The Tennessee women’s basketball team will open the 2025-26 season ranked No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll, the WBCA announced on Thursday afternoon.
The Lady Vols, who finished last season at No. 16 in the coaches poll, picked up their highest preseason ranking in that top 25 since beginning the 2022-23 campaign at No. 4. Tennessee was in the “receiving votes” category as last season began, sitting three spots outside the 2024-25 top 25.
UT is one of five SEC schools ranked in Thursday’s USA TODAY/WBCA top 10. Joining the Big Orange are No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 5 LSU and No. 7 Oklahoma. No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 Vanderbilt also appear in the poll. Additionally, Tennessee has No. 1 UConn, No. 4 UCLA, No. 8 NC State and No. 19 Louisville on its very challenging non-conference schedule.
Tennessee will open the regular season with a top-10 match-up. The No. 9 Lady Vols will meet NC State in a neutral site contest at the RO Greensboro Invitational at 4 p.m. ET on Nov . 4. The game will be televised by ESPN2. First, though, UT will play host to an exhibition at 6:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 29 vs. Columbus State. That tilt will be streamed on SECN+.
Fans interested in cheering on Kim Caldwell‘s exciting and highly-regarded squad should visit AllVols.com for ticket information. Big Orange supporters will have 14 opportunities to get behind their team at home, with season and single-game tickets currently on sale. Besides purchasing online, fans can also buy tickets by calling the UT Ticket Office at 1-800-332-VOLS between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team on social media, follow @LadyVol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /BallWithTheLadyVols on Facebook.
