Updating Lady Vols rankings in college basketball polls after second loss to Vanderbilt
Lady Vols basketball dropped two more spots in the Associated Press poll Monday after losing to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament.
Tennessee (22-9) is ranked No. 20 in the AP Top 25 after losing to its in-state rival twice in the same season for the first time in program history. The Lady Vols started the SEC tournament with a 40-point win over Texas A&M before falling to the Commodores in the second round.
Tennessee will find out its placement in the 2025 NCAA tournament bracket after playing itself out of hosting privileges. The Lady Vols were once a projected No. 3 seed, but they've lost three of their last four games since the in-season reveal of top 16 seeds on Feb. 27.
The Lady Vols' four-game winning streak was brought to an abrupt halt when they got blown out on the road by Kentucky. They beat Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama and Florida going into their final ranked matchup of the year in Lexington, but they crumbled on the road, missing an opportunity to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding. They worsened their March Madness positioning with a loss to Georgia.
Alabama is Tennessee's lone ranked win in SEC play – it lost all its other ranked matchups, which included Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU twice. Eight of the Lady Vols' losses were by single digits. The 24-point loss to the Wildcats was the only loss by more than eight points.
Tennessee reentered the top 15 after its signature win over UConn on Feb. 6. It was Caldwell's debut in the storied rivalry and Tennessee's first win against the Huskies since 2007.
The Lady Vols started Caldwell's first season going 13-0 before suffering their first loss, which was their best start to a season since going 15-0 in 2017-18. Their 7-0 start got them back in the rankings on Dec. 9 with wins over Florida State and then-No. 20 Iowa.
Tennessee has been ranked in the polls for the last 14 weeks, restarting its streak in the polls after being unranked for more than a year. In the entire history of the AP Top 25, Tennessee has spent 792 of 883 weeks ranked.
VANDERBILT LOSS NO. 2: Kim Caldwell explains Lady Vols' collapse before March Madness, what change she should have made
Before getting ranked this season, the last time the Lady Vols had been ranked in the AP Top 25 was Week 4 of the 2023-24 season, which was released Nov. 27, 2023. Tennessee had only been ranked for 10 of the previous 45 weeks of the AP Top 25 since being ranked the entire 2021-22 season.
The Lady Vols first climbed into the top 15 on Dec. 23 after winning three games away from Knoxville. Tennessee won its first true road game against Memphis and then won both its games at the West Palm Beach Classic against Richmond and Tulsa in a four-day span.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women's athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora's coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Updating Tennessee Lady Vols rankings in college basketball polls
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Canadian teen Summer McIntosh shatters third world swim record in five days
FILE - Summer McIntosh of Canada reacts after competing in the Women's 200m Butterfly Heats on day three of the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, file) VICTORIA, Canada (AP) — Canadian teen Summer McIntosh has done it again. The 18-year-old made it three world records in less than a week when she broke her own 400-meter individual medley mark on Wednesday night. Advertisement McIntosh won at the Canadian swimming trials in 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds to lower her previous best in one of the sport's toughest events by 0.73 seconds. Her closest rival was 12 seconds behind. 'What a week Victoria! Had so much fun in the pool this week,' McIntosh wrote on Instagram. McIntosh had already broken the world best mark in the 200 individual medley on Monday in 2:05.70, two days after shaving more than a second off the 400 freestyle record, completing the race in 3:54.18. The Toronto native also set new Canadian marks in two other events: The 200 butterfly, where she was less than half a second off a record that has stood since 2009, and the 800 freestyle, where she was also just off Katie Ledecky's world record set last month. Advertisement She is scheduled to compete in those five events at the world aquatics championships in Singapore next month. McIntosh won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics last year, winning her three individual events of the 400 and 200 individual medleys and the 200 butterfly. She also won silver in the 400 free. ___ AP sports:
Associated Press
20 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Canadian teen Summer McIntosh shatters third world swim record in five days
