Two weeks into the women's college basketball season and some things look clear, including the top five in the AP poll. For the third poll in a row, we can expect the top five to stay the same, in the same order. The elite teams are eliting.
Beyond that, though, there were plenty of results that are certain to shake things up. Four of the top 11 teams from last week's poll suffered losses this weekend, and one ranked team suffered one of the worst losses I've seen in a while by a ranked team. More on Notre Dame in a minute, but the loss to Michigan spoiled a week that began with Hannah Hidalgo playing one of the best games we've ever seen. Things change fast!!
Here's my projection of what Monday's AP Top 25 poll will look like after a week that once again saw a number of ranked ACC teams lose.
Projected AP Top 25 women's college basketball rankings
1. UConn
2. South Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Texas
5. LSU
6. Baylor
7. Maryland
8. Oklahoma
9. Michigan
10. TCU
11. Tennessee
12. USC
13. Ole Miss
14. North Carolina
15. NC State
16. Iowa State
17. Vanderbilt
18. Oklahoma State
19. Iowa
20. Duke
21. Louisville
22. Kentucky
23. Michigan State
24. Notre Dame
25. Washington
ACC's struggles continue
Six ranked teams suffered a loss this week. Of those six teams, four were ACC teams. That follows an opening week where three of the five losses by ranked teams were by ACC teams. This is starting to feel notable.
Two losses I want to zero in on here real quick: Duke's loss to unranked West Virginia and Notre Dame's blowout loss against Michigan.
That Duke loss was a WEIRD one. West Virginia's entire bench was ejected, so the Mountaineers played with just five players for the entire second half. Even with that impediment, West Virginia locked in and held Duke to just 49 points for the entire game. Duke shot 37.5 percent as a team, and Ashlon Jackson was the only player to make a 3-pointer. The team followed that up with a 71-57 win over Liberty, which...IDK, I think Duke should be beating Liberty by a larger margin than that.
Then there was Notre Dame. There were plenty of questions about how this team would look after the mass exodus of talent this offseason. So much was going to be on the shoulders of Hannah Hidalgo. Was that enough for the Irish to still be a top team?
Maybe not, because the loss to Michigan was BAD. The Wolverines are going to jump up the rankings this week, and deservingly so — this young Michigan team appears to be putting it all together at the moment — after beating Notre Dame 93-54. That's not a misprint. Hidalgo had seven turnovers and shot 4-for-21 from the floor, and even solid shooting nights from KK Bransford and Cassandre Prosper weren't enough to make up for that. For better or worse, Notre Dame's season is going to depend on how Hidalgo plays each night.
UConn is firing on all cylinders
No. 1 UConn didn't play a ranked team this week, but it did face Ohio State, the top vote getter last week among unranked teams — essentially the No. 26 team in the nation. The Huskies rolled, winning 100-68. Sarah Strong had 29 points on 70.6 percent shooting. Azzi Fudd was 5-for-9 from deep. Blanca Quinonez scored 18 off the bench.
It's time to have the "Sarah Strong is the best player in college basketball and it isn't even close" conversation. We're witnessing greatness right now, and she's a big part of why UConn is very clearly the best team in college basketball.
UCLA has a strong case for No. 1 — or at least No. 2
UCLA is going to be ranked third in Monday's poll. South Carolina's big win over No. 8 USC made sure of that, as it gave the No. 2 Gamecocks the big win they needed to stay ahead of the Bruins in this week's poll. I'd be surprised to see the voters actually make a switch here.
With that said, I think UCLA could beat any team in the nation. Yes, even UConn. Yes, I know that I called UConn "very clearly the best team in college basketball" just two paragraphs ago. The Huskies are better than the Bruins, but the gap is small enough that UCLA could defeat UConn in a one-game series.
The Bruins had two ranked wins this week, including a 73-59 victory over No. 6 Oklahoma. On a team full of stars, Gabriela Jaquez has emerged as the lead scorer, which has really strengthened this team. When you have a roster that's already championship-caliber and one of your role players takes The Leap, then life is good.
I'm a little worried about Oklahoma
Oklahoma's offense stalling out against UCLA was one thing, but identical 89-61 wins over Kansas City and North Alabama feel a little concerning, right? I mean, winning by 28 points is a big margin, but if this team is supposed to be a championship contender, it should be winning these games by a larger margin, right?
Maybe I'm just reading too much into a small sample, but Raegan Beers is averaging fewer points and blocks than she did last year and freshman Aaliyah Chavez has some efficiency concerns to work out. I'm sure the Sooners will ultimately be fine, but the way UCLA just dismantled them makes me think they'll struggle against elite opponents this season. Chavez shot 25 percent in that game, and Beers was limited to just 2-for-7 shooting against a stout UCLA frontcourt anchored by Lauren Betts.