USC climbed to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 women's college basketball rankings after a thrilling win over UConn on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Huskies dropped to No. 7.
The Trojans pulled off the 72-70 win despite turnovers being an issue and also a strong second-half comeback attempt from UConn. It was a bit of a revenge game for JuJu Watkins and Co. because the Huskies knocked them out of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight.
UConn has been struggling with offensive consistency, but the hope for Geno Auriemma's group will be that having Azzi Fudd back could help them get a third consistent scorer to help Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong.
UCLA, South Carolina and Notre Dame remain in the top three spots. The Bruins are still not the unanimous No. 1, but they are getting 30 out of 32 votes.
Alabama returned to the top 25 after the Crimson Tide picked up an 82-67 win over then-No. 15 Michigan State on Dec. 20. That was their first win over a ranked opponent this season. Alabama is off to a 12-1 start, with the lone loss coming against Cal, who currently rank 23rd. Meanwhile, Nebraska dropped out after losing to now-No. 13 Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Women's college basketball AP Top 25 poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 12-0 | 798 | 1 |
| 2 | South Carolina | 11-1 | 764 | 2 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 10-2 | 727 | 3 |
| 4 | USC | 11-1 | 688 | 7 |
| 5 | Texas | 12-1 | 641 | 6 |
| 6 | LSU | 14-0 | 636 | 5 |
| 7 | UConn | 10-2 | 611 | 4 |
| 8 | Maryland | 11-0 | 602 | 8 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 11-1 | 535 | 10 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 12-0 | 505 | 11 |
| 11 | TCU | 12-1 | 478 | 12 |
| 12 | Kansas State | 13-1 | 457 | 13 |
| 13 | Georgia Tech | 13-0 | 382 | 17 |
| 14 | Duke | 10-3 | 368 | 9 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 11-0 | 323 | 18 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 10-1 | 322 | 16 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 12-2 | 288 | 19 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 10-2 | 224 | 14 |
| 19 | Michigan State | 11-1 | 203 | 15 |
| 20 | Alabama | 12-1 | 165 | 20 |
| 21 | California | 13-1 | 153 | 24 |
| 22 | NC State | 9-3 | 147 | 21 |
| 23 | Michigan | 10-2 | 122 | 20 |
| 24 | Iowa | 10-2 | 114 | 22 |
| 25 | Ole Miss | 8-3 | 64 | 25 |
Others receiving votes: Nebraska 26, Vanderbilt 19, Utah 18, Illinois 8, Oklahoma State 7, Harvard 3, Baylor 1, Florida State 1