UCLA, South Carolina and Texas all faced big matchups this week against ranked opponents, games that could have tripped up three of the nation's elite teams. Ultimately, the two SEC teams took care of business with ease, while UCLA managed to narrowly avoid an upset loss to Michigan.
After an eventful week, here's what we can expect from this week's AP Top 25 poll, including a second mid-major program climbing its way into the rankings.
Projected AP Top 25 women's college basketball rankings
- UConn
- UCLA
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Vanderbilt
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Louisville
- Oklahoma
- Duke
- Michigan State
- Iowa
- Baylor
- Ole Miss
- TCU
- Texas Tech
- Maryland
- Kentucky
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Princeton
- North Carolina
- Rhode Island
Tennessee keeps getting blown out
I think Tennessee should be a good basketball team. The coaching is strong. The roster has some really good players on it, including a player who I've long thought has the tools to be elite in Janiah Barker.
But the Volunteers are now 0-4 against top 10 opponents this season, and it's not the zero that alarms me. It's that the closest one of those games was a 22-point loss to UCLA.
That trend continued this week with a 43-point loss to South Carolina. Against elite competition, this team just looks completely out of sorts, and head coach Kim Caldwell didn't have many answers in the post-game presser.
"We just had a lot of quit in us, tonight."
— Paige Dauer (@PaigeDauerFDP) February 8, 2026
Kim Caldwell describes the 93-50 loss to South Carolina. pic.twitter.com/Ik6HKxazVj
So, what's really wrong here? I don't know. The Tennessee system feels incapable of adjusting to the moment, and the pressing on defense just hasn't worked against teams with the talent to beat the press, which fels like the biggest concern.
Michigan just barely comes up short once again
Earlier this season, Michigan came closer than anyone has to handing UConn its first loss of the season. This week, Michigan came closer than anyone has to handing UCLA its first Big Ten loss of the season.
It's another reminder of just how talented this Michigan team is, though there's something missing still. I truly think one good transfer portal addition this offseason can propel this team into the national title conversation next season. So far, Michigan has three losses to top 10 teams, all by three points — this is a team that can stay in every game, but that hasn't quite figured out how to outscore elite teams. But hey, the fact that the defense has been able to limit these opponents is great news for the Wolverines for the NCAA Tournament, because this is a team that could definitely drag a top opponent down enough to make a Final Four run. I'm just not sure they'd have enough in the tank to turn a Final Four appearance into a national championship.
It's time to admit Duke is the ACC's best team
This isn't to say that the Blue Devils will jump so much that they'll overtake Louisville in the rankings, but after a 59-58 win over the Cardinals this week, Duke is now 13-0 in ACC play. If not for a poor non-conference portion of the schedule, we might be talking about this team as a title contender.
Duke | Record |
|---|---|
Non-Conference | 5-6 |
Conference | 13-0 |
Is this just a result of a down year for the ACC, allowing the Blue Devils to beat up on the conference? Maybe! I think the non-conference losses can't really be ignored here when projecting forward for Duke's chances in the NCAA Tournament, but there's certainly no hotter team in the ACC right now.
Toby Fournier is averaging 18.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in conference play. Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair are both averaging 5.2 assists, with Mair adding 2.8 steals per game. Duke is second in the ACC in offensive rating and first in defensive rating. This is the team we expected to see this season, before the non-conference slide.
Hello, Rhode Island!
The Rams should be ranked this week. They've moved up steadily in terms of vote count, and with Washington and Georgia both losing this week, it should be Rhode Island's turn.
And if Rhode Island is indeed ranked, it would be a first for the program. Digging through Across The Timeline's AP poll history, there's no sign of Rhode Island, which shouldn't be a shock. This is a program with just one NCAA Tournament appearance ever, making the Big Dance in 1996.
But the Rams have hit on something this season, going 21-2 and currently posting an undefeated mark in Atlantic 10 play. The team has the 20th-best defensive rating in Division I and protects the basketball well, posting the ninth-lowest turnover rate. Smart play on both ends of the floor have propelled this team to new heights.