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Tennessee Lady Vols getting no respect in rankings after 6-0 start

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 21, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper coaches during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper coaches during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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If a team began the preseason ranked in the top 15 of both polls and, six weeks in, scored two top 25 wins and three wins over Power Five teams en route to a 6-0 start, you would think that would be enough to move them into the top five right? Well, apparently that’s not the case for the Tennessee Lady Vols at this point.

Despite the best resume possible, Kellie Harper’s program is only up to No. 11 in the AP Poll. They are No. 10 in the Coaches Poll. They started the regular season No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the Coaches Poll.

That means everything the Tennessee Lady Vols have done to this point was only enough to move them up four spots in the AP Poll and two spots in the Coaches Poll, which is ridiculous. Their resume is clearly top five worthy.

UT just came back from Las Vegas on a trip in which it beat what was an undefeated Kansas Jayhawks team and then blew out the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. Before that, they beat the No. 12 ranked Texas Longhorn, a team that beat the No. 4 ranked Stanford Cardinal on the road, hasn’t lost anywhere else, is No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll.

Looking at that alone, how could the Lady Vols be down at No. 11 or No. 10 while Stanford, with a loss at home to a team UT beat, is up at No. 4? Actually, Stanford has two losses, and they aren’t the only ones. The Maryland Terrapins also have two losses and are ahead of UT in both polls.

Meanwhile, the Baylor Bears, Indiana Hoosiers, Louisville Cardinals all have a loss but are ranked ahead of Rocky Top. Baylor loss to two-loss Maryland, Indiana lost to two-loss Stanford, and Louisville lost to the Arizona Cardinals, a team undefeated but still below the Harper’s team in both polls right now.

None of this makes any sense. All five of those teams should be below UT. You can make a case for the UConn Huskies and N.C. State Wolfpack being ahead of them with a loss each, as they both lost to the No. 1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, but none of the other teams have a case. These last three games against Power Five teams aren’t the only part of this story either.

Also included in the Tennessee Lady Vols’ six wins are the South Florida Bulls, who are No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the Coaches Poll. That was before they beat Texas, and they remain USF’s only loss on the year.

Oh, two days before USF, they beat the UCF Knights on the road. We should note that UCF and USF shared the American Athletic Conference title last year, and UCF is also 5-1 and not getting the respect it deserves right now.

That means the Tennessee Lady Vols remain the only team to beat four of their six opponents. Four of their six wins were either on the road, against top 25 opponents or against Power Five opponents, and all of them were quality foes.

So, taking all this into account, how could they only be at No. 11 and No. 10? The answer is obvious. Voters still have a human element, and they can’t get past two things. One is the Rae Burrell injury, and the other is how they have played in these games.

Those two things are connected, though. It started in their opener against the Southern Illinois Salukis, their one non-quality opponent. They only won by 10, but as has been mentioned, that was less than two weeks after learning that returning starter Marta Suárez would be gone for the season, and it was without Jordan Horston. Oh, and Burrell went down in that game.

The gauntlet began the next Saturday at UCF, and UT has had to play every game since then without Burrell, adjusting to life without Suárez and while Horston slowly returns to 100 percent. Of course, they’re going to struggle when facing UCF on the road and USF and Texas at home!

However, voters clearly think Harper’s team is in over its head. They are emphasizing the Burrell injury and de-emphasizing the quality wins because of how Rocky Top played in those wins. It’s ridiculous and completely unfair.

Nobody would have ever predicted the Tennessee Lady Vols being overlooked, but here’s where they are. They’ll have to keep winning to prove all the experts on both sides wrong. More chances will come, including against teams like Stanford, in December.