The regular season has come to an end in women’s college basketball as the calendar turns to March. With that, the AP Poll Top 25 represents where the sport stands just ahead of postseason play tipping off.
Last week was incredibly busy around women’s basketball. That notably included multiple matchups between teams that were ranked in the AP Poll as teams did what they could to secure their respective conference championships or improve their seeding for conference tournaments. Now, they’ll look to continue building on that going into the postseason.
With the regular season in the rearview mirror, here’s a look at the latest AP Poll Top 25 in women’s college basketball:
The Texas Longhorns are on a roll going into the SEC Tournament. After losing to South Carolina in January, Texas has now won 13 games in a row, including adding a win over those Gamecocks. They’d wrap up the regular season on Sunday with a blowout win over Florida to finish tied for first in the SEC in the regular season.
The SEC came down to a coin toss to decide which team would earn the first overall seed in the SEC Tournament. Unfortunately, for the Longhorns, they lost that coin toss and now have the two-seed. Their first game in the SEC Tournament will be on Friday with their opponent to be determined.
It was a battle in the Big Ten all season between USC and UCLA. Two teams consistently ranked highly in the AP Poll, it seemed like UCLA was a step ahead. That is until the two teams faced off against one another directly. USC would win both of those games by double-digits. That final meeting won the Big Ten in the regular season for USC.
Now, the focus for USC is turning to the Big Ten Tournament and keeping momentum moving forward. They’ll have some time off to regroup now and prepare for the postseason. The Trojans don’t play again until Friday for a 12:00 p.m. EST tip-off against a to be determined team.
UConn had a pair of interesting games to wrap up the regular season. The most important of which came on Thursday against Creighton. The Bluejays were chasing the Huskies and only a game behind in the Big East standings going into it. Beating UConn could’ve tied them at the top of the standings, but the Huskies took care of business beating Creighton by double-digits.
Now the first overall seed in the Big East Tournament, UConn is on a seven-game winning streak. They’re going to look to take that momentum going into the postseason. They’ll be back in action on Saturday, though who their opponent is still remains to be seen.
UCLA finished the season 28-2. Both of those losses came against USC. Frustratingly, that final loss of the regular season also cost the Bruins the Big Ten in the regular season. It also snapped a four-game winning streak that UCLA had put together since their last loss to the Trojans.
Now, UCLA is going to be able to find some amount of revenge in the Big Ten Tournament. The Bruins have the two-seed and don’t yet know their opponent, but they do have some time to get ready. UCLA will be back in action on Friday for their first game of the postseason.
In February, South Carolina had a difficult stretch where they played two AP Top 10 teams in three games. They ended up losing both of those games. However, since then, South Carolina was able to bounce back and finish the year on a four-game winning streak. That included beating a good Kentucky team in their final game of the season.
South Carolina ended up tied with Texas for first in the SEC. There would be a coin toss to determine who got the first overall seed in the SEC Tournament, which the Gamecocks won. Now, they await their opponent for Friday’s game from that top slot.
After getting upset by NC State a week ago, the pressure was on Notre Dame in the final two games to still win a portion of the ACC in the regular season. After getting two wins against teams ranked by the AP at the time, including over a tough Louisville team to finish the regular season, the Irish were able to do that, earning a 25-4 record overall and a 16-2 ACC record.
Now the two-seed in the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame is focused and ready to make some noise. As is often the case for these elite teams, there is going to be a target on Notre Dame’s back. However, the Irish also know with a good showing that they could earn a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament, so there is plenty to play for.
NC State won its share of the ACC this regular season. That’s because they were able to avoid a letdown after upsetting Notre Dame. They did that by beating, with relative ease, Wake Forest and SMU. Those were both double-digit point games.
Given that NC State had the win over Notre Dame, it’s the Wolfpack who have earned the first overall seed in the ACC Tournament. Their opponent is still to be determined but their first game is currently scheduled for Friday afternoon.
TCU finished the season on a seven-game winning streak. It was on the back of that streak that they were able to win the Big 12. Still, the conference did come down to the final game of the season when TCU took on Baylor. Had Baylor won the game, TCU would have fallen to second place for the season, so that low-scoring one-possession game turned out to be vital.
Now the one-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, TCU also finished the regular season as the highest-ranked team in the AP Poll from the Big 12. As the one-seed in the tournament, a good showing could help earn a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It was a difficult final week of the regular season for LSU. Entering it, there was still some hope they’d compete for the SEC regular season title with some help. Then, the Tigers lost two games against Alabama and Ole Miss and found themselves limping into the postseason.
The Tigers now go into the SEC Tournament as the three-seed, limping in a bit. Their first game is going to be on Friday night. However, they don’t know who that opponent is going to be just yet.
The Oklahoma Sooners finished the season on a seven-game winning streak and climbed into the top 10 of the AP Poll. That included finishing the season with a big win over a talented Alabama team. Now, the question is going to be whether or not Oklahoma can ride that momentum into the postseason.
At 11-5 in SEC play for the regular season, the Sooners finished tied with Kentucky for fifth in the conference standings. Tiebreakers didn’t go the Sooners’ way, though, and they ended up with the fifth seed in the SEC Tournament. It goes to show just how tough the conference is this season. Their first conference tournament game is scheduled for Thursday.
Rest of AP Top 25 Poll
11. Duke
12. Kentucky
13. Ohio State
14. North Carolina
15. Maryland
16. West Virginia
17. Baylor
18. Tennessee
19. Alabama
20. Kansas State
21. Oklahoma State
22. Florida State
23. Creighton
24. Michigan State
25. South Dakota State
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