South Carolina trailed for most of its highly-anticipated road tangle with LSU last week, but closed on an 11-3 run to seal a 76-70 victory and remain undefeated.
It was the first of three wins for the Gamecocks since our last update, further solidifying their spot on top of the hill. But who will join them as No. 1 seeds?
Over the last few weeks, nearly every contender has fallen, whether it be through the bloodbath that is the Pac-12, a tricky road test with Iowa and Kansas State, or, in the case of UConn, a meeting with a familiar "friend" in Notre Dame.
The Irish picked up their first big-time win of the season, and they're far from the only team who made a splash. Oregon State knocked off Colorado and Utah in a three-day span and is now in position to host in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma beat both Texas and Kansas State to move from a bubble team at best to safely in the field. Never underestimate the power of those NET top 25 wins.
As for the upsets, we're in the heat of conference play, and that means one thing: there's plenty more where that came from.
No. 1 seeds
*South Carolina (20-0, 8-0 SEC): NET 1, SOS 9
Now the only at-large candidate with fewer than two losses (although 18-1 Fairfield deserves a shoutout), South Carolina looks destined to finish as the No. 1 overall seed. The bigger question might be whether it enters the NCAA Tournament undefeated for a second consecutive season. The Gamecocks' next test comes Sunday against an Ole Miss team tied for second in the SEC standings (6-2).
*Stanford (19-2, 8-1 Pac-12): NET 2, SOS 12
It certainly feels like there are no "gimme" games on the road in conference play this season, but Stanford certainly made their trip to the Grand Canyon State look easy, defeating both Arizona and Arizona State by at least 30 points. Home at USC and UCLA this week (their only regular-season meeting against each team), the Cardinal can cement themselves on the top line.
*Iowa (20-2, 9-1 Big Ten): NET 5, SOS 23
Caitlin Clark is now the second-leading scorer in Division I women's basketball history and is 104 points from passing Kelsey Plum. She's averaging 5.9 made three-pointers per game in conference play and has scored 30+ points in 5 straight. But what's just as dangerous is teammates Gabbie Marshall (48.6% over her last 7 games) and Kate Martin (45.5% over her last 5 games) also getting the 3-ball going.
UCLA (16-3, 5-3 Pac-12): NET 7, SOS 4
The Bruins have lost three of their last five games after a 14-0 start yet are still clinging onto a No. 1 seed. They'll need to win Sunday's game at Stanford to hold onto that spot. Following a 69-65 win in last season's Pac-12 Tournament semifinals, UCLA will be looking for back-to-back wins against Stanford for the first time since 2016-17. Kiki Rice had 22 points in that last meeting, which was her season high.
No. 2 seeds
NC State (19-2, 7-2 ACC): NET 10, SOS 40
Winners of four straight including a 63-59 win over No. 25 North Carolina on Thursday, the Wolfpack get two more ranked teams at home in No. 16 Louisville and No. 17 Virginia Tech over the next week. NC State is a perfect 11-0 at home this season and has won 13 straight at home overall, but that last loss came on to Virginia Tech, which will be hungry for a repeat performance.
Kansas State (20-2, 9-1 Big 12): NET 9, SOS 51
The Wildcats tied a program record this week by surging to No. 2 in the AP Poll and briefly joined the No. 1 seed line before a tight loss at Oklahoma knocked them back down. It was Kanas States' first loss in four games without center Ayoka Lee, who will miss a few more weeks with an ankle injury. Lee holds the Division I women's record with 61 points in a game. KSU is averaging 64.3 points per game without her and 76.1 with her this season.
Colorado (17-3, 7-2 Pac-12): NET 17, SOS 11
The Buffaloes' NET ranking of 17 is easily the biggest outlier among teams on the top few seed lines, but their four NET top 25 wins will speak much louder to the selection committee. Colorado will have a chance to add to that total at Washington State tonight, but the reigning Pac-12 Tournament champions are coming off their biggest win of the season, at UCLA.
*UConn (18-4, 10-0 Big East): NET 3, SOS 1
The Huskies gave up 82 points in their loss to Notre Dame last Saturday. It was UConn's most points allowed in a home game since 1999 vs Tennessee (a 92-81 loss), but will likely bounce back Sunday vs. St. John's. The Huskies have won every conference game this season by 20+ points and haven't lost back-to-back home games since 2012. However, that stretch was also against Notre Dame and St. John's.
No. 3 seeds
*Texas (20-3, 7-3 Big 12): NET 4, SOS 41
The Longhorns continue to keep pace with the nation's top teams despite Rori Harmon's season-ending injury, and on Thursday held Baylor to just 23 first-half points in a 67-55 road victory. All 20 Texas wins this season have come by double-digits, making its 20-3 record (all losses by six or fewer points) maybe even feel a bit unlucky.
Ohio State (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten): NET 14, SOS 21
Sunday's clash between Ohio State and Indiana (our next No. 3 seed) will go a long way toward determining who is seen as the second-best team in the Big Ten. Then again, the Buckeyes have already beaten Iowa, so perhaps they'll be looking to instead lay claim to the title of conference favorite. Either way, a win would force them to be considered for the No. 2 line.
Indiana (18-2, 9-1 Big Ten): NET 11, SOS 39
MacKenzie Holmes is once again averaging at least 20 points per game this season while making more than two-thirds of her field goal attempts. For reference, no player in WNBA or NBA history has ever done that in one season. As a whole, the Hoosiers are shooting 51.5% from the field, which trails only UConn (51.8%) and South Carolina (51.7%).
USC (14-4, 4-4 Pac-12): NET 18, SOS 6
The Trojans play their sixth straight game against a team currently in our projected field tonight at Stanford, but afterward, they'll finally get a reprieve against the bottom four teams in the Pac-12 standings. Usually, a six-game run like this ends with an appearance in the national championship. Instead, we're in early February and USC is as battle-tested a team as you'll find.
No. 4 seeds
*Gonzaga (21-2, 8-0 WCC): NET 12, SOS 71
Just how high can Gonzaga go in this year's field? The Zags played their last game against a team currently in the NET top 100 last week (an 82-45 win over Santa Clara) and thus will be big favorites in every game until the NCAA Tournament. Should they run the table, a No. 3 seed seems more than likely. Even with one more loss, hosting is a strong possibility.
Oregon State (17-3, 6-3 Pac-12): NET 19, SOS 46
Give head coach Scott Rueck some credit -- he has turned his program back around. After reaching a Final Four in 2016, things began to drop off in the last few seasons, and the Beavers went just 13-18 a year ago. Now, after a dream week, Oregon State is just one win away from its best total since the 2019-20 season. Again, February has just begun.
LSU (18-4, 5-3 SEC): NET 13, SOS 62
After back-to-back losses (LSU was defeated just twice all of last season), LSU is suddenly fighting just to maintain a top-four seed in our aggregated bracketology (I personally have the Tigers as a No. 5). Hailey Van Lith has struggled to fit into this team and has just 8.5 points per game on 28.2% shooting in LSU's four losses. With a slew of games against bubble teams coming up, we'll see if LSU can return to title contender form.
Baylor (16-4, 5-4 Big 12): NET 15, SOS 25
Brittney Griner will have her jersey retired during Baylor's Feb. 18 game against Texas Tech. In the meantime, the Bears will have to avoid letting their recent form (2-4 in their last six games) snowball in upcoming road games against Big 12 newcomers Houston and BYU that could cause trouble but would still go down as bad losses in the committee's eyes.
