It's funny that all the chatter surrounding Tennessee being overrated is all but gone now. I think Harper has done a great job of turning the program back into a solid top 5 team. I'm excited to see SC vs UT matchup, both teams are so similar I want to see how it ends on the court.
We'll see. I mean just about every ranked team they beat is no longer in the top 25. Texas as the 9th best team is a stretch and if not for officiating they lose that game at home. That leaves Stanford...who they lost to at home. I'll concede a solid top 10, but 5? A 1 seed? That's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time under these volatile times. Do you think if they played SC's nonconference schedule they would have 1 loss?
And lastly, the rise of Horston. She's scoring more because of two factors and one is not that she is a better shooter. She's a better REBOUNDER...which is a good thing because she is an average shooter and that stat has not changed. She's also still turning the ball over at the same rate. The other factor is...Burrell was out. Someone had to make up her scoring. IMO...Horston would have been an AA in a system like Arkansas versus a team that runs a lot of half-court sets.
No doubt Harper has stabilized the program. She deserves a lot of credit for that. Her Achilles is...recruiting. As of now ...she has one, the daughter of a Tenn alum.