On Thursday, Lady Vols basketball fell flat at home against Mississippi State, losing 77-62. As a result, ESPN’s updated bracketology has reflected the bad loss.
Charlie Creme has Tennessee as a 4-seed in the bracket, now. This is a drop on the seed line after moving up to a 3-seed in his projection before the game.
Being slotted as a 4-seed would still mean hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, though. In Creme’s projection, the Lady Vols would open at home against 13-seed Murray State. The winner of that game would get the winner between 5-seed Duke, coached by LVFL Kara Lawson, and 12-seed Green Bay.
The winner of that game would head to the Sweet 16 to likely play 1-seed UConn. Other top teams on the way to a potential Final Four include 2-seed Michigan and 3-seed TCU.
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The Lady Vols are one of 11 SEC teams in the projected field. This is the second-most of any conference, behind the Big Ten’s 12. The SEC currently has 10 teams ranked inside the AP Poll Top 25, as well. This is the most a conference has ever had ranked at one time in the poll’s history.
Tennessee has a gauntlet of games awaiting it, though. Next, UT heads north to play in its rivalry game with UConn on Sunday. The No. 1 Huskies and No. 15 Lady Vols tip off at noon ET with the game airing on FOX.
Then, it’s a pair of tough road games. First, Tennessee meets No. 23 Georgia in Athens on Thursday. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama on Thursday, though, likely meaning they’ll drop out of the rankings by the time the Lady Vols arrive in Athens. Then, it’s a trip to play No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday.
