Tennessee is back in the AP Top 25 after the longest drought in program history. The Lady Volunteers had been absent since Nov. 27, 2023, but a win over Iowa on Saturday earned them the No. 19 spot this week.
Tennessee has been in the top 25 in 779 of 870 total weeks since the beginning of the rankings in 1976. The team is off to a 7-0 start this season under first-year coach Kim Caldwell.
The top three teams -- UCLA, UConn and South Carolina -- remain unchanged, but Texas dropped two spots to No. 6 after an 80-70 overtime loss to Notre Dame. LSU replaces Texas at No. 4 after surviving an upset scare against Stanford in a 94-88 overtime victory on Thursday. USC took care of Oregon on Saturday and moved up to No. 5 this week.
One of the highly anticipated matchups last week was between South Carolina and TCU. The Gamecocks used their depth and suffocating defense to take an 85-52 win over the Horned Frogs. That was yet another performance in which Dawn Staley's team showed how it's bounced back since a loss to UCLA on Nov. 24 ended the Gamecocks' 43-game win streak.
The Horned Frogs couldn't get much going against South Carolina. However, voters didn't punish them much as they only dropped three places to No. 12.
Louisville, Ohio State and Alabama all dropped out the top 25 after falling to UConn, Ohio State and Cal, respectively. They were replaced by Tennessee, NC State and Georgia Tech.
Women's college basketball AP Top 25 poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 9-0 | 791 (24) | 1 |
| 2 | UConn | 8-0 | 769 (8) | 2 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 9-1 | 742 | 3 |
| 4 | LSU | 11-0 | 652 | 5 |
| 5 | USC | 8-1 | 628 | 6 |
| 6 | Texas | 8-1 | 621 | 4 |
| 7 | Maryland | 10-0 | 608 | 7 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 7-2 | 607 | 10 |
| 9 | Duke | 9-2 | 533 | 8 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 8-1 | 517 | 11 |
| 11 | Ohio State | 8-0 | 459 | 12 |
| 12 | TCU | 9-1 | 447 | 9 |
| 13 | Kansas State | 10-1 | 427 | 13 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 9-1 | 419 | 16 |
| 15 | West Virginia | 9-1 | 376 | 15 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 7-1 | 296 | 14 |
| 17 | Michigan State | 9-0 | 193 | 24 |
| 18 | Iowa State | 8-2 | 190 | 20 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 7-0 | 179 | NR |
| 20 | Michigan | 8-1 | 166 | 22 |
| 21 | Iowa | 8-1 | 125 | 17 |
| 22 | Ole Miss | 6-3 | 104 | 18 |
| 23 | NC State | 6-3 | 104 | NC |
| 24 | Nebraska | 8-1 | 99 | 25 |
| 25 | Georgia Tech | 9-0 | 92 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Alabama 73, Illinois 69, California 23, Stanford 18, Vanderbilt 15, Utah 14, Louisville 9, Richmond 8, South Dakota State 8, Creighton 5, Oklahoma State 4, Harvard 3, Florida State 3, Texas Tech 3, Baylor 1