VICTORIA, Canada (AP) — Canadian teen Summer McIntosh has done it again. The 18-year-old made it three world records in less than a week when she broke her own 400-meter individual medley mark on Wednesday night. McIntosh won at the Canadian swimming trials in 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds to lower her previous best in one of the sport's toughest events by 0.73 seconds. Her closest rival was 12 seconds behind. 'What a week Victoria! Had so much fun in the pool this week,' McIntosh wrote on Instagram. McIntosh had already broken the world best mark in the 200 individual medley on Monday in 2:05.70, two days after shaving more than a second off the 400 freestyle record, completing the race in 3:54.18. The Toronto native also set new Canadian marks in two other events: The 200 butterfly, where she was less than half a second off a record that has stood since 2009, and the 800 freestyle, where she was also just off Katie Ledecky's world record set last month. She is scheduled to compete in those five events at the world aquatics championships in Singapore next month. McIntosh won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics last year, winning her three individual events of the 400 and 200 individual medleys and the 200 butterfly. She also won silver in the 400 free. ___ AP sports:
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
USMNT not worried about ‘outside noise' following former player criticism
USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams has said that the squad are not worried about 'outside' criticism from former players after the team's recent poor form. Mauricio Pochettino's side were soundly defeated 4-0 by Switzerland in a friendly at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday. The loss was the team's fourth in a row after defeats in the Concacaf Nations League semi-finals against Panama and the subsequent third-place match against Canada, and in a friendly against Turkey on Saturday. The U.S. have now lost five of their 10 games under Pochettino, who was appointed in September 2024. Pochettino's side were without star player Christian Pulisic, as well as his Milan team-mate Yunus Musah, for the games against Turkey and Switzerland, with both players set to miss the summer's Gold Cup. The U.S. take on Trinidad and Tobago in their first fixture of the tournament on Sunday and will also face Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the group stage. Advertisement Former U.S. forwards Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan were among those to criticise the players, with Adams saying that the squad are tuning out the comments. 'We don't talk about that internally as a group,' Adams told the Associated Press. 'The noise on the outside is the noise on the outside. I think we need to focus on what we need to do as a group and continue to build.' Dempsey said last week that he did not 'understand' the move to miss the Gold Cup and pointed to his own experience appearing at tournaments for the U.S.. 'Whether it was Gold Cup, whether it was Copa (America), whether it was Confederations Cup, whether it was the World Cup, I wasn't going to miss competitions,' Dempsey said on the Men in Blazers podcast. 'For me, I don't understand it because that wasn't my mentality. I always wanted to play in those games.' Donovan, who is second on the U.S. all-time appearance charts and shares the goalscoring record with Dempsey at 57 each, brought up the situation while working as an analyst for FOX's coverage of the UEFA Nations League final, which saw Portugal defeat Spain on penalties. 'This is what it means to represent your country,' Donovan said after Portugal's victory. 'And if you don't want to take this, as a professional soccer player and someone who gets the opportunity to wear that jersey and take it seriously and responsibly, then don't come in. 'I can't help but think about some of our guys on vacation right now not wanting to play in the Gold Cup.' Donovan also criticised the team in March, writing on X: 'I'm so sick of hearing how 'talented' this group of players is and all of the amazing clubs they play for. If you aren't going to show up and actually give a s*** about playing for your national team, decline the invite. Talent is great, pride is better.' Dempsey added that he was 'worried about the future of this U.S. men's national team.' Juventus' Weston McKennie and Tim Weah as well as Borussia Dortmund's Gio Reyna are also set to miss the Gold Cup due to their team's participation at the Club World Cup, which begins on Saturday. Adams missed the Switzerland match with an injury that he attributed to 'overload'. Advertisement 'A little turf toe-type injury,' said the 26-year-old. 'More of an overuse thing probably than anything — overload. It was something that I picked up when I came into camp. Progressing well right now, but just trying to be smart and manage it.' Adams, who plays for Bournemouth in the Premier League, made 32 appearances in all competitions last season as his side finished ninth in the table. ()
