Tennessee

Where Lady Vols stand in updated March Madness bracket predictions after Vanderbilt loss

Published

9 months ago

March 10, 2025

Where Lady Vols stand in updated March Madness bracket predictions after Vanderbilt loss

Lady Vols basketball has officially played its way out of hosting the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 17 Tennessee (22-9) bowed out in the second round of the SEC tournament last week, and a deep run would have been its only hope to play its way back into the top 16 seeds. The Lady Vols now await their seeding for the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Here’s where Tennessee stands in the latest March Madness projections.

Lady Vols projected as a No. 5 seed

ESPN’s Charlie Creme said after Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt, there wasn’t a path for it to host as a top-16 seed. The second loss of the season to the Commodores was the Lady Vols’ third loss in their final four games before the NCAA tournament.

Creme projects Tennessee as a No. 5 seed in Spokane 2, which has UCLA as the No. 1 seed. The Lady Vols would be playing No. 12 seed Grand Canyon at Baylor, which would host as the No. 4 seed and play No. 13 UTSA.

The Athletic’s Mark Schindler is projecting Tennessee as a No. 5 seed in Birmingham, playing at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. No. 4 seed UNC Would host and play No. 13 seed Middle Tennessee. Schindler has UCLA as the No. 1 seed in that region.

Lady Vols basketball’s NCAA Tournament resume

The Lady Vols have three ranked wins against Iowa, UConn and Alabama. They also have seven wins over teams in the top 40 of the NCAA NET rankings – UConn, Ole Miss, Alabama, Florida State, Iowa, Richmond and Mississippi State. Eight of Tennessee’s losses are to teams ranked in the top 25 of the NET. The loss to Georgia is an eyesore on an otherwise strong resume with the Bulldogs ranked 106 in the NET.

Tennessee dropped to No. 14 in the NCAA NET rankings. It is 6-8 in Quad 1 games, 4-0 in Quad 2 games, 3-0 in Quad 3 and 9-1 in Quad 4. Five of the Lady Vols losses were to teams ranked in the top 10 at the time – Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina and LSU twice – and all but one of their losses were by single digits. the 24-point loss at Kentucky was the only loss by more than eight points.

Lady Vols basketball’s NCAA Tournament history

The Lady Vols are the only program never to miss an NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee was a No. 6 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, which was its lowest seeding since being a No. 11 seed in 2019. The Lady Vols were a top-16 seed for three straight seasons from 2021-23. They were a No. 3 seed in 2021 and a No. 4 seed in 2022 and 2023.

Tennessee made back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2023 for the first time since since 2015 and 2016. The Lady Vols bowed out in the second round last year, losing 79-72 to No. 3 seed NC State.

Tennessee has won eight NCAA championships and made 18 trips to the Final Four. All of those happened under coach Pat Summitt, and the last time it did either was in 2008.

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

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Tennessee

Remembering one of Middle Tennessee’s largest tornado outbreaks 4 years later

Published

6 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Remembering one of Middle Tennessee’s largest tornado outbreaks 4 years later

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Four years ago, Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky were impacted by one of the largest tornado outbreaks on record. On Dec. 10 and 11, 2021, a tornado outbreak impacted areas from Arkansas and Missouri all the way into northern Indiana and Ohio. There was a total of 66 tornadoes; 16 of […]

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Tennessee

Tracking Music City Bowl opt outs for Tennessee and Illinois

Published

18 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Tracking the opt outs for both Tennessee and Illinois before the Music City Bowl on December 30 (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville:

Tennessee

Linebacker Arion Carter: Carter over the last seasons had 96 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 31 career games. He had a team-high 76 tackles this season, with 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks while appearing in 10 games. He missed two games and was limited against Oklahoma in November while dealing with turf toe injuries. Carter had 68 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 13 games last season and 17 tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss in eight games as a freshman in 2023.

Wide Receiver Chris Brazzell II: He a breakout senior season in his second year with the Vols, catching 62 passes for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns. He had 19 catches for 333 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, after transferring from Tulane. In 15 games at Tulane he caught 45 passes for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Brazzell is ranked No. 7 at wide receiver on Mel Kiper Jr.’s NFL Draft Big Board. He’s ranked No. 34 overall on ESPN’s list of the best available prospects in the draft.

Cornerback Jermod McCoy: Did not play this season after tearing his ACL during offseason training in January. He was a star last season with 44 tackles, nine passes defended and four interceptions. He had 31 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games as a freshman at Oregon State before transferring to Tennessee.

Illinois

Offensive Tackle J.C. Davis: Bret Bielema said the Illinois starting left tackle is opting out of the Music City Bowl. He was an All-Big Ten First Team pick by the league coaches this season and the No. 3 left tackle this season according to Pro Football Focus grades. He had made 49 straight starts before opting out of the bowl game.

EDGE Gabe Jacas: The Illinois outside linebacker declared for the NFL Draft on Friday night. He led the Big Ten this season with 11.0 sacks. He had 13.5 tackles for loss and 43 total tackles in 12 games this season. He finishes second in Illinois program history for career sacks, with 27.0, trailing only Simeon Rice. Jacas had 74 tackles, 8.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss last season, after combining for 8.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss in his first two seasons at Illinois.

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More than 8,500 layoffs hit Tennessee in 2025, nearly 19% increase from 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

More than 8,500 layoffs hit Tennessee in 2025, nearly 19% increase from 2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Tennessee employers laid off more than 8,500 workers in 2025 compared to 7,320 last year, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

This is about a 19% increase in layoffs, with WARN notices impacting 8,691 Tennesseans to date. As of 2023, 5,168 Tennessee workers were laid off through WARN notices.

Counties in Middle Tennessee impacted include:

Davidson
Sumner
Maury
Rutherford
Williamson
Wilson
Coffee
DeKalb
Bedford
Lawrence
Putnam

The largest layoff this year was in Maury County. Come January, 710 employees will be laid off from GM Ultium Cells’ Spring Hill facility. Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville Michael Kofoed tells FOX 17 News that the facility is is likely impacted by the rise on steel tariffs ruled out by the Trump administration. He adds steel tariffs raise input costs for employers which directly impacts employees’ salary or employment.

The second largest layoff impacted 658 workers at Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC in Rutherford County with 615 workers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center permanently laid off. WARN notices are reports a company is required to file with the state to give workers time to find future employment.

Kofoed states that Tennessee is seeing a troubling trend, with layoffs skyrocketing since 2023.