After over a week off from playing in a game, Lady Vols basketball was back in action on Sunday night. The result was a 112-40 win over Winthrop to add a strong result to Tennessee’s resume prior to SEC play.
On Tuesday, ESPN released its updated bracketology, projecting the field for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Lady Vols still clock in as a 4-seed in the projection, meaning they would host the first two rounds of the tournament.
Tennessee opens the projected bracket with a home game against 13-seed Green Bay. That’s the same opponent UT defeated under Kellie Harper in the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Raleigh during the Round of 64. The winner in this projection would face the winner between 5-seed Notre Dame and 12-seed Troy.
If Kim Caldwell can steer the Lady Vols back to the Sweet 16 for a second-straight season, they’d likely face 1-seed Texas, 8-seed Texas Tech or 9-seed Minnesota in this projection. Other top seeds on the path to a Final Four would be 2-seed TCU, 3-seed Maryland and 6-seed Princeton.
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Next, the Lady Vols will head north to Brooklyn for a clash with Louisville. A win could go a long way in building up a resume to climb in the field. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET and will air on FOX. It is a part of the Shark Beauty Women’s Champions Classic, in which Tennessee defeated Iowa in a season ago. After UT’s game, the Hawkeyes and UConn will square off in the same building.
Then, the Lady Vols face Southern Indiana on Dec. 22 in Knoxville to round out the pre-SEC slate. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and will air on SECN+.
Tennessee is also now the No. 17 team in the country in the AP Poll. This is a one-spot move after UT hopped North Carolina and USC, but were jumped by Louisville, which is the Lady Vols’ next opponent on the schedule.
