Women's Basketball: AP Poll updated after top teams falter

The latest women’s basketball AP Poll has been updated after an excellent week of games that saw several top teams falter. On top of that, several teams have also continued to prove just how dominant they are this season.

One of the biggest stories in the women’s game right now revolves around Caitlin Clark and her chase for the all-time scoring record. However, she’s from the only great story, including South Carolina‘s chase for a perfect season and several highly competitive conference races.

After an exciting week that was and ahead of what promises to be another great game, here is the latest AP Top-25 Poll in the women’s game:

1. South Carolina Gamecocks

Another week into the season and the South Carolina and another week without a loss for the South Carolina Gamecocks. This week, the Gamecocks added to their list of accomplishments after dominating the Missouri Tigers before taking care of business against UConn at home. In both cases, South Carolina was in control for the entire game.

Next week, South Carolina will return to SEC conference play. That includes an important game against Tennessee, which is one of the few teams left in the conference that has a reasonable chance to catch the Gamecocks this regular season, given that they’re only three games behind South Carolina and have two head-to-head meetings remaining.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

The Ohio State Buckeyes keep on winning. Last week, that meant winning two road tests over Minnesota and Michigan State. It also meant, with Iowa getting upset, moving into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten regular season standings.

The Buckeyes have five games left this season, including a road test against Iowa. Going into the game with a lead in the conference standings would be huge. However, another upset would set up a showdown between the two to win the Big Ten.

3. Stanford Cardinal

Even amid an overtime scare on Friday, Stanford took care of business and won two more Pac-12 conference games. With that, the Cardinal moved into first place in their conference standings and have an overall favorable schedule through the end of the season to try and win the regular season title.

With five games remaining in the regular season, Stanford has a one game lead in the conference standings. Next week, the Cardinal will play Cal. After that, it’s a week off to hit the reset button and get ready for the final push.

4. Iowa Hawkeyes

The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of the AP Top 10 teams that are coming off a loss. In a road game against Nebraska, the Cornhuskers snapped Iowa’s four game winning streak. Worse than that, it dropped Iowa to second in the Big Ten standings as they compete with Ohio State during the regular season.

Next week, Iowa is going to look to get back on track at home against Michigan. That game will also likely serve as the game that Caitlin Clark becomes the game’s all-time leading scorer. So, there is plenty on the line during the final five game stretch of the season.

5. Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns are coming off a week with only one game. However, Texas did manage to take care of business in that game, beating TCU by 22 points. It was a dominant defensive effort from the Longhorns, who held the Horned Frogs to just 29.2 percent shooting from the field.

The Longhorns are going to get back at it on Wednesday with a road trip to Houston. At still just third place in the Big 12 standings, that’s going to be a very important game to try to make a final push late in the season. At two games out with six games left, every game matters now for Texas.

6. NC State Wolfpack

The NC State Wolfpack had a solid week, winning two out of three games in the time since the last AP Poll came out. That included a win and a loss to ranked teams before blowing Pitt out by 36 points. In total, NC State has won six out of seven games.

However, the schedule doesn’t get any easier from here in a competitive ACC. On Thursday, the Wolfpack will travel to South Bend for a marquee game against Notre Dame. Both teams are within a game of one another in the conference standings and are fighting to try to get into first place in the ACC late in the season.

7. Kansas State Wildcats

The Kansas State Wildcats have been one of the top teams in the women’s game all season long, which is reflected in their AP ranking. However, it’s been tough going in recent weeks. In their last five games, Kansas State is just 3-2, with all three wins coming in one possession games.

There are six games left this season for Kansas State and the Wildcats would love to build up momentum before the season ends. For now, though, the Wildcats are still in second place in the Big 12 standings and are only one game out of first. So, despite those recent close games, Kansas State is still in an excellent position.

8. Colorado Buffaloes

The Colorado Buffaloes made it to fourth in the AP Poll last week before going 1-1 in their games that followed. That, notably, included a loss to a good Oregon State team on Sunday at home. In that game, the Buffaloes saw a massive fourth quarter comeback attempt come up short, making for a close loss that snapped Colorado’s four game winning streak. It was also Oregon State’s second win of the season against Colorado.

With that loss, Colorado fell to second place in the Pac-12 standings, with Stanford passing the Buffaloes by. Still, it’s very close at the top of the conference and there are plenty of chances to reclaim the top spot, including several games against ranked opponents.

9. UCLA Bruins

UCLA bounced back well from a tough loss against Stanford with two Pac-12 wins last week. Even better, both of those wins were games where the Bruins were able to be in control throughout the game. With that, UCLA has also won three of its last four games.

Even with all of that, UCLA is just fourth in the Pac-12 standings. It’s a credit to how talented and deep the conference is this season. Next week includes a very important game for the Bruins in the conference chase, with a road trip to take on Oregon State.

10. USC Trojans

The USC Trojans have now won four out of five games after adding a convincing and dominant win over Arizona State on Friday. With that, the Trojans have made it to fifth in the Pac-12 standings with a 7-4 conference record.

Now, with just seven games left in USC’s season, the Trojans are going to be nearly perfect to have a shot at making a late season conference championship push. That will start on Monday against Arizona before playing both Oregon and Oregon State. Coming out of this week unscathed is going to be huge to try and rise in the Pac-12 standings.

Remaining teams in AP Top 25

11. Oregon State
12. Virginia Tech
13. LSU
14. Indiana
15. UConn
16. Notre Dame
17. Gonzaga
18. Louisville
19. Syracuse
20. Creighton
21. Baylor
22. Utah
23. Oklahoma
24. West Virginia
25. Princeton

Others Receiving Votes: UNLV 41, Fairfield 29, North Carolina 4, Duke 4, Saint Joseph’s 4, Nebraska 1, Mississippi St. 1, Tennessee 1, Michigan St. 1.