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Tennessee Lady Vols bracektology: Hosting first weekend still the forecast despite losses

By Caleb Calhoun

Feb 20, 2022; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper disputes a call against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2022; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper disputes a call against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports /
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Two more road losses, including another bad loss to a lower-level SEC team, combined with the injury to Jordan Horston would seem to have bracketology experts skeptical about the Tennessee Lady Vols. However, maybe due to sympathy, these games didn’t hurt them.

UT lost last week to the Alabama Crimson Tide and South Carolina Gamecocks on the road, both by double digits. At 21-6 and 10-4 in the SEC, they fell four spots in the AP Poll to No. 16 and six spots in the Coaches Poll to No. 14.

In the analytical rankings, their drops were much more insignificant. They didn’t drop at all in the RealTime RPI, remaining at No. 4 thanks to their No. 5 ranked strength of schedule. Playing South Carolina wasn’t going to hurt them anywhere, and they only dropped one spot from last week to No. 17 in the NCAA NET rankings.

All of these rankings have the Tennessee Lady Vols ranging from a No. 1 seed to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament depending on who you choose to go by. Bracketology experts are higher on Kellie Harper’s team than one might think as a result, given the recent skid.

Charlie Creme of ESPN dropped them just one spot from last week to a No. 4 seed. In this bracket, UT is in the Raleigh region with the No. 1 seed N.C. State Wolfpack and would face an in-state program in the first round of the Big Dance, the Belmont Bruins.

Joining Rocky Top in the first-weekend bracket that it would host would be the No. 5 seed Iowa Hawkeyes and two No. 12 seeds facing off in play-in game. Those teams would be the DePaul Blue Demons and the Boston College Eagles.

College Sports Madness, meanwhile, has the Lady Vols still as a No. 2 seed, just like last week. In this one, they’d face Belmont in the first round as well and host a weekend-opening bracket with the No. 7 seed Kansas State Wildcats and No. 10 seed Creighton Bluejays. They’re in the Wichita region here with the No. 1 seed Louisville Cardinals.

Obviously, this isn’t as exciting for Harper’s program as it was four weeks ago, when they had reached a No. 1 seed across all projections, but they’ve been winless on the road since a season-ending injury to Keyen Green. Now with Horston banged up, they’ve got serious issues.

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Although the regular season SEC title is out of reach, the Tennessee Lady Vols are still a top four seed as of now, and they close out the year with two home games, where they haven’t lost a league game all season. Those will be against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and LSU Tigers.