Where Notre Dame women’s basketball ranks in final AP Top 25 before Selection Sunday
The way the media votes on the Associated Press Poll has no bearing on NCAA Tournament seeding. But if it did, Notre Dame would be living on the edge of a No. 2 or 3 seed in the big dance. And based on common outside perception in response to the Fighting Irish losing three of their last five games, that seems about right.
Notre Dame (26-5) is No. 8 in the final pre-Selection Sunday AP Top 25 of the season.
Week 19 NCAA women’s basketball Associated Press Poll
1. UCLA (30-2)
2. South Carolina (30-3)
3. UConn (30-3)
4. USC (28-3)
5. Texas (31-3)
6. TCU (31-3)
7. Duke (26-7)
8. Notre Dame (26-5)
9. NC State (26-6)
10. LSU (28-5)
11. Oklahoma (25-7)
12. North Carolina (22-7)
13. Kentucky (22-7)
14. Baylor (27-7)
15. Ohio State (25-6)
16. West Virgina (24-7)
17. Oklahoma State (25-6)
18. Maryland (23-7)
19. Kansas State (26-7)
20. Tennessee (22-9)
21. Alabama (23-8)
22. Creighton (24-5)
23. Florida State (23-8)
24. South Dakota State (29-3)
25. Ole Miss (20-10)
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Notre Dame-related rankings takeaways
Notre Dame has wins over three of the top five teams in the poll; UConn, USC and Texas. One of the Irish’s five losses is against the No. 6 team in the nation, TCU. The Irish had a sizable lead over the Horned Frogs in the Cayman Islands Classic in November but ended up blowing it in the second half.
The Irish also have a loss to the No. 7 team, Duke, and the No. 8 team, NC State. The Blue Devils beat the Irish, 61-56, in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament this past weekend. The Wolfpack beat the Irish, 104-95 in double overtime, on the penultimate Sunday of the regular season in late February. It’s worth noting Notre Dame beat Duke, 64-49, in South Bend on Feb. 17.
Notre Dame only played two other teams ranked in the Top 25. The Irish beat No. 12 North Carolina, 76-66, in Chapel Hill on Jan. 5. The Irish lost to No. 23 Florida State, 86-81, in South Bend on Feb. 27.
The Irish are slotted in at No. 5 in the most recent NET rankings, a better indicator of what the NCAA Tournament bracket will look like in terms of seeding. With that ranking, Notre Dame should feel confident it will be slapped with a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday.
March 10 NET Rankings
| Rank | Team | Conference | Record | Road | Neutral | Home | Quad 1 | Quad 2 | Quad 3 | Quad 4 |
| 1 | UConn | Big East | 30-3 | 10-2 | 7-0 | 13-1 | 5-3 | 6-0 | 10-0 | 9-0 |
| 2 | South Carolina | SEC | 30-3 | 8-2 | 8-0 | 14-1 | 16-3 | 4-0 | 3-0 | 7-0 |
| 3 | Texas | SEC | 31-3 | 10-2 | 6-1 | 15-0 | 14-3 | 4-0 | 4-0 | 9-0 |
| 4 | UCLA | Big Ten | 30-2 | 10-1 | 8-0 | 12-1 | 14-2 | 4-0 | 2-0 | 10-0 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | ACC | 26-5 | 11-1 | 1-3 | 14-1 | 6-5 | 9-0 | 3-0 | 8-0 |
| 6 | Southern California | Big Ten | 28-3 | 9-1 | 5-1 | 14-1 | 13-3 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 9-0 |
| 7 | Duke | ACC | 26-7 | 8-6 | 5-0 | 13-1 | 9-5 | 6-2 | 7-0 | 4-0 |
| 8 | TCU | Big 12 | 31-3 | 7-2 | 5-1 | 19-0 | 8-3 | 5-0 | 5-0 | 13-0 |
| 9 | Kansas St. | Big 12 | 26-7 | 6-4 | 3-2 | 17-1 | 2-6 | 4-1 | 8-0 | 12-0 |
| 10 | LSU | SEC | 28-5 | 6-3 | 5-1 | 17-1 | 6-5 | 6-0 | 3-0 | 13-0 |
