Three teams in last week’s top 10 suffered losses last week, with Baylor falling to Iowa State, Texas A&M losing to LSU and Stanford falling to Colorado. This caused some shaking in the top 25 of this week’s power ranking, but Louisville continues to play extremely good basketball and is sitting in first position for the seventh consecutive week.
Iowa State and Syracuse are back in the top 25 this week, while Georgia makes its first appearance.
There are some great games to be prepared for Thursday with two exciting Big Ten games. The state of Ohio will host trips from Michigan and Iowa to Maryland at two major conferences. Thursday is marked, however, by a game between UConn and Tennessee. The Vols are the first team in our top 25 this week, after a loss to Georgia, but Kellie Harper’s team is very good and should provide a strong test for the Huskies and Geno Auriemma.
Auriemma recently made her own history with her 1,099th career victory, overtaking the late Tennessee coach Pat Summit on the NCAA Division I all-time winning list.
Other great games that we are going to watch are Louisville-Syracuse, South Carolina-Georgia and UCLA-Stanford, as we entered in late January.
Below is our updated top 25 as we prepare for another great college basketball weekend.
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1. Louisville (12-0)
Jeff Walz’s team continues to roll, while the Cardinals recorded easy wins over competitors from ACC BC and Florida State last week. Dana Evans and Hailey Van Lith continue to produce at a really high level. A big game Thursday is approaching with No. 20 Syracuse and another tough test will follow this weekend, with Louisville welcoming a very underrated Wake Forest team. Previous: 1
2. South Carolina (10-1)
South Carolina has the only loss to NC State, but there is no team in the country that can match the strength of their victories at the moment. Gamecocks have classified victories over Gonzaga, Iowa State, Arkansas and Kentucky, and also have victories over strong unqualified teams, such as South Dakota and Alabama. My preseason pick for National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston is playing her best basketball of the season now, and Dawn Staley’s team can beat him in many different ways. Gamecocks hosts No. 24 Georgia on Thursday in another tough SEC test. Previous: 4
3. NC State (10-0)
Wolfpack hasn’t played a game since January 3, and while that prevented them from moving on to the top two after Stanford’s defeat, it certainly won’t bring them down. They still have the best victory of any team in the country with an away win over South Carolina, they are deep, experienced, talented and well trained. TNC State is scheduled to return to action on Thursday, when they face Florida on the road. Previous: 3
4. Stanford (11-1)
Stanford suffered his first loss of the season last weekend in Colorado. I had the cardinal in second place, and although they fall two places, I will not allow a defeat at a major conference to deflect my belief that the cardinal is in the top five at the moment – they are. With victories over Oregon, UCLA and Arizona, his resume is still extremely strong. Haley Jones continues to play extremely well for Tara VanDerveer’s team, while Lexie Hull also recently stepped up and provided another scoring punch. Stanford will host UCLA on Friday night in what must be a fantastic game, as the Bruins have been playing great basketball lately. Stanford beat UCLA by 12 in his first fight earlier this season. Previous: two
5. UConn (7-0)
UConn remains in fifth place this week, as he hopes to play his first game since January 9th. The big news for the Huskies is the new freshman Saylor Poffenbarger, a member of the 2021 class, who graduated from high school earlier and will join Geno Auriemma’s team until the end of the season. Poffenbarger can provide another score punch for UConn. The Huskies are certainly getting better this season, with their biggest game on Thursday, when they face Tennessee on the road. Previous: 5
6. Arizona (10-2)
The team that impressed me the most in the last two weeks was Arizona. I have been drugged with the Wildcats since the pre-season, choosing them to reach the Final Four, but I also had some doubts, especially regarding the attack. I questioned their ability to score with some of the top scoring teams in Pac 12. After convincing victories over Oregon and Oregon State, I am not convinced that they need to be able to do that. This team is fantastic defensively and will score enough to be in every game. They suffered a difficult defeat for the State of Washington, but the Cougars are a good team. I learned more about Adia Barnes’ team in their two recent dominant victories than in their defeat. Previous: 12
7. Texas A&M (13-1)
Texas A&M suffered its first loss of the season last weekend when it succumbed to an LSU team game on the road. The Aggies, who really impressed me this season, could very well have fallen into a trap game in Baton Rouge, coming out of a tight one point win over Arkansas, with another big game against the State of Mississippi on the horizon. The Aggies responded to the loss to LSU very well, with a 28 point win over the Bulldogs. Gary Blair’s team, led by veterans Aaliyah Wilson and Kayla Wells, is well prepared for a good finish in the regular season. His last game of the regular season against South Carolina could be for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Previous: 6
8. Maryland (11-1)
Maryland is coming out of some good wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin, but out of his early season wins over Arkansas and Rutgers, I’m still waiting to see how he handles some of the toughest teams that are coming up. We’ll learn the answer to that quickly, as Terps prepares to welcome Iowa and freshman sensation Caitlin Clark on Thursday. Brenda Frese’s team will follow that game with a trip to Columbus to face the state of Ohio, before receiving Rutgers, in what will be the most difficult stretch remaining in the regular season. Previous: 8
9. UCLA (8-2)
Core Close has had its team playing extremely well lately, highlighted by solid victories over the state of Washington and Oregon. The Bruins’ only defeats were to Stanford and Arizona, and they will have a chance to avenge both defeats in the next two weeks. The first arrives Friday, as they travel to face Stanford. Michaela Onyenwere has been one of the best players in the country this season and when Onyenwere and Charisma Osborne score the ball at high speed, the Bruins are good enough defensively to beat any team in the country. That said, I cannot overstate the importance of Onyenwere and Osborne at the offensive end of the court. They need to produce and they went. Previous: 10
10. Michigan (10-0)
The Wolverines have dropped one position this week, but this is more due to how well UCLA and Arizona have played more than anything else. Michigan hasn’t played in a week, but has a big showdown on the conference road on Thursday against Ohio State, which will mark his toughest test since playing at Northwestern about a month ago. Naz Hillmon has been great for Michigan and it needs to continue for the Wolverines to defeat a team of Buckeyes who came out of a difficult loss in Nebraska. Previous: 9
| Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| 11. Kentucky | 10-3 | 13 |
| 12. Oregon | 9-3 | 11 |
| 13. Baylor | 10-1 | 7 |
| 14. USF | 10-1 | 17 |
| 15. Indiana | 8-3 | 19 |
| 16. Arkansas | 11-5 | 16 |
| 17. State of Ohio | 7-1 | 14 |
| 18. Iowa State | 9-4 | NR |
| 19. DePaul | 8-3 | 20 |
| 20. Syracuse | 7-1 | NR |
| 21. Northwest | 7-2 | 23 |
| 22. Gonzaga | 12-2 | 24 |
| 23. State of Mississippi | 8-4 | 15 |
| 24. Georgia | 12-1 | NR |
| 25. South Dakota St. | 11-2 | 25 |
First five: Tennessee, Washington state, Missouri state, Texas and South Dakota
Who fell? Tennessee, Washington state and Texas
Who entered? Iowa, Syracuse and Georgia