WBB Bracketology vol. 4.0: What should we do with Tennessee?

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Lady Volunteers guard Anastasia Hayes (1) is guarded by Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Morgan William (2) during a game between the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on January 21, 2018, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Lady Volunteers guard Anastasia Hayes (1) is guarded by Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Morgan William (2) during a game between the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on January 21, 2018, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 21: Tennessee Lady Volunteers guard Anastasia Hayes (1) is guarded by Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Morgan William (2) during a game between the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on January 21, 2018, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 21: Tennessee Lady Volunteers guard Anastasia Hayes (1) is guarded by Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Morgan William (2) during a game between the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on January 21, 2018, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There are always a handful of nearly impossible judgment calls that you have to make when putting a bracket together. One of them, inevitably, is what to do with a team loaded with quality wins that has also taken on a string of losses to good teams. Tennessee presents such a conundrum this week. On the one hand, the Lady Vols own wins at South Carolina and Stanford. They’ve also beaten Texas and Marquette. On the other, they’ve lost four of their last six games, but the worst was on the road to LSU, a top-40 RPI team that could reasonably find its way into the field.

Naturally, they fell a few spots on my true ranking, but it wasn’t enough to bump them off the 2 line. They’d built up enough of a cushion earlier in the season. That said, Tennessee needs a win Thursday against Texas A&M. Otherwise I’d have no good reason to keep them on the 2 line.

OK, that’s enough out of me. Time for the bracket…