Will Vanderbilt Head Into March Madness Ranked?

Vanderbilt will certainly be making a return trip to the NCAA Tournament when the 68-team field is announced Sunday night. But when the Commodores hear their name called, it won’t be as a ranked team.

The Commodores (22-10, 8-8) were just outside the latest AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll. They did receive the most votes with 41, which is a continuation of a trend that saw Vanderbilt slowly rise in the “others receiving votes” category.

At last week’s SEC Tournament, Vanderbilt went 1-1 and beat its biggest rival, Tennessee, for the second time this season (a feat that had never been done before) 8476 before falling to the eventual tournament winner, South Carolina, 83-64 in the quarterfinal round.

Vanderbilt and the rest of women’s college basketball world now await to see who does and who doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament. The entire bracket will be revealed at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 16, on ESPN. The tournament’s first games will start on March 19.

Here’s the latest AP Top 25 Poll released Monday:

AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll

1. UCLA (30-2)
2. South Carolina (30-3)
3. UConn (30-3)
4. USC (28-3)
5. Texas (31-3)
6. TCU (31-3)
7. Duke (26-7)
8. Notre Dame (26-5)
9. North Carolina State (26-6)
10. LSU (28-5)
11. Oklahoma (25-7)
12. North Carolina (27-7)
13. Kentucky (22-7)
14. Baylor (27-7)
15. Ohio State (25-6)
16. West Virginia (24-7)
17. Oklahoma State (25-6)
18. Maryland (23-7)
19. Kansas State (26-7)
20. Tennessee (22-9)
21. Alabama (23-8)
22. Creighton (26-5)
23. Florida State (23-8)
24. South Dakota State (29-3)
25. Ole Miss (20-10)

Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 41, Michigan 31, Michigan St. 24, Iowa 15, Louisville 14, James Madison 13, Georgia Tech 8, California 3, Fairfield 2, UTSA 1.

Vanderbilt Commodores On SI: