March 18, 2015
With the combination of outstanding academic achievement and athletic success, the Vanderbilt women’s basketball program is ranked No. 5 in the nation in a poll of Best Colleges for Women’s Basketball.
Vanderbilt is the highest-ranked SEC team in the poll, which was published by the USA Today late Monday afternoon. The poll was based on “the athletic success of the team, as well as the academic progress of the players” according to the story on USA Today.
UConn is ranked No. 1, followed by Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. For a link to the story on the USA Today site, click HERE.
Behind Vanderbilt, the highest-ranked SEC team is Tennessee at No. 7.
The rankings were based on a combination of factors, with some factors carrying more significance than others. Each factor was given a value of importance of high, medium or low. The factors for the Division I schools were: Athletic Competitiveness (High); Overall College Quality (High); Academic Progress Rate (Medium) and Financial Resources (Medium). For more on the criteria, click HERE.
Vanderbilt has a rich history of success in women’s basketball, having advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 15 of the past 16 seasons, including a dozen appearances during head coach Melanie Balcomb’s tenure.