It was an eventful week in women's college basketball. No. 1 ranked UCLA lost its first game, but that wasn't even the most shocking loss of the week.
The most shocking one? UConn completely neutralized South Carolina on Sunday, going into Columbia and defeating the Gamecocks by 29 points. The win has moved the betting odds, with UConn now replacing South Carolina as the betting favorite to take the title.
We almost had multiple other big shake ups on Sunday as well. Texas came from behind to defeat LSU, then a Lauren Betts-less UCLA team almost lost to Michigan State.
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. UCLA
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. USC
5. UConn
6. South Carolina
7. LSU
8. Ohio State
9. North Carolina
10. TCU
11. NC State
12. Kentucky
13. Duke
14. Kansas State
15. Tennesse
16. Oklahoma
17. Alabama
18. Baylor
19. Maryland
20. West Virginia
21. Georgia Tech
22. Michigan State
23. Oklahoma State
24. Creighton
25. Cal
Down go the Gamecocks
I mean, what's there to say about Sunday's South Carolina/UConn game?
The Gamecocks don't lose at home, with the defeat snapping a 71-game home win streak for the program. But it wasn't just that South Carolina lost. It was that South Carolina never looked like it had a chance, falling 87-58 on Sunday.
What happened?
Three-pointers were a big part of it. UConn is a team built around shooting this year. South Carolina isn't. The Huskies were hot from deep, going 13-for-28 from three. The Gamecocks weren't, going 3-for-17. Being outscored by 30 points from outside the arc is tough to overcome.
Theoretically, South Carolina is built to overcome that though. However, the offense couldn't consistently score inside either. Freshman Joyce Edwards had a big game, scoring 17 points on 70 percent shooting, but the rest of the interior options were held in check.
It was just a perfect storm of bad luck for the Gamecocks. Te-Hina Paopao's shots weren't landing. Azzi Fudd's were, with the UConn star going 6-for-10 from deep.
South Carolina has now lost two of its past three games. Its three losses this season have all come to teams projected to be in Monday's top five — Dawn Staley's program is winning the games it should win, but the team has failed to find an answer for some of the elite teams that it's faced.
UCLA remains No. 1...for now
The Bruins should still be No. 1 after losing to USC because this is still a 24-1 power conference team with wins over South Carolina, Baylor, Maryland and Ohio State, but the Bruins could be in some trouble.
That's because in Sunday's close win over Michigan State, star Lauren Betts didn't play. She was listed as day-to-day, but the Bruins center was spotted with a boot on her foot, raising concerns that this might not just be a one-game thing,
If that's the case, UCLA could be in some trouble. Per CBB Analytics, the Bruins have a +37.7 net rating with Betts on the floor, which drops to +26.4 when she sits. The 11.3 points per 100 possessions swing is worth noting, but it doesn't look too bad until you look just at Big Ten games. In 147 minutes without Betts in Big Ten play, UCLA's net rating is just +2.0, while it's +30.2 with Betts on the court.
If Betts misses more time, UCLA could suffer another loss or two, which would likely end its reign as the No. 1 team in the AP poll.
LSU drops, but the Tigers also proved something
All season, it's felt like LSU hasn't gotten the respect from the poll that its record suggests it should get. Even after losing to Texas on Sunday, the Tigers are a two-loss team. Two teams ranked ahead of them when Monday's poll comes out will have three losses.
Some of that is self-inflicted, as LSU's weak non-conference schedule tends to inflate some of the team's numbers. The only ranked team that LSU played before SEC play began was NC State, but the Tigers took care of business in that one, winning by 17.
On Sunday, the team came close to capturing a win that would have boosted it up to the No. 3 spot in the rankings, leading Texas deep into the contest between the two top-five teams. The Horns came back, but LSU proved it can hang with one of the nation's best teams.
Alabama and Baylor shoot up thanks to a spate of ranked teams losing to unranked opponents
I really don't know what's going to happen down in the bottom half of the poll this week. There were a lot of losses and also not a ton of impressive wins.
Of the teams ranked between 13 and 25, just one had a win over a ranked opponent this week, while four had losses to unranked foes.
For that reason, my best guess is that Alabama and Baylor make fairly sizable leaps up the rankings — Alabama from No. 21 to No. 17 and Baylor from No. 25 to No. 18.
Baylor's huge jump comes after the team took down then No. 18 West Virginia, winning 75-65 on Tuesday behind 21 points from Aaronette Vonleh.
Don't look now, but Baylor sits in a three-way tie with Kansas State and Baylor atop the Big 12. This team can make some noise in March.