Dec. 31—THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, and total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking.
Rk., Team Rec. Pts. Prev.
1. UCLA (30) 13-0 798 1
2. South Carolina (1) 12-1 763 2
3. Notre Dame (1) 11-2 727 3
4. Southern Cal 12-1 693 4
5. Texas 13-1 642 5
6. LSU 15-0 628 6
7. Connecticut 11-2 613 7
8. Maryland 12-0 609 8
9. Oklahoma 12-1 534 9
10. Ohio State 13-0 504 10
11. TCU 13-1 475 11
12. Kansas State 13-1 452 12
13. Georgia Tech 14-0 400 13
14. Duke 10-3 357 14
15. Tennessee 12-0 340 15
16. Kentucky 11-1 321 16
17. North Carolina 13-2 303 17
18. West Virginia 10-2 233 18
19. Alabama 13-1 207 20
20. California 13-1 186 21
21. Michigan State 11-2 148 19
22. North Carolina State 10-3 137 22
23. Iowa 11-2 116 24
24. Michigan 10-3 82 23
25. Mississippi 9-3 48 25
Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 26, Utah 24, Illinois 11, Oklahoma State 7, Baylor 5, Nebraska 4, Mississippi State 3, Harvard 3, Portland 1.
THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S TOP 25
Illinois beat writer Joe Vozzelli is in his sixth season as an AP Top 25 voter. Here’s how his eighth regular-season ballot of the 2024-25 season shook out:
RK., TEAM PREV.
1. UCLA 1
2. South Carolina 2
3. Notre Dame 3
4. LSU 4
5. Texas 5
6. Maryland 6
7. Southern Cal 7
8. Connecticut 8
9. Oklahoma 9
10. Ohio State 10
11. TCU 11
12. Kansas State 12
13. Georgia Tech 13
14. Tennessee 14
15. Duke 15
16. Kentucky 16
17. North Carolina 17
18. West Virginia 18
19. Alabama 19
20. California 24
21. Michigan State 20
22. North Carolina State 22
23. Iowa 23
24. Michigan 21
25. Illinois 25
Who’s up
Geno Auriemma. The Connecticut coach is now tied with legendary Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer for the most appearances in the Top 25 at one school. Auriemma matched that mark with Monday’s 627th week in the AP rankings in the 70-year-old, 11-time NCAA champion coach’s now 40 years in Storrs, Conn. Auriemma’s Huskies stayed at No. 7 in the latest AP Top 25 after UConn routed Providence 67-41 on Sunday at home. That was the 1,224th career victory for Auriemma, who earlier this season passed VanDerveer’s NCAA career wins record. It’s the Huskies who continue to carry the banner for the Big East as the league’s only ranked team. That ranks well behind the SEC (8), Big Ten (7), ACC (6) and Big 12 (3) among major conferences.
Who’s down
Michigan State. The Spartans were one of only five teams to move up or down in Monday’s rankings after the Top 18 remained unchanged. A 72-66 Michigan State loss — even at undefeated No. 8 Maryland on Sunday in a ranked-on-ranked matchup — saw Michigan State drop two spots to No. 21. The Spartans nearly stunned the Terrapins, rallying from a 17-point first-half deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter before Maryland regrouped to reach 12-0 on the season. Michigan State’s loss was Alabama’s and California’s gain with the Crimson Tide and Golden Bears each rising one place.
Who to watch
It’s a big week for Oklahoma. The Sooners have two ranked games to open up their first season in the SEC. No. 9 Oklahoma will face longtime Red River rival in No. 5 Texas at 8 p.m. on Thursday (ESPN2) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. The second of two games against unbeaten SEC teams for the Sooners comes against No. 15 Tennessee (2 p.m., Sunday, ESPN) in Knoxville, Tenn. Before the season started, Oklahoma was picked to finish behind defending national champion South Carolina, Texas and LSU in the league’s preseason poll.
