South Carolina No. 1 for 37th straight week, Iowa now No. 2
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
South Carolina stands alone with the second-longest streak atop The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll as the Gamecocks remained No. 1 for a 37th consecutive week.
The Gamecocks (32-0) won the Southeastern Conference Tournament over the weekend to remain undefeated heading into the NCAA tourney. South Carolina, which received all 28 first-place votes from a national media panel Monday, broke a tie with Louisiana Tech for most consecutive weeks at No. 1. The defending national champions now trail only UConn’s run of 51 straight weeks atop the Top 25.
With the final poll of the season set to come out next week, the Gamecocks are poised to go wire-to-wire at No. 1 this year ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa moved up five spots to No. 2 after running through the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes routed Ohio State by 33 points in the title game Sunday behind another strong effort from Caitlin Clark, who had the third triple-double in conference tournament history.
It is the Hawkeyes’ best ranking since they had an eight-week run at No. 2 in 1994.
Indiana dropped one place to third with Virginia Tech moving up four places to No. 4. The Hokies, who won the ACC Tournament for the first time, have their highest ranking ever.
Stanford and Maryland were the next two. UConn moved up to seventh with Utah and LSU next. The Utes and Tigers each dropped five spots after losing in their conference tournaments.
Villanova finished out the top 10. It’s the Wildcats best ranking ever and it came as they faced UConn for the Big East title late Monday.
Tennessee jumped back into the poll at No. 24 after making a run to the SEC Tournament final. South Florida and Iowa State dropped out of the Top 25. The Cyclones had been ranked for 36 consecutive weeks before falling out.
MAKING HISTORY
Washington State made history becoming the first seven-seed to win the Pac-12 Tournament after the Cougars beat California, Utah, Colorado and UCLA. The 20th-ranked Cougars entered the Top 25 for only the second time in school history after a one-week stint at No. 25 in 2021.
CONFERENCE BRAGGING RIGHTS
The Pac-12 has six teams in the Top 25 with Washington State jumping in this week. The Big Ten is next with five teams and the ACC has four. The SEC has three with the Big East and Big 12 each having two. Gonzaga, Middle Tennessee and UNLV represent three mid-major conferences.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
