All for Tennessee Women's Basketball Jan. 25 SEC Power Rankings: Lady Vols Slip

The women’s basketball Volunteers fell a few spots in the official All for Tennessee women’s basketball SEC Power Rankings for Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2017.

The Tennessee Lady Vols are the epitome of the Southeastern Conference this year outside of the Top Two. You never know where to put them. And it continues to reflect in our SEC Power Rankings.

This week’s women’s basketball rankings included two jumps by three spots, but that was the most anybody changed.

We have a clear idea of who the top team is in the conference, and we also know who is clearly No. 2.

And similar to the men’s SEC Power Rankings, it’s pretty clear who the worst and second worst teams are as well.

But there is a ton of circular logic we have to use to rank the other 10. Obviously, record is a huge deal. Head to head matters too.

And strength of schedule and RPI also count.

Finally, we have to bring out who’s playing the best right now.

Right now, the conference only has two clear-cut teams in the Top 25. But both are Top Five teams. Meanwhile, three other teams are on the border of the Top 25.

However, in the RPI rankings, the conference has seven teams in the Top 25 and another team on the cusp while eight are in the Top 50 overall.

The problem is the bottom of the SEC is really bad, but those teams have managed to score inexplicable upsets against other SEC teams. Ask Holly Warlick.

And it throws our rankings for a loop.

But with a good idea of where teams stand, here are our women’s basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 25.

Vanderbilt Commodores

10-10 (0-7)

Last week: Lost to Arkansas Razorbacks and Tennessee VolunteersLast rank: 13th

No team is on a worse skid in women’s basketball than the Vanderbilt Commodores. In her first year as head coach, Stephanie White looked like she had the team turning into a powerhouse to start the season as they began 10-1.

Then, the schedule got more difficult, and reality set in.

The Commodores are on a nine-game losing streak and have yet to win a conference game. Their most recent outing was an embarrassment: a 91-63 blowout loss to the Lady Vols.

It’s not like they haven’t come close in other games, though. They nearly beat Arkansas, Missouri, Auburn, Georgia, and Texas A&M. In fact, Tennessee is the only SEC team that hasn’t struggled with them.

And if Rachel Bell can just get a bit more efficient with her two-point shots the way she is with her three-pointers while the defense steps up its game just a bit, these losses can turn into wins.

But Vanderbilt still doesn’t have much to sell, as they have the No. 71 ranked strength of schedule.

With Alabama and Florida up next, though, they have a chance to score a win. If they don’t they’re in real trouble because Kentucky, South Carolina, and Mississippi State are three of the next four games after that.

Florida Gators

10-9 (1-5)

Last week: Lost to Texas A&M Aggies; Defeated Georgia BulldogsLast rank: 14th

Unlike the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Florida Gators were not giving anybody in the SEC a tough match-up through last week. That’s why we had them last in our SEC Power Rankings.

However, they actually got an SEC win this week, and it was an upset over the Georgia Bulldogs. On top of that, despite their 10-9 record and 1-5 SEC record, they are No. 60 in the RPI, nearly 60 spots ahead of Vanderbilt, because of their No. 32 ranked strength of schedule.

That’s enough to put them at No. 13 in these rankings.

Florida may have seriously found something in their win against Georgia, mainly on the defensive side. After all, they made a habit out of giving up 80 points to everybody they played, but the past two games, they held teams to under 70 points.

They even did that in a loss to Texas A&M, and when their offense stepped up the next game, they scored that crucial win.

Amanda Butler is figuring out how to get her team to gel after the permanent loss of Eleanna Christinaki. Ronni Williams, Haley Lorenzen, and Delicia Washington have all stepped up, and they can still run nine players.

With Tennessee and Texas A&M up next, they have a big test. But after that, they play the bottom half of the SEC in Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Alabama. So they can get on a run. And speaking of Ole Miss…

Ole Miss Rebels

13-7 (2-5)

Last week: Lost to South Carolina Gamecocks and Alabama Crimson TideLast rank: 11th

Ole Miss’s win over the Tennessee Vols a couple of weeks ago was much more about Tennessee than it was the Rebels. This week, there was no shame in losing to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

But after that, they fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide in unacceptable fashion, so this team is simply not that great.

