Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Tennessee makes 500th appearance

Tennessee made its 500th appearance in The Associated Press women's basketball Monday, the first school to reach that figure.

Tennessee (24-3), which remained fifth, has been ranked in all but 14 polls and is on a run of 373 consecutive appearances. No. 20 Louisiana Tech is second in appearances with 444. The poll started in 1976.

All of Tennessee's national rankings have come with Pat Summitt as coach. Summitt credits the players for her program's success, which includes six NCAA championships and 104 appearances at No. 1 at the poll. Both figures are tops in the women's game.

"I think this speaks to the level of success we've had because of the caliber of players that have come through this program," she said. "The players are responsible for the consistency of this basketball program."

Tennessee was first ranked the week of Dec. 8, 1976. The Lady Vols have been in every poll since Feb. 17, 1985 and they haven't been out of the Top 10 since the week of March 3, 1997, when they were 11th.

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