Oregon moved up one spot in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll to No. 3 after beating rival Oregon State twice in a 48-hour span.
The Ducks jumped UConn to move behind South Carolina and Baylor in the Top 25 released Monday. The Gamecocks received 26 first-place votes from the national media panel. Baylor garnered three and Louisville one.
Oregon was the preseason No. 1, led by star Sabrina Ionescu. Expectations climbed after the team shocked the U.S. national team in an exhibition game, but losses to Louisville and Arizona State moved the Ducks down the poll.
UConn, which beat Tennessee and East Carolina last week, was fourth and Louisville fifth in the latest poll. Stanford, N.C. State, UCLA, Mississippi State and Oregon State round out the first 10 teams. The Beavers dropped three spots after getting swept by Oregon.
Missouri State re-entered the Top 25 at No. 24, replacing West Virginia, who fell out.
Maryland, Iowa and Northwestern are part of a logjam at the top of the Big Ten standings during one of the most competitive seasons in the league in years.
Maryland was the unanimous preseason pick to finish first, but the Terrapins (16-4, 7-2) currently find themselves tied for second with the Wildcats (17-3, 7-2) behind surprising Iowa (17-3, 8-1).
Maryland coach Brenda Frese likes knowing that her team has to be at its best to win, which is exactly how it is in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s awesome. Every game you play, you’re going to be challenged. You just can’t show up anymore,” Frese said. “I love the fact that with nine games left, you’re going to be battle tested.”
Northwestern won five straight before falling at Maryland on Sunday. When the teams met on Dec. 31, the Wildcats won 81-58.
“This is deepest I’ve ever seen the Big Ten,” Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said. “One through 13 — even 14 some nights — can beat each other.”
Only three points are the difference between No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 13 Kentucky and 14th-ranked Florida State. … South Dakota climbed three places to No. 21 after winning their two game by an average of 38.5 points this past week. The Coyotes’ two losses this year came against South Carolina and Missouri State, which returned to the rankings this week at No. 24.
Baylor is No. 1 for a second straight week in an AP Top 25 poll that had no major changes at the top, a rare bit of stability in a wildly unpredictable season.
The Bears stayed well ahead of No. 2 Gonzaga in Monday’s poll, part of an unchanged top seven for the first time this season. The only change in the top 10 came with Villanova moving up a spot to No. 8 to swap positions with No. 9 Duke. That comes in a season that has seen seven different teams reach No. 1 this season, matching a record set during the 1982-83 season.
Baylor (17-1) hopped over Gonzaga last week to reach No. 1 for the second time in program history, though the Bears lasted only a week on top in its previous stint in January 2017. This time, they earned 44 of 64 first-place votes to keep a firm hold on the top spot after beating Oklahoma and Florida last week.
“I think our staff’s done a better job this time with (avoiding) all the distractions and more focus on we want to be No. 1 at the end of the year,” coach Scott Drew said after the win against the Sooners.
So far this season, Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, Kansas and Gonzaga have seen time at No. 1 before Baylor made its jump to the top. The Zags stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, but none of the other top-ranked teams lasted more than two weeks at No. 1.
Gonzaga (21-1) earned 19 first-place votes to remain either No. 1 or No. 2 in the poll since the middle of December. Mark Few’s Zags have won 13 straight games since suffering their only loss to MIchigan in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game in the Bahamas.
Kansas was third, followed by San Diego State — the last unbeaten team in Division I — and Florida State. Louisville, Dayton, Villanova, Duke and Seton Hall rounded out the top 10.
Houston made the biggest jump in a week that featured only modest climbs or slides, rising four spots to No. 21. No. 20 Colorado moved up three spots, while No. 12 West Virginia, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 15 Maryland and No. 19 Illinois each rose two spots.
In all, nine teams moved up in this week’s poll.
Michigan State and Butler had the biggest slides of the week.
The Spartans — who started the year at No. 1 — fell three spots to No. 14 after losing at Indiana. The Bulldogs also fell three spots to No. 16 after losing to Villanova, the final loss in a three-game skid that had dropped Butler from No. 5 two weeks ago.
The other falls were Duke, No. 17 Auburn and No. 25 Rutgers inching down one spot.
No. 22 LSU, No. 23 Wichita State and No. 24 Penn State were the week’s new additions, re-entering the poll after appearances earlier this season.
Texas Tech (No. 18), Memphis (No. 20) and Arizona (No. 22) fell out of the rankings. The Tigers had been ranked all season, while this is the second time that the Red Raiders and Wildcats have fallen out of the poll.