Women's College Basketball Rankings: AP Poll Top 25 updated with new No. 1 team

Women’s college basketball got a major shakeup last week after multiple teams ranked the the AP Poll Top 25 faced off against one another. Naturally, that’s led to another shakeup within the AP Poll as teams enter the home stretch of their seasons.

The most notable of those games was likely the loss that South Carolina suffered at the hands of UConn. However, that wasn’t the only key game between AP-ranked teams. There was also the top-five game between Texas and LSU, which saw the Longhorns re-assert themselves as one of the best teams in the country. Perhaps most importantly, UCLA also dropped its first game, losing to rival USC. That’s just games between multiple Top-10 teams too. There were plenty of other games between teams ranked by the AP last week.

After all of that chaos, here’s a look at the updated AP Top 25 Poll in women’s college basketball.

1. Notre Dame

Notre Dame’s fantastic season marches on. Since dropping back-to-back games in November, Notre Dame has won 17 straight games. That includes wins over Texas, UConn, and North Carolina. Last week, the Irish added a blowout win over Pitt to the list of wins they’ve put together amid a dominant season. 

On Monday, Notre Dame is set to be tested by an excellent Duke team that’s visiting South Bend. The Irish currently seem like they’re in a good position to win the ACC, up by two games on Duke and 1.5 games on NC State with just five regular season games remaining. At the same time, in this next week, the Irish play both of those teams nipping on their heels, not to mention dealing with Miami in the middle of the week.

2. Texas

The Texas Longhorns announced themselves a week ago by beating South Carolina. Then, last week, the Longhorns announced themselves a little more clearly, taking down two teams ranked in the AP Top 10. That started with an 18-point win over Kentucky before turning their attention to LSU, beating the Tigers 65-58. That was the lowest point total for LSU since their loss to South Carolina.

That run of success for Texas has thrown the SEC race into a bit of chaos. The Longhorns are now in first place, having played one more game this season in conference than South Carolina, who Texas split two games with. Meanwhile, they knocked LSU and Kentucky off the pace. With three games left for Texas, but none until February 24th, the Longhorns are in a good position.

3. UCLA

The UCLA Bruins are unbeaten no more. After starting the season with 23 straight wins, the Bruins fell at the hands of rival USC. It was a solid 11-point win too. That was one of several games that threw the Women’s AP Poll into turmoil this week. UCLA did bounce back with a win against Michigan State and will have another shot at USC later this season at least.

Next Thursday, UCLA will be back in action when the Bruins host Illinois. After that, they’ll take their final Big Ten road trip of the regular season. That starts with Iowa next Sunday before the next AP Poll comes out and before the final week of the regular season.

4. USC

The USC Trojans have battled some frustrating losses at times this season, most recently against Iowa. Then, on Thursday, while hosting rival UCLA the Trojans seemed to take some of their frustrations out on the Bruins and upset the top-ranked team in the AP Poll. It was a reminder of how good this USC team is capable of being. After avoiding a letdown game against Washington, the Trojans are feeling good.

USC now has a slight lead over UCLA in the Big Ten standings. However, with another head-to-head game against UCLA, the Trojans don’t have margin for error in the Big Ten race. So, USC needs to be prepared for a very capable Michigan State team on Wednesday.

5. UConn

The UConn Huskies shocked the women’s college basketball world by going to South Carolina and blowing out the Gamecocks. An 87-58 point win, the game was never particularly close. After blowing out St. John’s earlier in the week, it’s no surprise to see the Huskies climbing in the AP Poll.

From here, UConn has four games left to play. All of those are Big East games, starting with Seton Hall on Wednesday before completing their final road trip of the season at Butler on Saturday. Four games behind UConn, Seton Hall still technically could catch the Huskies in the Big East standings. More importantly, Creighton is only one game behind UConn.

6. South Carolina

The South Carolina Gamecocks went into their game against UConn confident. After all, they’d already bounced back from the Texas loss with a blowout win over Florida. Besides that, this team dominates at home. That is, until the Huskies jumped the Gamecocks early and never looked back. A 29-point loss would ultimately be what snapped the team’s 71-game home winning streak.

Now, head coach Dawn Staley needs to go back to the drawing board and hit the reset button quickly with only four games remaining this season. That run will start against Arkansas on Thursday when the Gamecocks hope to start a brand new home winning streak. After that, they’ll begin their final road trip of the regular season. 

7. LSU

The LSU Tigers had a difficult weekend, losing to the Texas Longhorns. It was their second loss of the season, both of which have come in SEC play after the Tigers played a non-conference schedule that was criticized for being relatively easy. On top of that, it puts both teams LSU has lost to ahead of them in the standings.

Time is running thin to catch up in the regular season SEC race. However, if things break the right way, there is still time. Of course, LSU is going to need to play excellent basketball from here. That starts with Georgia on Thursday before a difficult final road trip of the season against Kentucky and Alabama.

8. Ohio State

After dropping two games on a West Coast road trip, Ohio State needed to find a way to bounce back last week. They had one game to do so, against Minnesota, and that very nearly went sideways for the Buckeyes as they got taken into overtime after Minnesota had a fourth quarter comeback. Still, Ohio State survived and remains ranked in the AP Poll.

Two games behind USC in the Big Ten standings, winning the conference in the regular season isn’t likely for the Buckeyes. Still, they’ll want to finish the regular season strong. That starts with a tricky home game against Iowa on Monday before games against Indiana and Purdue next week.

9. North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels earned a win over not just a rival but an AP Top 10 team last week when they took down NC State. With that win, along with a solid win over Virginia Tech, the Tar Heels have moved into the AP Poll themselves. They’re also now just 2.5 games behind Notre Dame in the ACC standings.

North Carolina has four games left this season. So, to win the ACC it would take multiple teams struggling while the Tar Heels dominate. More importantly, is going to have the Tar Heels building momentum going into the postseason. That starts with a road game against Syracuse on Thursday.

10. TCU

Since losing to Kansas State, TCU has gone on a nice run, winning three games in a row. That included a pair of major wins over BYU and Arizona last week to help move the Horned Frogs into the AP Top 10. 

Most important at this point in the regular season is that there is a three-way tie for first in the Big 12. So, every game is vital for TCU. Next week that continues with Arizona State and West Virginia. Given the regular season ends against Baylor, one of the teams they’re tied with, TCU can’t get ahead of themselves.

Rest of AP Top 25 Poll

11. Duke
12. Kansas State
13. NC State
14. Kentucky
15. Tennessee
16. Oklahoma
17. West Virginia
18. Alabama
19. Baylor
20. Georgia Tech
21. Maryland
22. Michigan State
23. Creighton
24. Oklahoma State
25. Illinois