KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It took an 8-1 start to the season and victories over a pair of top-15 teams, but the Tennessee women’s basketball team has returned to the AP Top 25 poll. The Lady Vols have appeared in the rankings every season since the AP Poll began in 1976-77.
UT, which is 2-0 in SEC play following victories over (then) No. 13/13 Arkansas (88-73) and LSU (64-63) last week, checks in at No. 23 after receiving votes and sitting just outside the Top 25 for the majority of the 2020-21 campaign.
Tennessee is one of six SEC teams ranked this week. Arkansas stands at No. 17, while the other Big Orange top-15 conquest this season, Big Ten favorite Indiana, is ranked No. 18 this time around. The only team to defeat UT, West Virginia, is receiving votes after crushing (then) No. 17 and current No. 21 Texas last week. Also garnering votes are Georgia and Alabama, Tennessee’s next two opponents.
The Lady Vols climbed as high as No. 17 in 2019-20 in the first year of the Kellie Harper era and stayed in the polls for most of the season before finishing just outside the rankings. This marks the 14th week the program has been included in the AP Poll under Harper’s direction.
-UT Athletics
