South Carolina reclaims the number one spot in this week’s poll. The Gamecocks didn’t play this week, but with NC State knocking off Louisville and the Gamecocks having beaten every top contender, they rise. Their highly-anticipated matchup versus UConn Thursday was cancelled as the two teams are making up conference games that were postponed. South Carolina is now slotted to take on Ole Miss Thursday night and will also play Vanderbilt and Florida this week. NC State’s fourth quarter route of Louisville was impressive, and the Wolfpack were also able to defeat a talented Virginia Tech squad Sunday afternoon. NC State’s play allows them to leapfrog Stanford for the second spot in this week’s poll. The Cardinal played just one game last week, but routed Cal and they sit third in this week’s poll. The Lady Vols jump one spot to four this week after a big win at Georgia on Sunday. Tennessee will travel to Auburn Thursday night before returning home for a rematch vs Arkansas Monday. Louisville slides to five this week, as their offense struggles at times, but when their defense is clicking on all cylinders, they are one of the best team’s in the country.
Indiana and Michigan hold place at seven and eight, respectively. Arizona sits at eight after wins over Utah and Colorado and will be tested this week, as they travel to California to take on UCLA, Cal and Stanford. Despite the one-point loss to Florida on Sunday, LSU climbs to nine this week. The Tigers will look to rebound Thursday when they head to Arkansas. Georgia got a big win at Missouri on Monday, hung on to beat Mississippi State but fell to the Lady Vols Sunday. The Bulldogs’ efforts are good enough to place them in the top 10 this week.
Iowa State had a rough week as they dealt with COVID protocols and dropped to both Texas and Baylor, and they fall to 11. Texas slides up to 12 this week after getting back-to-back wins over the Cyclones and TCU; they’ll have their hands full this week as they battle Kansas State and Oklahoma. UConn suffered another loss to an unranked opponent, as they fell at Oregon. Thus, the Huskies fall back out of the top 10 to 13. Maryland’s inconsistency continues. They were without head coach Brenda Frese, who was attending the services of her late father, when they fell on the road to Ohio State, but the Terps got back to their scoring ways on Sunday in a win over Northwestern. Georgia Tech rounds out the top 15, after going 2-0 with a big win over UNC to maintain their separation in the ACC standings.
Baylor looked impressive in their win over Iowa State on Sunday, and will have to continue to play well in a competitive Big 12 this season if they want to be a top 16 seed come March. For now they sit at 16, but won’t have an easy week with road games at Texas Tech and at West Virginia. BYU continues their winning ways, and in dominating fashion; they are 17th. Notre Dame fell to unranked Boston College before narrowly defeating Pitt last week. The Fighting Irish need to regain their confidence as we hit the midway point in conference play as they try to secure at top four seed in the ACC Tournament. They fall five spots to 18 this week. Iowa seems to have found their groove once again, and are simply having fun on the court. They put up big numbers, led by Caitlin Clark, and move up to 19. Oklahoma lost in a lopsided game to Kansas State, but will have a chance to regain some momentum as they host Oklahoma State and Texas this week. The Sooners claim the final spot in the top 20.
A quiet week for the Cornhuskers of Nebraska, as they sit at 21. The Blue Devils had a busy week, as they got wins over Miami and Virginia, but with players in and out due to COVID protocols and Celeste Taylor’s injury, Duke has looked a little inconsistent at times. If they can finish through this adversity and get a healthy squad come March, they could surprise some teams and make a run in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. This week Duke comes in at 22. Oregon was a team that suffered injuries early on in the season, and we said if the Ducks could get healthy, watch out. With the return of some of their starters and two top 10 wins last week, they re-enter the poll at 23. No changes to spots 24 and 25 this week, as Florida Gulf Coast and Ole Miss, respectively, claim those two spots.
Top 25
1. South Carolina
2. NC State
3. Stanford
4. Tennessee
5. Louisville
6. Indiana
7. Michigan
8. Arizona
9. LSU
10. Georgia
11. Iowa State
12. Texas
13. UConn
14. Maryland
15. Georgia Tech
16. Baylor
17. BYU
18. Notre Dame
19. Iowa
20. Oklahoma
21. Nebraska
22. Duke
23. Oregon
24. Florida Gulf Coast
25. Ole Miss
RV: Ohio State, Kansas State, Colorado, Virginia Tech, UNC, Arkansas, Missouri, South Florida, Oregon State, DePaul, South Dakota