Even with a 13-7 overall record, they have the No. 117 ranked strength of schedule, which keeps them out of the Top 100 of the RPI. And they’ve lost three straight. Their only wins were handed to them by Arkansas and Tennessee.

Matt Insell had his team off to a hot start before waking up to reality, and now they are just wildly inconsistent.

However, the good news is they are slowly getting transfer Chrishae Rowe involved in the offense, as she just started after the Fall semester. And if she can gel in with Madina Muhammad and Shandricka Sessom, this team could start winning offensive shootouts.

After all, defense has finally stepped up, but offense has been terrible the past two games.

Kentucky’s up next, but after that they have Georgia, Florida, and LSU. All three games are winnable.

So this team is still capable of going on a run, but the poor schedule makes an NCAA Tournament appearance likely out of reach.

Arkansas Razorbacks

13-7 (2-5)

Last week: Defeated Vanderbilt Commodores; Lost to Missouri TigersLast rank: 12th

The Arkansas Razorbacks did lose to the Ole Miss Rebels, they have similar RPI rankings with similarly easy schedules, and they have the exact same SEC record and overall record.

However, the Razorbacks have actually improved in recent weeks, so they get to be ahead of the Rebels in our SEC Power Rankings. Okay, so last week they beat the Vanderbilt Commodores, which is not much to brag about. But before that, they scored a pretty impressive win at Alabama.

And a loss to the Missouri Tigers is not too much to be ashamed of.

Jimmy Dykes has this team developing and slowly improving upon what it did last year. The return of Jessica Jackson should help, but she and Malica Monk together still have some things to work out. After all, they struggled offensively against the Tigers.

And offense has been terrible since SEC play began, so that has to improve.

But the LSU Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs are up next, so both are chances for the Razorbacks to move up in these SEC Power Rankings.

In fact, they have to take advantage of those games because after that they have the South Carolina Gamecocks, Missouri Tigers again, and Kentucky Wildcats as three of their next four games.

Georgia Bulldogs

10-9 (2-4)

Last week: Lost to Kentucky Wildcats and Florida GatorsLast rank: 10th

Speaking of the Georgia Bulldogs, they’ll be in contention with the Arkansas Razorbacks for a higher spot and a position in the mix with other solid teams in our SEC Power Rankings after this week.

We probably should have dropped the Dawgs after an embarrassing loss to the Florida Gators, but none of the other teams had done enough to move ahead of them.

And Georgia gets credit for having a Top 50 strength of schedule.

Sure, they have a three-game losing streak, but two of those losses are to the South Carolina Gamecocks and Kentucky Wildcats.

So Florida just caught them at a bad time.

Still, Joni Taylor has a lot of work if she wants to get the Dawgs back into the NCAA Tournament her second year on the job, just like she did her first year.

Offense is slowly getting better, but they haven’t cracked 70 points once this year. Mackenzie Engram, Pachis Roberts, and Caliya Robinson all have to be red-hot scoring for them to win because nobody else can do so.

That has to improve. The Bulldogs are about to have serious tests. They play with house money facing South Carolina this week, but then they have Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Tennessee at home. Winning two of three could get them into NCAA Tournament contention. But that Florida loss was a killer.

Alabama Crimson Tide

15-5 (3-4)

Last week: Lost to Mississippi State Bulldogs; Defeated Ole Miss RebelsLast rank: 8th

At 15-5, the Alabama Crimson Tide could have a strong case to be higher in these SEC Power Rankings despite their 3-4 conference record.

However, they are ranked No. 106 in the RPI because of their absolutely terrible No. 159 ranked strength of schedule. There is no excuse for them to have played that pathetic of a non-conference schedule.

Still, after a three-game losing streak that included one bad loss to Arkansas, the Tide got back on track with a solid victory over the Ole Miss Rebels this past weekend.

