KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Wins over Florida State and Iowa last week have propelled the Tennessee women’s basketball team into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 19.
The Lady Volunteers beat the Seminoles (79-77) last Wednesday night in Knoxville and (then) the No. 17/20 Hawkeyes (78-68) on Saturday night in Brooklyn, N.Y., to improve to 7-0. This marks UT’s best start to a season since opening at 9-0 in 2021-22.
Kim Caldwell, who is 224-31 in her ninth season as a head coach and off to a remarkable start in her first year at the helm of the Lady Vol program, has Tennessee back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since Nov. 27, 2023. Since the rankings began in 1976, Tennessee has been in the AP Top 25 in 779 of 870 total weeks (89.5%).
The 7-0 beginning this season is the second best of Caldwell’s career after a 29-0 start in 2021-22. That season, she guided Glenville State (W. Va.) to an NCAA Division II National Championship at 35-1.
UT, which joins LSU as the only remaining undefeated SEC women’s teams, will be back in action at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, as NC Central visits Food City Center. The game will be streamed on SECN+ and available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide as well as on UTSports.com.