No. 5 seeds
Louisville (19-3, 8-1 ACC): NET 22, SOS 54
*Notre Dame (16-4, 6-3 ACC): NET 8, SOS 47
Creighton (17-3, 8-2 Big East): NET 26, SOS 37
Virginia Tech (17-4, 8-2 ACC): NET 16, SOS 56
No. 6 seeds
Syracuse (17-4, 7-3 ACC): NET 43, SOS 52
Utah (15-6, 5-4 Pac-12): NET 6, SOS 7
North Carolina (15-7, 7-3 ACC): NET 28, SOS 10
Washington State (15-6, 4-4 Pac-12): NET 21, SOS 14
No. 7 seeds
Michigan State (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten): NET 20, SOS 59
West Virginia (18-2, 7-2 Big 12): NET 23, SOS 93
Duke (14-7, 6-4 ACC): NET 24, SOS 15
Penn State (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten): NET 25, SOS 38
No. 8 seeds
*Princeton (15-3, 5-0 Ivy): NET 32, SOS 72
Ole Miss (16-5, 6-2 SEC): NET 47, SOS 67
Florida State (15-7, 6-4 ACC): NET 44, SOS 28
Oklahoma (14-6, 8-1 Big 12): NET 42, SOS 27
No. 9 seeds
Maryland (12-9, 4-6 Big Ten): NET 34, SOS 2
Marquette (16-5, 5-5 Big East): NET 31, SOS 65
Nebraska (14-7, 6-4 Big Ten): NET 27, SOS 26
Mississippi State (18-5, 5-3 SEC): NET 29, SOS 83
No. 10 seeds
Iowa State (13-7, 7-3 Big 12): NET 38, SOS 29
Vanderbilt (17-5, 4-4 SEC): NET 53, SOS 80
Minnesota (14-7, 4-6 Big Ten): NET 39, SOS 43
*Green Bay (17-4, 10-1 Horizon): NET 35, SOS 145
No. 11 seeds
Texas A&M (15-5, 3-4 SEC): NET 36, SOS 77
*UNLV (18-2, 8-1 MWC): NET 30, SOS 203
*St. Joseph's (20-2, 9-1 Atlantic 10): NET 52, SOS 212
Miami (Fla.) (14-6, 4-5 ACC): NET 37, SOS 33
Washington (13-6, 3-5 Pac-12): NET 41, SOS 36
No. 12 seeds
Michigan (14-8, 5-5 Big Ten): NET 54, SOS 45
Richmond (18-4, 8-1 Atlantic 10): NET 59, SOS 103
*Ball State (19-2, 9-0 MAC): NET 73, SOS 170
*Belmont (15-5, 8-1 MVC): NET 68, SOS 95
*Middle Tennessee (16-4, 6-0 CUSA): NET 50, SOS 178
No. 13 seeds
*Florida Gulf Coast (18-4, 8-0 ASUN): NET 62, SOS 104
*South Dakota State (16-5, 8-0 Summit): NET 66, SOS 89
*Fairfield (18-1, 10-0 MAAC): NET 80, SOS 338
*Stony Brook (16-2, 6-1 CAA): NET 71, SOS 311
No. 14 seeds
*Chattanooga (18-3, 6-0 SoCon): NET 107, SOS 309
*North Texas (17-4, 7-2 AAC): NET 83, SOS 249
*Grand Canyon (18-4, 10-1 WAC): NET 93, SOS 340
*Eastern Washington (16-5, 6-2 Big Sky): NET 75, SOS 238
No. 15 seeds
*Marshall (16-5, 10-0 Sun Belt): NET 95, SOS 260
*Jackson State (12-6, 7-0 SWAC): NET 94, SOS 49
*Maine (14-8, 7-1 America East): NET 112, SOS 228
*Lamar (13-5, 7-1 Southland): NET 138, SOS 130
No. 16 seeds
*UC Irvine (13-6, 8-2 Big West): NET 124, SOS 323
*Norfolk State (15-5, 4-1 MEAC): NET 145, SOS 282
*Holy Cross (14-6, 8-1 Patriot): NET 131, SOS 297
*Sacred Heart (13-9, 7-1 NEC): NET 245, SOS 326
*Tennessee Tech (9-11, 4-5 OVC): NET 213, SOS 308
*Radford (10-12, 6-2 Big South): NET 277, SOS 184
Last Four In
Miami (Fla.) (14-6, 4-5 ACC): NET 37, SOS 33
Washington (13-6, 3-5 Pac-12): NET 41, SOS 36
Michigan (14-8, 5-5 Big Ten): NET 54, SOS 45
Richmond (18-4, 8-1 Atlantic 10): NET 59, SOS 103
First Four Out
Tennessee (13-7, 6-2 SEC): NET 49, SOS 20
California (13-8, 3-6 Pac-12): NET 65, SOS 24
Florida (11-8, 2-5 SEC): NET 56, SOS 58
George Mason (17-3, 8-1 Atlantic 10): NET 55, SOS 236
