Basketball teams don’t post criteria for making an NCAA Tournament on their locker room walls. The criteria aren’t that simple.
Then NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will consider record, strength of schedule and strength of conference for selecting and seeding teams. That’s just one layer, though.
There are good wins and bad losses to consider. Road records can be a factor, too.
But good losses also should matter. In fact, the Lady Vols have best distinguished themselves this season in defeat. They were tied with No. 1 South Carolina after three quarters before losing by 11 last week.
If you can hold your own against a team as dominant as the Gamecocks, you have the potential to make a splash in the postseason.
Defending national champion LSU will present Tennessee with another opportunity to enhance its resume Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena. And there’s a greater chance of an upset than there was against the Gamecocks.
LSU has upped its game since close back-to-back losses to South Carolina and Mississippi State but doesn’t have South Carolina’s quality depth. And depth turned the South Carolina-UT game the Gamecocks’ way.
South Carolina seemingly comes at you in waves. The Tigers basically have a seven-player rotation. Their starting five, led by post players Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow, is as good as anybody’s.
Coach Kim Mulkey conditions her players to log plenty of minutes. Foul trouble is a bigger issue than stamina for LSU, which plays Auburn on Thursday. LSU has upped its record to 22-4 with four consecutive SEC victories by an average of 26.3 points per game.
Despite the differences between South Carolina and LSU, Tennessee’s best path to victory might be similar. It will need to exert the same level of energy on defense against the Tigers as it did against the Gamecocks. But it also will need to shoot better. UT made only 32.3 percent of its field-goal tries and was 2-for-17 from 3-point range against South Carolina.
And if LSU has a bad performance offensively − as South Carolina did − so much the better. As well as the Lady Vols defended, the Gamecocks also missed shots they usually make.
The game has more than NCAA Tournament implications for Tennessee, which has an opportunity to improve its seeding. Coach Kellie Harper is in her fifth season, and a victory against a team of LSU’s caliber would signify progress.
But such wins have been hard to come by, though UT did upset LSU last season. That was an exception for a program that so often has come up short against nationally ranked opponents.
The Lady Vols were 25-12 overall last season but 2-10 against teams that finished in the final coaches’ Top 25 poll. Their 10 losses were by an average of 11.4 points.
The Lady Vols have continued to struggle against ranked team this season. They’re 1-4 against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. But they also have lost by double-figure margins to three unranked teams – MTSU (11 points), Texas A&M (15) and Alabama (16) – during a 16-9 season.
ADAMS: Lady Vols revive old times for three quarters vs South Carolina. A good sign for March.
Sunday’s game won’t be their only chance to change that trend. They close the regular season against South Carolina in Columbia, and there’s also the SEC Tournament.
But if Tennessee hopes to do more than come close against a nationally ranked opponent, its best opportunity likely will come Sunday on its home court against LSU.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols will have better chance against LSU than South Carolina
