They had to escape a couple of trap games last week with a brutal road coming up, but in the process, the Tennessee Lady Vols continued climbing up rankings and projections this week. Kellie Harper’s team is doing so just in time too.
After holding off the Ole Miss Rebels and putting away the Florida Gators, UT moved up two spots to No. 18 in the AP Poll. They moved up three spots in the Coaches Poll, to No. 19. At 12-3 and 6-1, this is the highest they have been ranked in either poll all year.
There are currently three teams that have lost to the Tennessee Lady Vols and have more losses than them overall somehow ranked ahead of them in both polls: the Indiana Hoosiers, Arkansas Razorbacks and Kentucky Wildcats. Indiana is No. 17 in both polls. Kentucky is No.15 in the AP Poll and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll. Arkansas is No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the Coaches Poll.
More importantly, though, are the NET Rankings, and Rocky Top is ahead of both Kentucky and Arkansas in that one, coming in at No. 14. The South Carolina Gamecocks are the only SEC team ahead of them in those rankings at No. 3.
It’s worth noting that UT is down at No. 27 in the RealTime Women’s RPI, but that’s largely due to the No. 38 ranked strength of schedule. Indiana is lower than them at No. 32, but Arkansas, Kentucky and the Alabama Crimson Tide, another team that lost to Harper’s team, are all ahead of them due to schedule strength.
So how is this impacting their bracketology projections? Charli Creme of ESPN has the Tennessee Lady Vols up to a No. 4 seed facing the No. 13 seed Milwaukee Panthers in the first round and in a first-weekend bracket with the No. 5 seed Missouri State Lady Bears and No. 12 seed Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens. The Louisville Cardinals would be a No. 1 seed in that region.
College Sports Madness, however, has this team as a No. 5 seed and facing the No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in the first round. They would be in a first-weekend bracket with Indiana, a No. 4 seed, and the No. 13 seed Troy Trojans. The Stanford Cardinal would be the No. 1 seed in that region.
While they fluctuate between a No. 5 and No. 4 seed right now, they are about to get a ton of tests. Up next is a three-game road stand at the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies and Kentucky in a rematch. All three teams are in the top 25 of both polls, the top 40 of the RPI and the NET Rankings and top six seeds in bracketology projections.
Simply put, the Tennessee Lady Vols are about to have their work cut out for them. These next three games will define where they truly stand as a program in Harper’s second season on the job, but they’ve been climbing the ladder in recent weeks.