We’re under a month away from Lady Vols basketball returning to the hardwood for the 2025-26 season. In year two under Kim Caldwell, expectations are high after landing an elite recruiting class out of both high school and the transfer portal. With the season around the corner, ESPN has updated its rankings for teams across the country.
Charlie Creme of ESPN slots Tennessee as the No. 7 team in the country. This makes the Lady Vols the fifth-highest-ranked team in the SEC. The No. 1 spot goes to defending champion UConn, with South Carolina then UCLA rounding out the top three. Then it’s Texas, LSU and Oklahoma before Tennessee makes its appearance.
The remainder of the top 10 features NC State (who the Lady Vols open the season with), Duke and Maryland.
Creme also noted the most impactful transfer that each team will have. He picked former Texas A&M and UCLA forward Janiah Barker for Tennessee.
“Back in the SEC after a season in Los Angeles, Barker was once the chief building block in Joni Taylor’s remaking of the Texas A&M program,” Creme wrote. “She became an effective role player with the Bruins and now could be a key presence in the deep rotation in Knoxville.”
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Here is the Lady Vols’ full schedule for the 2025-26 season. All rankings are via ESPN’s preseason marks:
- Nov. 4: No. 8 NC State (Greensboro)
- Nov. 7: ETSU
- Nov. 9: at UT Martin
- Nov. 13: Belmont
- Nov. 20: at MTSU
- Nov. 23: Coppin State
- Nov. 30: at No. 3 UCLA
- Dec. 3: at Stanford
- Dec. 14: Winthrop
- Dec. 20: No. 16 Louisville (Brooklyn)
- Dec. 22: Southern Indiana
- Jan. 1: vs. Florida
- Jan. 4: at Auburn
- Jan. 8: at Mississippi State
- Jan. 11: vs. Arkansas
- Jan. 18: at Alabama
- Jan. 22: vs. Kentucky
- Jan. 26: at No. 12 Ole Miss
- Jan. 29: vs. Mississippi State
- Feb. 1: at No. 1 UConn
- Feb. 5: at Georgia
- Feb. 8: at No. 2 South Carolina
- Feb. 12: vs. Missouri
- Feb. 15: vs. No. 4 Texas
- Feb. 19: vs. Texas A&M
- Feb. 22: at No. 6 Oklahoma
- Feb. 26: at No. 5 LSU
- March 1: vs. No. 24 Vanderbilt
