Minn. in 1st women's poll since 2019, UCLA No. 1
Minnesota is off to its best start in 17 games and earned its first ranking since 2019 on Monday, entering the Associated Press women’s basketball poll at No. 24.
The Golden Gophers have won 16 of their first 17 contests, with the loss coming against Nebraska last month. They are ranked for the first time since Dec. 30, 2019. Next up is a matchup at No. 8 Maryland on Tuesday.
UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame and the USC Trojans kept rolling, holding the top four spots again in the AP Top 25. The Bruins received 29 of the 31 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Fighting Irish, who were missing All-America guard Hannah Hidalgo in their most recent game because of a foot injury, got the other two top votes.
Undefeated LSU moved up one spot to fifth. The Tigers, along with the Bruins and No. 9 Ohio State, are the only three unbeaten teams left in Division I women’s basketball.
UConn was sixth, with Texas falling two places to seventh after a 67-50 loss at South Carolina on Sunday.
TCU moved up one spot to 10th.
Dropping out
Iowa and Michigan fell out of the poll this week. The two Big Ten schools suffered losses last week. The Wolverines had a difficult stretch over the past few weeks, with games against No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 USC and No. 9 Ohio State that were all losses. Michigan did beat Purdue on Saturday. Iowa lost to Illinois and Indiana last week.
Ranked Cowgirls
No. 24 Oklahoma State entered the poll for the first time since 2018 after knocking off then-No. 17 West Virginia on Saturday. The Cowgirls have gone 14-2 this season and are on the road at Houston and UCF this week before hosting the No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs on Jan. 22.
Rising Bears
California moved up six spots to No. 18 after beating No. 21 NC State and Florida State last week. The Bears have their highest ranking since they were 18th on Dec. 31, 2018.
Conference breakdown
The SEC has seven teams ranked this week, with the Big Ten and ACC right behind with six each. The Big 12 has five and the Big East one.
Games of the week
No. 23 Utah at No. 10 TCU, Friday. The Utes stumbled in their first game this season as a ranked team, getting routed by then-No. 12 Kansas State. Now Utah will face another tall task, this one against Sedona Prince and the Horned Frogs.
No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 2 South Carolina, Sunday. The Gamecocks continue their stretch of facing five ranked opponents in a row with a game at No. 19 Alabama on Thursday before hosting the Sooners this weekend.
