Dec. 9—After a four-week stay in the AP Top 25, the Illinois women’s basketball team is no longer ranked as of Monday.
The Illini dropped out of the Top 25 after an 83-74 loss at No. 12 Ohio State on Sunday in Illinois’ Big Ten opener.
It was the second loss of the season for the Illini (7-2), who also lost 76-53 to Kentucky on Nov. 27 in Nashville, Tenn.
Illinois fell out of of the Top 25, one of three teams to do so on Monday with Alabama and Louisville also slipping from the rankings. That meant Tennessee, North Carolina State and Georgia Tech joined the latest Top 25 as newly ranked teams.
The Illini received 69 votes in Monday’s poll, the second-highest total among teams missing out on the Top 25 behind the Crimson Tide (73 votes).
Here’s the full Top 25:
Rk., Team Record Pts Prv
1. UCLA (24) 9-0 791 1
2. Connecticut (8) 8-0 769 2
3. South Carolina 9-1 742 3
4. LSU 11-0 652 5
5. Southern Cal 8-1 628 6
6. Texas 8-1 621 4
7. Maryland 10-0 608 7
8. Notre Dame 7-2 607 10
9. Duke 9-2 533 8
10. Oklahoma 8-1 517 11
11. Ohio State 8-0 459 12
12. TCU 9-1 447 9
13. Kansas State 10-1 427 13
14. North Carolina 9-1 419 16
15. West Virginia 9-1 376 15
16. Kentucky 7-1 296 14
17. Michigan State 9-0 193 24
18. Iowa State 8-2 190 20
19. Tennessee 7-0 179 NR
20. Michigan 8-1 166 23
21. Iowa 8-1 125 17
22. Mississippi 6-3 104 18
22. North Carolina State 6-3 104 NR
24. Nebraska 8-1 99 25
25. Georgia Tech 9-0 92 NR
Others receiving votes: Alabama 73, , California 23, Stanford 18, Vanderbilt 15, Utah 14, Louisville 9, Richmond 8, South Dakota St. 8, Creighton 5, Oklahoma St. 4, Harvard 3, Florida St. 3, Texas Tech 3, Baylor 1.
A fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Illinois women’s basketball team at Ohio State might prove significant.
That the Illini only lost by single-digits, with the 12th-ranked Buckeyes holding on for an 83-74 victory against No. 21 Illinois could be among the reasons and Co. stay in the AP Top 25 for another week.
The challenge is that two teams receiving votes in last week’s AP Top 25 but on the outside looking in picked up consequential wins. Tennessee continued its undefeated start in reaching 7-0 after a 78-68 victory on Saturday against No. 17 Iowa at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. North Carolina State, meanwhile, is now 6-3 after two wins this past week, including a 68-61 victory over No. 18 Mississippi as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge in Raleigh, N.C.
The Volunteers and Wolfpack both landed a place on the N-G’s Top 25 ballot on Monday. But the Illini did, as well. That Illinois’ only two losses are to currently ranked teams is worth noting. Whether that’s enough in the eyes of the full 32-member national panel will become clear in the next few hours.
Here’s how our latest AP Top 25 bracket shook out (with the full poll released at 11 a.m. today):
1. UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Connecticut
4. LSU
5. Notre Dame
6. Texas
7. Maryland
8. Southern Cal
9. Duke
10. Oklahoma
11. Ohio State
12. North Carolina
13. Kentucky
14. Kansas State
15. TCU
16. West Virginia
17. Tennessee
18. North Carolina State
19. Mississippi
20. Iowa State
21. Iowa
22. Illinois
23. Alabama
24. Michigan
25. Nebraska