Kristy Curry is at least on track to have her first winning season in her fourth year as head coach of Alabama, but they have a lot of work to do to even kind of enter NCAA Tournament contention because of their terrible schedule.

It could start with decent offense.

With the wild exception of scoring 90 points against Ole Miss’s terrible defense the first time the two schools met, Alabama’s offense hasn’t cracked 60 in SEC play. Nobody is averaging even 12 points for the Tide, and they only have two players averaging double-figures.

To make a splash, they have to win their next three if we are going to even talk about them and the postseason. The Vanderbilt Commodores, Auburn Tigers, and LSU tigers are those three games. All are winnable, and they are must-wins for the Tide. Speaking of LSU…

LSU Tigers

14-6 (3-4)

Last week: Lost to Kentucky Wildcats and Texas A&M AggiesLast rank: 7th

The LSU Tigers only slightly dropped in our SEC Power Rankings this week despite losing both games last week.

Nikki Fargas’s team fell to the Kentucky Wildcats and Texas A&M Aggies. There’s no shame in either loss.

Despite being 14-6 and having a losing record in the SEC, the Tigers are still firmly in the NCAA Tournament right now because of their No. 27 ranking in the RPI, which is due to their No. 9 ranked strength of schedule. Raigyne Moncrief is a very physical and aggressive player for Fargas, and Chloe Jackson is doing a great job as well.

The two have made a dynamic duo in the SEC, but the problem is they are the only players that can generate any offense for the Lady Tigers.

And as a result, the offense tanks against good teams.

That has to change if these guys want to stay in the position they are in. A home game against the Arkansas Razorbacks this week should give them some breathing room, as they still haven’t lost to a team outside of the Top 25 in the RPI.

But then they face the Tennessee Vols on the road, the Alabama Crimson Tide at home, and the Ole Miss Rebels on the road.

That three-game stretch will determine where they stand in the conference because all three teams are right in their same tier. One of those teams is next in our SEC power rankings.

Tennessee Volunteers

12-7 (3-3)

Last week: Lost to Auburn Tigers; Defeated Vanderbilt CommodoresLast rank: 5th

Holly Warlick’s refusal to extend her bench has made the Tennessee Lady Vols the most inconsistent team in the history of women’s or men’s college basktball.

This is a team that got on a six-game winning streak with huge wins over the Kentucky Wildcats and Stanford Cardinal.

And later they beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. But sandwiching that Notre Dame win after that winning streak were losses to the Ole Miss Rebels and Auburn Tigers.

What?

The Lady Vols did beat Vanderbilt, the worst team in the SEC, to get back on track. But the blowout loss forced us to drop them in our SEC power rankings. They simply can’t do that.

Because Warlick only runs seven players, Mercedes Russell and Diamond DeShields are shouldering huge loads. The other players have to consistently step up despite their fatigue.

Fortunately for the Lady Vols, as always, they played a very tough schedule this year. So despite their 12-7 record, they are No. 16 in the RPI because of their No. 4 ranked strength of schedule.

Now they have real tests that shouldn’t be tests coming up because of their inconsistencies. The South Carolina Gamecocks on the road are this week. But before that comes the Florida Gators on the road, and it’s crazy when you don’t know which game they’ll win.

But every single game is in play with this team, which makes no sense.

Missouri Tigers

14-7 (4-3)

Last week: Defeated Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas RazorbacksLast rank: 9th

Talk about turning things around! The Missouri Tigers made a huge jump in our SEC Power Rankings this week with two huge wins over the Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks.

The wins gave them a winning record in the SEC, improved them to 14-7 overall, and got them into the top half of the conference standings.

It also has the Tigers in serious contention for the NCAA Tournament now, as they are No. 42 in the RPI and have the No. 40 ranked strength of schedule.

That is huge for Robin Pingeton, who finally got the Tigers into the Big Dance her fourth year as head coach last year for the first time. Repeating that this year would be a major boost.

