basketball-women-d1 flag

Doug Feinberg | The Associated Press | January 28, 2019

Women's college basketball rankings: Baylor supplants Notre Dame as top team in AP poll

Andy Katz calls for a Notre Dame repeat as national champs in women's hoops

NEW YORK — Kim Mulkey and Baylor returned to No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll on Monday for the first time nearly six years.

The Lady Bears (17-1) ascended to the top spot after then-No. 1 Notre Dame lost to unranked North Carolina on Sunday. Baylor, which received 24 of 28 first-place votes from a national media panel, last was No. 1 in the final poll of the 2012-13 season. The team was the top choice among voters for the final 11 weeks of that season.

NO. 1 GOES DOWN: UNC stuns No. 1 Notre Dame for first top-ranked upset since 2006

“Anything that’s considered positive for our program and Baylor, we welcome. But really, what does it mean? It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t win a championship for you. It just puts a bigger target on your back,” Mulkey said after the Lady Bears beat Oklahoma on Sunday. “It’s not the first time we’ve been ranked No. 1 ... I don’t think it will change anything about the kids in the locker room. I don’t think it will change anything about our practices. Our focus, right now, is Oklahoma State, and then our big focus is winning another Big 12 championship.”

The Fighting Irish fell to fifth, with UConn, Louisville and Oregon following Baylor. Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Stanford, Oregon State and Marquette rounded out the top 10. The Wolfpack are the only undefeated team left in Division I basketball.

Here is the full top 25:

rank school record points previous
1 Baylor (24) 17-1 695 2
2 UConn (2) 18-1 670 3
3 Louisville (2) 19-1 630 4
4 Oregon 19-1 606 5
5 Notre Dame 19-2 604 1
6 Mississippi State 19-1 565 7
7 North Carolina State 20-0 541 8
8 Stanford 17-2 488 6
9 Oregon State 17-3 460 9
10 Marquette 18-3 452 10
11 Maryland 18-2 427 11
12 Texas 17-3 374 12
13 Iowa 16-4 338 17
14 Utah 18-1 282 21
15 Gonzaga 19-2 269 18
16 South Carolina 13-5 265 19
17 Rutgers 16-4 256 14
18 Syracuse 16-4 253 13
19 Kentucky 17-4 222 15
20 Texas A&M 16-4 142 24
21 Arizona State 14-6 127 16
22 Michigan State 15-5 109 23
23 Iowa State 15-5 106 20
24 Florida State 17-3 73 22
25 BYU 17-3 47 NR

BYU entered the poll at No. 25 while Missouri fell out. It’s the Cougars first ranking since Feb. 13, 2012. Along with Utah, BYU gives the state of Utah two ranked teams for the first time since 2006, when both were in the AP Top 25.

RISING UTES: One week after entering the poll, Utah moved up to No. 14 after beating then-No. 6 Stanford on Sunday. It’s the school’s best ranking since the Utes were 12th on March 10, 2008. The team’s best ranking ever was 11th in 1998.

LAST OF THE UNBEATENS: N.C. State (20-0) visits Wake Forest and host North Carolina this week. If the Wolfpack still haven’t lost at that point, the schedule gets a bit tougher, with consecutive road games at No. 24 Florida State and No. 18 Syracuse before hosting Notre Dame.

WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR: 9 teams that could be the next first-time national champion

This article is written by Doug Feinberg and was legally licensed via the Associated Press through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

6 dark horse teams in the 2023 NCAA women's volleyball tournament

Ahead of the first round, here are six unseeded teams who have the potential to make deep runs in the DI women's volleyball tournament.
READ MORE

2023 Big 12 softball: Bracket, schedule, scores, TV times for the tournament

The 2023 Big 12 softball bracket, schedule and scores for the conference tournament, played May 11-13 in Oklahoma City.
READ MORE

All-time best performances in the NCAA women's basketball tournament

We dug into the record books to compile a list of the best all-time performances by players in the women's NCAA tournament.
READ MORE

Subscribe To Email Updates

Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners