Down goes No. 1. For the second week in a row, the No. 1 team in the country lost after No. 1 Notre Dame fell in double overtime to NC State on Sunday, leading to another shake up in the rankings.
With the Irish loss, Texas should move into the top spot. The Longhorns will jump to No. 1 for the first time since 2004, but how far will Notre Dame fall?
Below is a projection of what Monday's AP Top 25 poll will look like after a wild week.
Projected AP Top 25 women's college basketball rankings
1. Texas
2. Notre Dame
3. UCLA
4. USC
5. UConn
6. South Carolina
7. LSU
8. North Carolina
9. NC State
10. TCU
11. Ohio State
12. Tennessee
13. Kansas State
14. Oklahoma
15. Kentucky
16. Duke
17. Baylor
18. Maryland
19. Alabama
20. West Virginia
21. Creighton
22. Oklahoma State
23. South Dakota State
24. Florida State
25. Michigan State
Down goes Notre Dame
Sonia Citron hit a huge shot to force overtime on Sunday, but Notre Dame was unable to overcome a strong game from NC State, losing 104-95 to the Wolfpack in double overtime.
Last week, UCLA fell two spots after losing from the No. 1 spot, but this week Notre Dame should only fall one spot, dropping to second behind Texas.
What keeps the Irish at No. 2, ahead of UCLA still? Mainly, it's just that Notre Dame looks like the better team. The trio of Citron, Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo might be the best grouping in the nation and they're surrounded by a deep supporting cast. This is a more complete team than UCLA.
There's also the fact that UCLA's post-loss resume isn't strong enough to support a move up the polls. The Bruins went 2-0 this week, but just barely eked out a win over Iowa.
Impressive week for USC
USC won't move up this week, but the Trojans continue to prove they're one of the nation's best teams.
This week, USC was one of two teams to beat multiple ranked opponents, taking down No. 22 Michigan State and No. 25 Illinois. The wins weren't blowouts, but beating two ranked foes by an average of nine points is still very impressive.
Since an upset loss to Iowa (that should barely count because it was Caitlin Clark jersey retirement day, which gave the Hawkeyes a boost), the Trojans have won six in a row heading into the season finale against UCLA. This is one of the scariest teams in the country, largely because they have JuJu Watkins on the floor. No current college player is more likely to hit a big shot at just the right moment than Watkins.
NC State jumps into the Top 10
As mentioned above, two teams had multiple ranked wins this week. USC, and then NC State, which shocked No. 1 Notre Dame in double overtime on Sunday to cap off a huge week that also included a win over No. 20 Georgia Tech.
Zoe Brooks led the way with 33 points in the win over the Irish while Aziaha James added 20. The NC State offense was undeniable in the win.
Overall, this NC State team has been one of the nation's best offenses, though it's had issues on defense. Sunday's game won't help the defensive numbers, but it proved that NC State can outduel a top opponent.
Baylor should be higher than it will be ranked
Just based on who won and who lost this week, I predict Baylor to land at No. 17 in this week's AP poll. But that's a prediction of what the consensus will say. It's not where I would have Baylor, which is probably somewhere around 12 or 13.
The Bears have now won eight in a row after Saturday's win over Iowa State, which featured Baylor shutting down ISU star Audi Crooks and controlling the game all the way through.
This is a well-rounded team that can put up a fight against anyone, and after Kansas State's loss this week the team is tied atop the Big 12 with TCU.
Baylor ends the regular season with games against the Big 12's other top teams, Kansas State and TCU, so we're going to get an answer very soon about how good this team really is, but all signs point to those being very competitive games.
We'll have a ranked mid-major!
One personal subplot I've been watching is if a mid-major would hit the rankings. So far, no one has made it, but South Dakota State should make an appearance this week. The voters have been high on the Jackrabbits and the way the losses shook out at the bottom of the Top 25, there should be room for South Dakota State to make an appearance.
The team's only losses this year have come against Duke, Georgia Tech and Texas, and while there's no real marquee win on the resume, the team is currently doing what it needs to do: dominating the Summit League.
The team will return to the rankings for the first time since October 2022.
Georgia Tech finally falls out
We've been trending toward Georgia Tech sliding out of the top 25 for a while now. After peaking at No. 13, the Yellow Jackets have dropped to No. 20 in the current rankings. After losing twice this week, the team will fall outside of the Top 25 this week.
On Jan. 2, Georgia Tech was undefeated. Since then, the team has suffered seven losses, including dropping three of the team's past four games. A relatively easy non-conference schedule inflated expectations for this team, but the Yellow Jackets have failed to meet those expectations.