After a week of upsets that saw 15 ranked teams lose, South Carolina remained the only undefeated school.
The Gamecocks went on a streak of 36 consecutive weeks in the Associated Press top 25 women’s basketball survey, coincidence Louisiana Tech for the second-longest run in poll history dating back to 1976.
South Carolina (29-0) finished the regular season undefeated and was once again a unanimous No. 1 pick in the national media poll released Monday. The Gamecocks’ only track UConn (51 weeks) for the longest consecutive Top 25 streak.
“Definitely no relief” after her flawless regular season, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston said. “Now, we’re in a season where winning is the only option.”
While the Gamecocks won both of their games last week and entered the SEC tournament as the No. 1 seed, the standings received a major overhaul. The 15 ranked teams that lost at least one game were by far the top 25 schools to lose in the same week this season; 11 had lost the same week a few times earlier this season.
Indiana, who lost at the buzzer to then-No. 6 Iowa on Caitlin Clark’s three-pointer Sunday, it remained No. 2. Utah jumped five spots to No. 3 after surpassing then-No. 3 Stanford to clinch a share of the Pac-12 title. It’s Utah’s best ranking ever. The Cardinal fell to sixth place.
LSU i Maryland completed the top five.
Iowa was seventh with Virginia Tech eighth. UConn dropped five spots to ninth after losing to St. John’s. Our Lady it was 10th The Irish lost point guard Olivia Miles to a knee injury in Sunday’s win against Louisville.
Vilanova jumped four places to 11th. It’s the Wildcats’ best finish since the team finished the 2003 season in the same spot. Texas made the biggest improvement, climbing seven places to 12th.
Most of the Power 5 conferences enter the tournament this week. The Big 12 tournament is the week before Selection Sunday and the start of March Madness.
South Florida re-entered the Top 25 at No. 25 after winning 15 of its last 16 games. The Bulls have one conference game remaining, Wednesday at Cincinnati. South Florida was ranked for two weeks earlier this season. Florida State dropped out of the rankings.
Arizona dropped seven spots to No. 21 after losing to Oregon and Oregon State over the weekend. The Wildcats are 12-3 at home but 7-5 on the road.
Report from The Associated Press.
The AP TOP 25
1. South Carolina (29-0)
2. Indiana (26-2)
3. Utah (25-3)
4. LSU (27-1)
5. Maryland (24-5)
6. Stanford (27-4)
7. Iowa (23-6)
8. Virginia Tech (24-4)
9. UConn (25-5)
10. Mother of God (24-4)
11. Villanova (25-5)
12. Texas (22-7)
13. Duke (24-5)
14. Ohio State (23-6)
15. Gonzaga (27-3)
16. Oklahoma (22-5)
17. Michigan (21-8)
18. North Carolina (20-9)
19. UCLA (22-8)
20. Colorado (22-7)
21. Arizona (21-8)
22. UNLV (27-2)
23. Iowa State (18-8)
24. Middle Tennessee (23-4)
25. South Florida (25-5)
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