Missouri has been wildly inconsistent this year, with two losses to teams out of the Top 100 of the RPI but two wins over teams in the Top 30 of the RPI.

Still, beginning SEC play, their only bad loss was a fluke one at home to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Outside of that, they have won the games they need to win. And behind the scoring of Sophi Cunningham and Cierra Porter, this team’s offense is picking things up. If Cunningham and Porter are off, though, the defense can step up.

The Tigers can win either way.

But this week, they have two huge tests facing the Auburn Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats. Since road trips to Mississippi State and Tennessee follow, their schedule strength is about to shoot up. And if they can just split these next four, their RPI will shoot up as well. So this team is in great shape.

Following a huge win over Texas A&M, Auburn and Kentucky are the two other teams in the same tier as Missouri as well. So we go to one of them next.

Auburn Tigers

14-6 (4-2)

Last week: Defeated Tennessee Volunteers; Lost to Kentucky WildcatsLast rank: 4th

Even after a loss, the Auburn Tigers may be one of the hottest teams in the conference. Still, we had to drop them in our SEC Power Rankings because they didn’t do enough to rise up, and one other teams surpassed them with impressive performances.

The Tigers are still one of the top teams in the conference, and dominating the Tennessee Lady Vols last week was huge for their resume.

At 14-6 and 4-2 in the SEC, their No. 17 ranked strength of schedule has them at No. 23 in the RPI.

And after blowing out the Vols, there was no shame in losing to the red hot Kentucky Wildcats. But that was why we had to drop them a spot. Kentucky shot up, which we’ll get to later.

Terri Williams Flourney is in perfect position to return her Tigers to their second straight NCAA Tournament in her fifth year as head coach of the program.

And they are doing it through tough defense.

Florida is the only SEC team to score more than 61 on Auburn in their wins, and they managed to score 82 that game. That’s because the defense is forcing nearly 24 turnovers a game, and Katie Frerking, Brandy Montgomery, and Janiah McKay are carrying the necessary load in scoring.

It’s the perfect combination, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier. Missouri and Alabama are up next on the road. Then they have Mississippi State at home and Texas A&M and South Carolina on the road.

So the Tigers could hit a five-game losing streak and fall in our SEC Power Rankings. But they could also move up significantly.

Texas A&M Aggies

15-5 (5-2)

Last week: Lost to Missouri Tigers; Defeated LSU TigersLast rank: 3rd

The Texas A&M Aggies appeared to be the clear-cut third best team in the SEC, which is why we had them there in our SEC Power Rankings until last week.

However, a very close loss on the road to the red-hot Missouri Tigers was enough to knock them down a spot on our list this week.

At 15-5 and 5-2 in the conference, they are still playing good basketball, as they rebounded with a critical win over the LSU Tigers. But given the play of another team, we still had to drop them.

Gary Blair’s team is clearly in position to make its fifth straight NCAA Tournament with their No. 22 ranked spot in the RPI. They have the No. 30 ranked strength of schedule, but that’ll go up as SEC play continues.

The Aggies have an amazing offense with Danni Williams’s red-hot shooting, Khaalia Hillsman’s dominance under the basket, and Curtys Knox’s unique ability to set up the offense. That is a complete Big Three capable of upsetting anybody.

And now that capability will be put to the test as the gauntlet of their SEC schedule begins with an extremely tough game on the road against the Mississippi State Bulldogs this week. That could seriously boost their NCAA Tournament standings.

Then after a breather against the Florida Gators, they have more tests against Auburn, Alabama, at Tennessee, at LSU, Mississippi State again, and then South Carolina.

So no matter what, their schedule strength is going up. Will the same thing happen for their wins and NCAA Tournament seeding? We’ll find out.

Jan 1, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell yells at his players during the first half against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK

Kentucky Wildcats

14-6 (5-2)

Last week: Defeated LSU Tigers and Auburn TigersLast rank: 6th

Welcome to the hottest team in the SEC right now outside of the two best teams. The Kentucky Wildcats had a rough start in SEC play by starting out 1-2 with losses to the Tennessee Vols and Texas A&M Aggies and barely beating the Missouri Tigers.

