WBB Wraparound: New No. 1, Unrivaled and a big test for TCU

3 highlights in college basketball from the past few weeks:

UCLA rises to No.1: There's been a shake-up in the women's basketball rankings! After beating the reigning national champions on home court a few weekends ago, the UCLA Bruins have now been no.1 in the AP Poll for two weeks. Currently 8-0 on their season, the Bruins vision of Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice is coming together. UConn has now nestled themselves into the second spot with a 6-0 record, and South Carolina rounds out the top three at 7-1. USC has fallen to a No. 6 ranking, while the other big news in this week's ranking was TCU cracking the top 10 at no.9. These rankings are sure to mix up as we head into conference play, as these teams have provided us some jaw-dropping moments already.

Syla Swords wins MVP in Florida: Syla Swords is now a two-time Big 10 Freshman of the Week, thanks to a stellar performance in Florida this weekend. The Michigan Wolverines headed down to the Fort Myers Tip-Off over Thanksgiving weekend, winning the tournament. Swords averaged 19 points and 7 rebounds per game and helped Michigan come out on top. Her efforts also awarded her the tournament's MVP award. She made nine 3-point shots on 50 percent shooting from distance over two games, including her 24-point performance in the final. The young Canadian Freshman is quickly gaining national attention and has helped the Wolverines back into the rankings, now No. 23 nation-wide.

Flau'Jae Johnson joins Paige Bueckers as Unrivaled NILs: The Unriavaled women's basketball league is heading to Miami for it's inaugural season in January, quickly becoming a hub for the WNBA's best players. The league will play three months of 3x3 basketball, in an effort to help the players develop for the upcoming season. 33 of the the league's 36 players have been revealed, after Kelsey Plum decided to opt out due to personal reasons. Unrivaled isn't limiting themselves to the WNBA though, and a few months ago announced an Name, Image and Likeness deal with UConn superstar Paige Bueckers.

While Bueckers finishes up her season in college, she will participate in branding and events for Unrivaled, still receive equity like the players, and is expected to join the league once she goes professional. Well, on Thursday Unrivaled announced another NIL deal — Bueckers' pal Flau'Jae Johnson of LSU. The National Champ and rapper is joining the league in the same capacity as Bueckers, announcing through a music ad that also served as a merch drop for the league. Super exciting to see the league invest in college stars!

2 games to watch this weekend:

TCU vs South Carolina: Sunday, Dec. 8, 7:00 p.m. EST

The No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks absolutely wrecked Iowa State in their first game back from the team's loss against UCLA. The game ended with a score of 76-36, completely out of character for Iowa State. That same focus will come into play against No. 9 TCU as well, and the Gamecocks will be on a mission to not lose another game. TCU on the other hand, knows this game will greatly affect their ranking and votes. Hailey Van Lith has been playing extremely well to start the season, and this arguably is the first true dose of elite competition the TCU team has faced so far this season. Both teams have a lot on the line, and it's sure to be an exciting game.

Iowa vs Iowa State: Wednesday, Dec. 11, 9:00 p.m. EST

A Battle of Iowa! While Iowa State started the season in the top 10, a few missteps have caused them to fall a bit. Nothing to worry about! Now is the time to make those blunders, instead of in February or March. They now sit at No. 20 and will be itching for a win after their game against South Carolina last week. Iowa on the other hand is going through a transition, and would love to make a statement. They've climbed back into the rankings after starting the season off of them, now at No. 17 at 8-0. With a new head coach in Jan Jensen, and trying to figure out the post-Caitlin Clark era, early looks have proved there is still a lot of talent in Iowa.

1 player to keep an eye on: Hailey Van Lith

Hailey Van Lith is hooping for TCU. After playing three years at Louisville and one at LSU, Van Lith opted to use another year of eligibility at TCU. So far, it seems to be paying off, and Van Lith is inching back toward her 19.7 point-per-game career high from her junior year at Louisville. She's currently averaging 19.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals in nine games this year. Her season high came in a game versus Idaho State, where she scored 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on 62.5 percent shooting from the field. After having a rougher season at LSU, which came from not really being used to her skill set and never really integrated fully with the system, she seems to be playing well now.

Now No .9 in the rankings, TCU has beaten two ranked opponents this season — NC State and Notre Dame. Van Lith scored 18 points against NC State and 21 against Notre Dame. TCU's biggest test will be against South Carolina this weekend, and it's arguably Van Lith's biggest test as well. Proving she can keep up this level of play against South Carolina will do well for her draft stock, which has wobbled over her career in college. Especially as she prepares to enter a stacked draft class, anything she can give scouts to show her potential and ability will surely be beneficial to her.

TCU is also in a TOUGH Big 12 conference which will see them play teams like Utah, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, West Virginia, and more. All the preparation they can get before conference play starts is crucial.