Lady Vols basketball has just one regular-season game left, a home clash with No. 5 Vanderbilt. This comes after a loss on the road at No. 6 LSU in a game that was narrow at the half.
After Thursday’s slate of games across the country, ESPN updated its bracketology, which predicts the field for the upcoming 2026 NCAA Tournament. In the projection, Tennessee is slotted as a 7-seed in the bracket.
According to the prediction from ESPN, the Lady Vols would open up the tournament with 10-seed Fairfield. The Stags own a 24-4 record with losses to North Carolina, Iowa, Howard and Quinnipiac.
If Tennessee wins, it’d play the winner of 2-seed Iowa and 15-seed LMU. These first two rounds would both be played in Iowa City on the Hawkeyes’ home floor.
The Lady Vols have not played Iowa this season, but did beat the Hawkeyes at a neutral site in Brooklyn last season under Kim Caldwell. It marked one of the first signature wins in her tenure atop Tennessee.
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If Caldwell can get the Lady Vols back to the Sweet 16 for the second-straight season, the likely opponents in the projection are 3-seed Louisville or 6-seed Alabama. Tennessee got hammered by the Cardinals in Brooklyn this year and beat the Tide on the road.
Other teams in UT’s region on the path to a potential Final Four include 1-seed South Carolina, 4-seed Ohio State and 5-seed North Carolina.
The Lady Vols one of 11 SEC teams projected to make the tournament. This is the second-most in the country, only trailing the Big Ten’s 12.
Next, Tennessee will host No. 5 Vanderbilt for the finale and Senior Day. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN.
