on the road and then Arkansas Razorbacks at home.

They need to win all three games and then score some quality wins to get there. Those chances will come down the stretch.