After a two-game losing skid, Lady Vols basketball got back on track on Thursday night, defeating Georgia on the road in overtime. Now, ESPN has updated its bracketology, reflecting the day of games across the sport.
In the projected NCAA Tournament field, Tennessee remains a 4-seed. This places the Lady Vols in a position to host the first two rounds of the tournament, though, which goes a long way in an attempt to return to the Sweet 16.
The projected bracket has Tennessee opening the field against 13-seed High Point. The winner of the game would get the winner between 5-seed Maryland and 12-seed Clemson or Arizona State, which would meet in the play-in round.
If Kim Caldwell does push the Lady Vols back to the Sweet 16, the likely opponent would be 1-seed UConn, which just beat Tennessee by 30 points. Other top seeds on the path to a potential Final Four would be 2-seed Michigan and 3-seed TCU.
The Lady Vols are one of 11 SEC teams projected to make the field by ESPN. This is the second-most of any conference, trailing just the Big Ten’s 12.
More From RTI: Why Lady Vols Basketball Guard Kaniya Boyd Didn’t Play at Georgia
Next, things don’t get much easier for Tennessee. The Lady Vols hit the road this Sunday to meet South Carolina. Tip-off against the No. 3 Gamecocks is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET and will air on ABC.
That’s what made the recent win against Georgia all the more important, though. It saves the Lady Vols from a potential four-game skid if they did fall to South Carolina this weekend.
“I think it was good for us,” Caldwell said after the game. “It was good for us to get one under our belt. It was good for us to win. I thought we played with poise and good pace and together down the stretch. And I was a little bit worried about the momentum not being in our favor and us being deflated, and we weren’t.”
Other remaining games on the schedule include home bouts with Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. UT will also play Ole Miss, Oklahoma and LSU on the road.
