KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee women's basketball team is 6-6 since racing to its fourth 15-0 start in program history, but the recent inconsistency does not appear to have spoiled the Lady Volunteers' chances of scoring a high seed in the NCAA tournament.
Even after losing games to Alabama and Missouri last week, ESPN analyst Charlie Creme's latest NCAA tournament projection still has 15th-ranked Tennessee as a No. 3 seed that would host in the opening round.
"It seems now that if Tennessee can get back on track, avoid any more upsets and perform reasonably well in the SEC tournament, a No. 3 seed can be expected on Selection Monday," Creme wrote Tuesday.
Tennessee (21-6, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) plays at Florida (11-16, 3-11) on Thursday night before ending the regular season at home Sunday against No. 7 South Carolina (22-5, 11-3).
The Lady Vols are sixth in the league standings and one game behind three teams tied for third. The top four teams receive byes in next week's SEC tournament in Nashville.
As Tennessee lost its second game in a row Sunday afternoon, Creme noted the SEC tournament will be especially important to the Lady Vols.
"Tennessee is most fluctuating team in Bracketology this season," Creme wrote in a Twitter post. "Lady Vols are good enough to make run and win SEC tournament to get a No. 2 NCAA seed - but also could lose early in league tourney."
On Wednesday, Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said the Florida game - not postseason seeding or an intriguing senior day matchup against South Carolina - is her team's focal point.
"It's on the road, and we tend to struggle with teams that are on the road and not ranked," Warlick said. "Our focus is zeroed in on Florida, and we've got to get the win."
The Lady Vols needed big fourth quarters to escape with road wins over unranked Arkansas and Vanderbilt this month. Florida's only three league wins this season are against teams in the bottom four of the standings.
Ball movement on offense, one-on-one defense and being aware of where opposing players are on the floor have been at the top of the priority list in practice this week, Warlick said.
Though the second half of the schedule has brought struggles, Warlick doesn't believe her team's confidence has been negatively affected.
"I think it's made us more focused at practice," Warlick said. "They understand that there's not an easy game, not that they thought there was. You have to play hard all the time, and I think they are realizing that. Every possession matters, and we have really been focusing on that.
"It continues to be a learning process for us. We're really still young. We have two seniors that play a lot, but the rest are still learning. They are going to continue to learn."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.