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SEC wrecks Tennessee Lady Vols by adding Mississippi State to brutal stretch

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 4, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; SEC logo on the floor at Thompson-Boling Arena before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and LSU Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; SEC logo on the floor at Thompson-Boling Arena before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and LSU Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Rescheduling and make-up games already made for a brutal stretch for the Tennessee Lady Vols coming off their second missed week due to a COVID outbreak. On Thursday, before they are set to begin that stretch, the SEC made it worse.

Initially, thanks to UT’s twice postponed matchup with the Texas A&M Aggies being set for Sunday, Feb. 14, Kellie Harper’s team was set to begin a stretch of four straight games against top 25 teams, three of which were on the road and two of which were against top 10 teams. Well, the league decided to add another top 25 game in the mix.

Two days after playing Texas A&M, who is ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and No. 5 in the Coaches Poll, the SEC announced that the Tennessee Lady Vols will face the Mississippi State Bulldogs, ranked No. 24 in the Coaches Poll. They will then face the South Carolina Gamecocks, currently ranked No. 1.

So now, Rocky Top, which itself is ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 19 in the Coaches Poll, has to face three top 25 teams in five days, two of whom are top 10 teams and two of which are on the road. But it gets worse. Following South Carolina, UT has to visit the Georgia Bulldogs, ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll and No. 25 in the Coaches Poll, the next Sunday.

Before any of these games, though, the Tennessee Lady Vols have a rematch with the Kentucky Wildcats the Thursday prior to A&M, the same day this rescheduling was announced. Kentucky just happens to be ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Poll.

So at 12-3 and 6-1 in the SEC, UT is about to face five straight top 25 opponents in 11 days, four on the road and two in the top 10. How could anybody look at that and say it’s a fair slate? The SEC should have canceled that UT-MSU game for now and found a better make-up date.

Originally, this team was set to face MSU last Thursday and A&M last Sunday, but both games were postponed due to the COVID outbreak. That A&M game was already a rescheduled make-up game for the last COVID outbreak affecting the Lady Vols at the start of the SEC season, which also canceled their initial matchup with Kentucky.

The Vanderbilt Commodores shutting down the season allowed this team to make up its first game with Kentucky and with A&M a third time. They beat the Wildcats in dominating fashion, 70-53. That makes this stretch even harder. It’s clear UK will be out for revenge after that game.

For what it’s worth, they are about to face two coaches within a week who are former Lady Vols as well. UK head coach Kyra Elzy was a teammate of Harper’s back in the late 1990s when they won three straight national championships together. MSU head coach Nikki McCray played for the program in the early 1990s and left one year before Harper arrived.

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Anyway, it’s safe to say the Tennessee Lady Vols got a raw deal out of this. They already have the No. 30 ranked strength of schedule, according to the RealTimeRPI, which has them at No. 25, and are No. 13 in the NCAA NET Rankings, with South Carolina as the only SEC team ahead of them. All five of these teams are in the top 40 of both rankings, and four are in the top 25 of both.