Lady Vols basketball is continuing to climb up the AP Poll. After tumbling toward the bottom of the top-25 rankings in out-of-conference play, Tennessee is surging back toward the top-10 after a 6-0 start to the SEC slate.
Most recently, the Lady Vols downed Kentucky, which was ranked No. 11 at the time, in Knoxville. Now, Tennessee has moved up to No. 15 in Monday’s AP Poll. This is a two-spot jump after clocking in at No. 17 a week ago.
This positioning is good for sixth in the SEC. The Lady Vols are behind No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 LSU and No. 10 Oklahoma. The mark is ahead of No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 23 Georgia and No. 24 Alabama.
At the top of the poll is UConn. The Lady Vols will play the Huskies on Feb. 1 on the road. Other teams in Tennessee’s out-of-conference schedule in the rankings are No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Louisville and NC State, which is receiving votes.
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The Lady Vols sit at 14-3 (6-0 SEC) on the season. This makes Tennessee the final unbeaten team in SEC play. After the win over the Wildcats, Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell gave her thoughts on the importance of the strong start to the conference schedule.
“It definitely matters,” Caldwell said. “It worked out in our favor to where we could stack some games and build some confidence. And I think that was big for us and we’re not really playing great at home. So, I don’t really want to jinx it as we go on the road, but you gotta beat the teams that you can beat and because it does only get harder and you try to get one that maybe you shouldn’t.”
Next, Tennessee will play Mississippi State at home on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and will air on SECN+. The Lady Vols were scheduled to play Ole Miss on the road on Monday evening, but the game was rescheduled due to inclement weather. The new date for the game against the Rebels is yet to be determined.
