Tennessee has returned to the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 19, ending the school’s longest drought in the 48-year history of the women’s basketball poll.
The Lady Vols (7-0) had not been ranked since Nov. 27, 2023, a span of 22 polls. Since the rankings began in 1976, Tennessee has been in the Top 25 in 779 of 870 total weeks (89.5%).
Tennessee is off to an undefeated start with a pressing style that includes fresh players constantly coming in.
“The beauty of it is is we earned it,” first-year coach Kim Caldwell said in a phone interview. “Not because the name is Tennessee. We didn’t start (ranked).”
UCLA, UConn and South Carolina remained the top three teams in the poll released Monday. The Bruins received 24 first-place votes from the 32-member national media panel. UCLA beat Washington by 11 in its lone game last week. The Huskies garnered the other eight top votes after routing Louisville 85-52 in the Women’s Champions Classic.
LSU and USC each moved up a spot after then-No. 4 Texas lost to Notre Dame 80-70 in overtime. The Longhorns fell to sixth and the Irish rose two spots to eighth. Maryland was seventh. Duke and Oklahoma rounded out the first 10, with Sooners moving…
