South Carolina and UCLA held steady in the top two positions in The Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, while UConn fell to its worst ranking in 30 years at No. 17.
UConn (4-3) lost to then No. 10 Texas, 80-68, on Sunday, marking the fastest the program has ever reached three losses. All three losses are to teams now ranked in the Top 5: UCLA (No. 2), North Carolina State (No. 3) and Texas (No. 5), and the team is dealing with injuries, but nothing could help Geno Auriemma’s squad from sliding six slots.
Sunday’s win was the first time the Longhorns (9-0) have ever defeated the Huskies, helping Texas jump up five spots from last week.
After beating North Carolina and Duke, South Carolina (7-0) was once again the unanimous No. 1 choice among the 35 voters, with UCLA again second (7-0). Iowa (8-1) held at No. 4, but NC State (9-0) seized the No. 3 spot from Stanford (8-1), who dropped to No. 9 after their first loss of the season, 96-78, at Gonzaga on Sunday.
USC (7-0) and LSU (8-1) held on to their No. 6 and No. 7 spots, respectively. In a win over Virginia Tech in the ACC/SEC Challenge, the Tigers welcomed the return of All-America forward Angel Reese, who had missed four games.
Colorado (8-1) dropped one spot to No. 8 this week, with Stanford (8-1) and Baylor (7-0) rounding out the top 10.
The rest of this week’s Top 25:
11. Utah (7-1)
12. Ohio State (6-1)
13. Kansas State (7-1)
14. Notre Dame (6-1)
15. Virginia Tech (5-2)
16. Indiana (7-1)
17. UConn (4-3)
18. Louisville (8-1)
19. Marquette (8-0)
20. Florida State (6-2)
21. Washington State (9-1)
22. Creighton (6-1)
23. Gonzaga (8-2)
24. North Carolina (5-3)
25. Penn State (7-1)
Washington State returned to the poll and Penn State made its season debut, while Princeton, Mississippi State and Tennessee fell out.
–Field Level Media
