Not much has changed in the upper echelon of women's college basketball this week, as there was no movement in the top 12 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll heading into Week Four. Oregon remained at No. 1, while Baylor, Stanford, UConn and South Carolina filed in behind to round out the top five.
But this week -- when many teams are playing in tournaments away from home -- could shake things up. One of the several high-profile match-ups will be Saturday, when No. 2 Baylor takes on No. 5 South Carolina in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Let's take a closer look at this week's poll.
|
RANK |
SCHOOL (FIRST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon (28) | 4-0 | 748 | 1 |
| 2 | Baylor (2) | 5-0 | 722 | 2 |
| 3 | Stanford | 5-0 | 676 | 3 |
| 4 | UConn | 5-0 | 631 | 4 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 6-0 | 624 | 5 |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 4-0 | 595 | 6 |
| 7 | Oregon St. | 5-0 | 592 | 7 |
| 8 | Louisville | 5-0 | 524 | 8 |
| 9 | Maryland | 5-1 | 515 | 9 |
| 10 | Mississippi St. | 5-0 | 485 | 10 |
| 11 | UCLA | 4-0 | 443 | 11 |
| 12 | Florida St. | 5-0 | 393 | 12 |
| 13 | N.C. State | 5-0 | 393 | 14 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 5-0 | 376 | 13 |
| 15 | Michigan St. | 5-0 | 327 | 15 |
| 16 | DePaul | 4-1 | 267 | 19 |
| 17 | Indiana | 4-0 | 224 | 18 |
| 18 | Syracuse | 3-1 | 202 | 17 |
| 19 | Miami | 4-1 | 180 | 16 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 5-0 | 133 | 23 |
| 21 | South Florida | 5-1 | 122 | 22 |
| 22 | Gonzaga | 3-1 | 120 | 23 |
| 23 | West Virginia | 4-0 | 100 | 25 |
| 24 | Arizona | 6-0 | 96 | NR |
| 25 | Arkansas | 5-1 | 61 | 20 |
Top 12 remain unchanged
No team ranked in the top 15 took a loss this week, and neither had a super impressive win either. Oregon beat then-ranked No. 17 Syracuse on the road Sunday, passing their first test of the season against a ranked opponent. N.C. State beat Maine at home and then went on the road and beat St. Mary's, and voters moved the Wolfpack up from No. 14 to a tie with Florida State for No. 12.
There could be some movement in next week's poll though, as a handful of the teams ranked in the Top 25 will face each other. In addition to the Baylor-South Carolina game, No. 1 Oregon will battle No. 8 Louisville on Saturday, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 12 Florida State will face-off on Sunday and No. 7 Oregon State will take on No. 19 Miami on Friday.
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Arizona jumps in
The Wildcats are making some history this season. They are off to their best start in 20 years, having won their first six games, and are ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll for the first time in 15 seasons, checking in at No. 24 this week.
Arizona won the WNIT last season and could be headed for the NCAA tournament in 2020. The Wildcats have been led this season by Aari McDonald, who is averaging 22.5 points per-game. Cate Reese is chipping in 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per-game for the Wildcats too.
Arizona replaced Michigan in the rankings. The Wolverines fell out after losing to Notre Dame.
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Stock up
For the second straight week, Indiana rose in the poll, coming in at No. 17 this week. Also rising was DePaul (from 19 to 16), Tennessee (from 23 to 20) and West Virginia (23 to 25). South Florida and Gonzaga each jumped up a spot too.
The Hoosiers have two very tough tests ahead of them. On Thursday, they'll face South Carolina and on Friday they'll take on Baylor. Indiana will round out the Paradise Jam with a game vs. Washington State on Saturday.