But despite a worse overall record, the same conference record, and the head-to-head loss in comparison to the Aggies, the Wildcats have now done enough to move up in our SEC Power Rankings.

And they shot up after last week.

This team scored two huge road wins against the LSU Tigers and Auburn Tigers, both of whom were in the top half of the SEC last week and who still stand in the Top 30 of the RPI.

Before that, they had wins at Alabama and at home against Georgia.

So this team is on a four-game winning streak with three wins on the road. Matthew Mitchell’s team is clearly back on track after their start in the SEC knocked them out of the Top 25.

And defense is the name of the Wildcats.

Senior Makayla Epps is the overall leader on both sides of the floor, and her emotion is clearly propelling this team. Meanwhile, Evelyn Akhator has emerged as a superstar down low and is now a double-double machine.

Those two are the keys for the team, and they could be the biggest stars in the conference overall at their positions.

With a 14-6 record, 5-2 in the SEC, and a No. 14 ranked RPI spot due to their No. 2 ranked strength of schedule, the Wildcats are easily in position to be a Top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

With Ole Miss and Missouri up next, they have two winnable games this week, but they can’t relax. But then comes South Carolina.

So the Wildcats don’t get a real break any time soon.

Mar 6, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs head coach Vic Schaefer yells from the bench in the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the women’s SEC basketball tournament at Jacksonville Memorial Veterans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Mississippi State Bulldogs

20-1 (6-1)

Last week: Defeated Alabama Crimson Tide; Lost to South Carolina GamecocksLast rank: 2nd

Well, we learned who the best team in the SEC is. However, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are clearly not a fluke with their 20-0 start.

Vic Schaefer’s teams have gotten better every year he’s been in Starkville, and with the No. 23 ranked strength of schedule, their start was for real. Then, the biggest proof that it was came in their first loss.

The Bulldogs were in the game on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks until the end despite an off-night from Victoria Vivians and Morgan Williams, their two best scorers.

They went toe-to-toe with the Gamecocks on defense and were much smarter and more efficient on offense.

Schaefer’s focus on defense is clearly working for this team, and they should still be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament at this point.

The good news for the Bulldogs is they don’t have to play South Carolina again. However, they still have the Kentucky Wildcats on the road and the Tennessee Lady Vols at home, a team that can win or lose anywhere at any time.

But Texas A&M twice, Auburn, and even Missouri don’t make this schedule any easier. So they still have lots of work to do if they want to maintain that No. 1 seed.

South Carolina Gamecocks

17-1 (7-0)

Last week: Defeated Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State BulldogsLast rank: 1st

No doubt here, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks remain the class of the Southeastern Conference this year, and they are still the No. 1 team in our SEC Power Rankings.

However, since the Mississippi State Bulldogs showed that they are no pushover, South Carolina may be a little bit less of a dominant No. 1 team than we pegged them as before the two played each other.

This year, not only is A’ja Wilson more experienced. She has a ton of help. Wilson combined with Alaina Coates makes for the toughest inside game in women’s college basketball right now, and if the Gamecocks can force teams to play their game with it, they can dominate anybody.

With the added help of Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis, this team has an amazing amount of experience. And this year, they have what it takes to win the national championship.

There is no reason these guys can’t compete with UCONN. They suffered a fluke loss to the Duke Blue Devils when they committed 19 turnovers.

Outside of that, they look like the best team in the country.

With this record while having the No. 6 ranked strength of schedule, they are clearly one of the top two teams in all of college basketball this year.

But being in the Top Two won’t be enough for them. The national title is the goal, and while they still have a tough SEC slate to determine it, including another match-up with Mississippi State.

Still, unlike the other teams in the conference, they don’t have to focus on that as much. Their only focus is getting ready for the tournament, and this complete team has what it takes to finish the job. They need to deliver.

As of right now, even with the Bulldogs close to them, their standing atop the SEC Power Rankings is not what should concern them.