UCLA vaulted back up to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll on Monday after beating USC for the Big Ten title over the weekend.
The Bruins, who spent 12 weeks atop the poll before losing to the rival Trojans in early February, received 16 first-place votes from a national panel to jump from fourth to first. It was the second time this season that the Bruins leaped over a few teams to move up to No. 1. UCLA topped then-No. 1 South Carolina before Thanksgiving to move up four places to claim the top ranking.
South Carolina knocked off previous No. 1 Texas in the SEC Tournament Championship Game and moved up to second from fifth in the poll. The Gamecocks garnered nine first-place ballots.
UConn remained third going into Monday night’s game against No. 22 Creighton for the Big East title. The Huskies received the other seven first-place votes.
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USC, which beat UCLA twice in the regular season, fell two spots to fourth and Texas dropped to fifth.
TCU climbed up two spots to sixth for the highest ranking in school history after topping Baylor for the Big Ten title on Sunday. The Horned Frogs last won a tournament title in 2005 when they were a member of Conference USA.
Duke moved up four places to seventh after it beat North Carolina State for the ACC championship. It was the Blue Devils’ first tournament title in 12 years. It’s also the team’s best ranking since it was also seventh on Nov. 17, 2014.
Notre Dame fell to eighth, with NC State and LSU rounding out the top 10.
Ole Miss joined the poll at No. 25 after reaching the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Ole Miss was ranked for the first nine weeks of the season. Michigan State fell out of the poll.
The SEC has eight ranked teams. The ACC and Big 12 each have five, while the Big Ten has four. The Big East has two and the Summit League has one.
Here's the full AP Top 25:
1. UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. UConn
4. USC
5. Texas
6. TCU
7. Duke
8. Notre Dame
9. North Carolina State
10. LSU
11. Oklahoma
12. North Carolina
13. Kentucky
14. Baylor
15. Ohio State
16. West Virginia
17. Oklahoma State
18. Maryland
19. Kansas State
20. Tennessee
21. Alabama
22. Creighton
23. Florida State
24. South Dakota State
25. Ole Miss
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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