After losing to Oklahoma earlier in the week, South Carolina bounced back on Sunday with a huge win over Vanderbilt, handing the Commodores their first loss of the season. Will the AP voters reward South Carolina for its win or punish it for its loss?
Here's what this week's AP Top 25 poll should look like when it's released on Monday. Big wins from Iowa and multiple losses for Kentucky are among the key things set to shake up the order of this week's poll.
Projected AP Top 25 women's college basketball rankings
- UConn
- UCLA
- Texas
- South Carolina
- LSU
- Vanderbilt
- Iowa
- Louisville
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- TCU
- Michigan State
- Baylor
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Maryland
- Ole Miss
- Duke
- Kentucky
- Princeton
- West Virginia
- Texas Tech
- Alabama
- Washington
- North Carolina
South Carolina's strange week
Were the Gamecocks so concerned with Vanderbilt that they looked past Oklahoma? Honestly...maybe, because the defense just had nothing for the Sooners on Thursday as OU handed South Carolina its second loss of the season, prevailing 94-82 in overtime. It was the first time that South Carolina had allowed over 90 points in a game this season. In fact, it was the time since a 2019 Sweet 16 loss to Baylor that South Carolina had allowed 90 or more points.
Oklahoma's ability to push the pace mixed with clutch shotmaking from Aaliyah Chavez gave South Carolina fits and showcased one of the rare weaknesses of this Gamecocks team: elite offensive teams can cause issues for South Carolina because the team isn't necessarily built for shootouts.
Then the Gamecocks went out on Sunday and beat previously undefeated Vanderbilt by 29 points. Why the big difference? Part of it is a function of the offenses that South Carolina was playing. Mikayla Blakes is better than anyone on the Sooners, but she's also a ball-dominant, high-usage player. South Carolina could more easily focus on bottling her up without having to worry as much about the rest of the team beating them. Oklahoma has stars, but all five of its starters can beat you if you leave one open, so the Sooners had more escape hatches available against the Gamecocks defense.
The solidification of the top four is back
I've believed since the start of the season that the four No. 1 seeds would be UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA. Vanderbilt's undefeated start to the year, coupled with losses recently by South Carolina and Texas, introduced a bit of doubt to that, but it should be clear now that we're right back where we started.
The top four teams have a combined five losses. Of those losses, three are to other top four teams, one is to the team that feels clearly like the No. 5 team now (LSU) and the final one was South Carolina's upset loss to Oklahoma this week.
When they're playing their best basketball, those four schools are just a step above anyone else. LSU comes close at times and can even score an upset, but the Tigers would need to finish with probably what...two fewer losses than South Carolina or Texas to get the NCAA Tournament committee to put them on the No. 1 line, considering how weak their non-conference schedule was? I don't see it happening.
Iowa looks like a real contender
Is there a hotter team in the nation right now than Iowa? The 18-2 Hawkeyes have now defeated three ranked teams in a row, including Sunday's dominant 91-70 victory over Ohio State. Overall, Iowa has won eight straight since its loss to UConn.
Hannah Stuelke has been one of the best bigs in the nation, scoring efficiently on the interior and also showing off her passing skills. As a whole, unselfishness drives this Hawkeyes team, which ranks third in Division I in assists per game and fourth in assisted shot rate.
Offensive Rating | Defensive Rating | Net Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
2025-26 Iowa | 109.8 | 85.2 | 24.6 |
2023-24 Iowa | 117.8 | 92.8 | 25.0 |
The team isn't winning in the same way it was in the Caitlin Clark era, where one player really fueled the high assist numbers and the big scoring totals. Defense has become a more important part of the team's success this year, with Iowa allowing its fewest points since the 2012-13 campaign. Add in the offensive development for Ava Heiden and Chazadi Wright and you get a very dangerous Hawkeyes team.
Texas Tech avoids a total meltdown
Losing two in a row after starting undefeated sucks, but it's not the end of the world. A three-game losing streak, though? That's something you want to avoid, and it's something that Texas Tech did manage to avoid.
Saturday's game on the road against Utah should have been a tough one, but the Red Raiders rolled, winning 77-49 behind a huge game from Snudda Collins, who scored 28 points. The game really showed off how deep this team is. On a night where Jalynn Bristow was held to just six points, Tech still managed to find a way, and the defense absolutely shut down the Utes, holding them to 32.7 percent shooting overall and an 18.8 percent mark from deep.
This win was especially critical if Tech hopes to still wind up as a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament. A third loss in a row with TCU coming up soon might have been enough to end those hopes completely, but this win offers Tech a shot to build some momentum up and to avoid the same fate as fellow Big 12 team Iowa State, which fell apart after a hot start to the season. It also makes me feel way more confident in this team being capable of making a run to the Sweet Sixteen.