The Lady Vols know their destination for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

In her first year as Tennessee's coach, Kim Caldwell has steered the team to a 5-seed in March Madness.

This matches up the Lady Vols with 12-seed South Florida in the Round of 64 on Friday. A win places Tennessee against the winner of 4-seed Ohio State and 13-seed Montana State.

These opening pair of games will all be played in Columbus on the home court of the Buckeyes.

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As a part of the Birmingham 3 Region, a Sweet 16 berth would send the Lady Vols to the state of Alabama. The likely opponent for that round is 1-seed Texas.

Other top seeds on the way to an Elite Eight are 2-seed TCU and 3-seed Notre Dame.

This placement in the NCAA Tournament continues Tennessee's streak. The Lady Vols are the only men's or women's Division I basketball program to have never missed the tournament.

Tennessee has been to 36 Sweet 16s with the most recent coming in 2023 under Kellie Harper. The program has also reached 28 Elite Eights with the most recent coming in 2016 under Holly Warlick.

Caldwell has competed in just one Division I NCAA Tournament in her career. In her lone year at Marshall, she earned a 13-seed. Her Herd squad lost to 4-seed Virginia Tech 92-49 to end her short tenure there.

However, Caldwell has plenty of experience in NCAA Tournaments. With Division II Glenville State, she won the tournament in 2022. She also reached a pair of Final Fours while posting a 12-5 record in the Division II tournament in her career.

Tennessee is most recently coming off of a short stay at the SEC Tournament. The Lady entered as the 9-seed before downing 16-seed Texas A&M in the first round. Tennessee got caught by 8-seed Vanderbilt in the next round, though.

Caldwell's team has had two weeks off before beginning its NCAA Tournament run. She felt like her team needed it.

"I think we need rest," Caldwell said after the SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt. "I think we haven't really handled our load the way we should have in hindsight. I think we're tired and need a rest, get healthy, just get a reset."

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