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Tennessee Lady Vols bracketology: Falling out of NCAA Tournament a real danger

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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Missing the NCAA Tournament is now a real danger for the Tennessee Lady Vols. Here are bracketology projections for the women’s basketball Volunteers.

Although the Tennessee Lady Vols got back in the win column by beating the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday, the damage was already done. That five-game losing streak, all against teams either in the top 25 of the RPI or the top 25 of the AP Poll, and in some cases both, has Kellie Harper’s team squarely on the bubble.

UT will now head into the SEC Tournament with only one quality win, which was at home against the LSU Tigers, regardless of what it does the final two games. At 18-9 and 8-6 in the SEC, they are No. 55 in the RealTime RPI with the the No. 73 ranked Strength of Schedule.

Had they managed to beat the Texas A&M Aggies at home, the one game they should have stolen, we’d be telling a different story. But the Tennessee Lady Vols are now faced with having to run the table, and then they have to hope if you look at the bracketology projections for them.

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Fellow FanSided site High Post Hoops rightly decided to punish them for that skid and the lack of quality wins. They have Rocky Top as one of the First Four Out teams, joining the Butler Bulldogs, St. John’s Red Storm and Nebraska Cornhusker.

Their Last Four in are the James Madison Dukes, West Virginia Mountaineers, UCF Knights and Iowa State Cyclones. However, creeping up behind the Lady Vols are the Next Four Out, and that includes the Northern Iowa Panthers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma State Cowgirls.

Women’s College Sports Madness has the most love for this team, as they remain a No. 9 seed. In these projections, they would face the No. 8 seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in a first-round bracket hosted by the No. 1 seed Oregon Ducks.

Finally, Charli Creme of ESPN has this team as a No. 11 seed in the Dallas Region, where the Baylor Bears would be the No. 1 seed. UT would play the first game against the No. 6 seed Princeton Tigers in a first-weekend bracket hosted by the No. 3 seed Iowa Hawkeyes. Crazy enough, Creme doesn’t even have them as a Last Four In yet.

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However, the message is still clear. The Tennessee Lady Vols are squarely on the bubble, and with their final two games at home against the Ole Miss Rebels and at the Auburn Tigers, both of whom are outside of the top 100 of the RPI, they will remain their until postseason play with their strength of schedule projected to finish at No. 87. That means they clearly have work to do.