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.

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“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.

For the first time in program history, No. 21 @UTAHWBB is victorious over No. 6 Stanford!#ncaaW pic.twitter.com/34YohLO7RL
— NCAA WBB (@ncaawbb) January 27, 2019

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.

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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.