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Where Notre Dame women’s basketball ranks in Week 17 AP Top 25

IMG_9992by: Tyler Horka03/04/24tbhorka
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Nat Marshall (15) celebrates with Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) in the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Purcell Pavilion. (Photo by Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

There was a time when Notre Dame was a loss or two away from falling out of the Associated Press poll. Now, on the eve of conference tournaments beginning later this week, the Fighting Irish are firmly planted in the rankings at No. 14.

Notre Dame moved up three spots from last week, tying No. 3 Iowa for the second-highest leap. Baylor moved up four spots to No. 17. The Irish played six currently ranked teams this season — No. 1 South Carolina, No. 9 UConn, No. 10 North Carolina State, No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 20 Syracuse and No. 24 Louisville — and posted a 3-5 record against them with wins over UConn, Virginia Tech and Louisville. The Orange beat the Irish twice, and the Cardinals won the first meeting.

The AP Top 25 has no bearing on how the NCAA Tournament field will shake out on Selection Sunday, which is March 17 this year, but it’s always a decent indicator of where teams will be seeded. Nobody would be shocked, for instance, if the top four teams in this week’s poll — No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Ohio State — were named No. 1 seeds on St. Patrick’s Day.

A ranking of No. 14 would fall in line with a No. 4 seed in the tourney, and sure enough ESPN bracketology expert Charlie Creme has the Irish projected to be a No. 4 seed in his latest predictions released Monday morning.

The selection committee leans on NCAA NET Rankings instead of the AP Top 25. That brings the Irish even better news; Notre Dame checked in at No. 8 in the most recent NET Rankings. Sitting well in the AP Poll and the NET, the Irish have to like where things stand entering the ACC Tournament in Greensboro. Notre Dame is the No. 4 seed there, so the Irish will play one of No. 5 seed Louisville, No. 12 Clemson or No. 13 seed Boston College on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Week 17 NCAA Women’s Basketball AP Top 25

  1. South Carolina (29-0)
  2. Stanford (26-4)
  3. Iowa (26-4)
  4. Ohio State (25-4)
  5. USC (23-5)
  6. Texas (27-4)
  7. UCLA (24-5)
  8. LSU (26-4)
  9. UConn (26-5)
  10. NC State (25-5)
  11. Virginia Tech (23-6)
  12. Indiana (24-4)
  13. Oregon State (23-6)
  14. Notre Dame (23-6)
  15. Gonzaga (29-2)
  16. Kansas State (24-6)
  17. Baylor (23-6)
  18. Colorado (21-8)
  19. Oklahoma (21-8)
  20. Syracuse (23-6)
  21. Creighton (24-4)
  22. Utah (21-9)
  23. UNLV (26-2)
  24. Louisville (23-8)
  25. Fairfield (26-1)

Final ACC Women’s Basketball Standings

No. 11 Virginia Tech (23-6, 14-4)
No. 10 NC State (25-5, 13-5)
No. 20 Syracuse (23-6, 13-5)
No. 14 Notre Dame (23-6, 13-5)
No. 24 Louisville (23-8, 12-6)
Florida State (21-9, 12-6)
Duke (19-10, 11-7)
North Carolina (19-11, 11-7)
Miami (18-11, 8-10)
Georgia Tech (16-14, 7-11)
Virginia (15-14, 7-11)
Clemson (12-18, 5-13)
Boston College (13-18, 5-13)
Wake Forest (6-24, 2-16)
Pittsburgh (8-23, 2-16)