Women’s College Basketball Rankings: AP Poll Top 25 After Exciting Week

Now approaching the midway point in January, conference play is in full swing and the regular season races in each conference are starting to take shape. With that, there has also been a shake-up to the women’s college basketball AP Poll Top 25.

Last week there were several games between teams ranked in the Top 10 in the AP Poll. It also means that there would always be some jitters at the top of the poll. It also provides an opportunity for new teams to potentially move up, as there appear to be more than a few fully deserving teams this season.

With all that in mind, here’s a look at what this week is like AP Top 25 poll shaking out women’s college basketball:

The UCLA Bruins kept on winning, now in Big Ten play, last week with an 83-49 victory over Purdue. That game was highlighted by Lauren Bettswho led the scoring with 17 points. She was one of four Bruins in double figures.

Unfortunately, UCLA has been affected by the fires in Los Angeles. Northwestern postponed its road trip to play UCLA and USC due to safety concerns. Now, the Bruins must focus on the court amid a time of uncertainty and understandable fear. UCLA’s next scheduled game is a home game against Penn State on Jan. 15.

Last week, South Carolina hosted the two SEC teams from Texas, the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns. It was another pair of double-digit wins, making for an impressive week, especially considering the ranking Texas held in the AP poll entering the week.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here for South Carolina. That’s one of the challenges of playing in the SEC. Their next four games come against teams ranked in the AP Poll, starting with Alabama and Oklahoma this coming week.

Notre Dame got off to a fast start in ACC play, and that continued last week with big wins over Wake Forest and Clemson. That’s nine straight wins since the Irish lost two straight games in late November. It has also helped increase their ranking in the AP Poll.

The Irish will be back in action on Thursday with a touch test. Notre Dame will host a ranked Georgia Tech team hoping to announce itself with an upset there. After that, the Irish will be back in action on Sunday against SMU, looking to avoid a slump.

Like UCLA, the USC Trojans are dealing with the impact of the fires in Los Angeles. It has obviously had an emotional impact on the players and staff, especially those who have had their homes threatened. Still, USC added two more wins last week, including against AP Top 10 Maryland.

Next week, the impact of the fires will continue. Northwestern doesn’t want to go to California over the fires, and that’s perhaps an understandable choice. However, that only leaves USC with a road trip to Indiana next week.

LSU remains undefeated after moving deeper into SEC play. Last week it manifested itself in a thrilling win over Tennessee. An 89-87 finish, this was arguably the first big test of the season. It also saw three Tigers score at least 20 points in the win, with Aneesah Morrow with the star performance, scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds.

Next week SEC play continues for LSU with games against Vanderbilt and Florida. That game against the Gators is going to see the Tigers hit the road. Still, there is some expectation that LSU will continue its undefeated run.

Since returning to the Big East, UConn has been the dominant force in the conference. It has continued this season as well. Last week, the Huskies beat Xavier and Georgetown. Neither was close, but the win against Xavier was massive, with UConn winning 81-27 in a conference game.

Next week, UConn will play another pair of Big East games. These will come towards St. John’s and Seton Hall, and at this point in the season it will be interesting to see how dominant UConn can continue to be.

Texas dropped its second game of the season against South Carolina on Sunday by 17 points. It was the Longhorns’ first loss since dropping an overtime game to Notre Dame in early December. Meanwhile, Texas had won nine games, including games against multiple ranked teams.

Texas will have just one game next week and before the next AP Poll comes out. It will be a road trip to Auburn on Thursday. It should also give the Longhorns plenty of time to bounce back from a tough loss.

The Maryland Terrapins suffered their first loss of the season last week. Despite that, they were still able to maintain their place in the AP poll. That’s probably in part because the loss came in a close game against USC and because Maryland bounced back with a big win over Wisconsin later in the week.

Maryland will have just one game this coming week, with the Terrapins playing Minnesota on Tuesday. It’s their only game before the next AP poll drops, and it should give the Terrapins a little break.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are quietly undefeated now midway through the month of January. Last week, Ohio State continued its dominant effort in Big Ten play, beating a good Michigan team on the road before returning home to beat Oregon.

Next week, Big Ten play continues for the Buckeyes. First, Ohio State has a road trip to take on Wisconsin. So this weekend, Ohio State has another road trip to take on Penn State. It is a stretch they are expected to be able to do well.

TCU is off to an incredibly fast start in Big 12 play. Now 5-0 in conference play, TCU is 17-1 overall and in a good position to battle with Kansas State for the regular season conference title. That included wins over Kansas and Texas Tech last week.

Next week, TCU will host UCF. After that, it will be a difficult matchup against a Utah team that has been ranked in the AP Poll at times during the season. A win that could help propel the Horned Frogs forward.

The rest of the AP Top 25 poll

11. Kansas State
12. Kentucky
13. Oklahoma
14. North Carolina
15. Tennessee
16. Duke
17. Georgia Tech
18. California
19. Alabama
20. West Virginia
21. NC state
22. Michigan State
23. Utah
T-24. Minnesota
T-24. Oklahoma State