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Women's basketball AP poll, takeaways: Which teams are showing out as conference play ramps up?

cassandra negley
Women's basketball reporter
·7-min read

Women’s college basketball quietly returned to the schedule after the holiday break with a crop of games that lacked any real allure. That will change quickly in the coming days with New Year’s Day showcases and conference play fully underway. The SEC and a majority of mid-major leagues have yet to begin their schedules.

One of the few highlights of a weaker weekend schedule was action heating up in the Big Ten.

Maryland faced its first big test in more than a month when Michigan State came to town in what was nearly a battle of undefeated squads (the Spartans lost to Alabama before the holiday break). The Terps pulled away from a tie game with five minutes left to win the top-25 matchup, 72-66. The 12-0 start (2-0 in the Big Ten) is their best since 2018-19. The record is 18-0 in 2006-07.

“I thought it was a phenomenal game from two really competitive teams,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. “Every league game is going to be like this. It’s going to be every possession matters.”

Maryland and Southern Cal, with its win over a Michigan squad sans Syla Swords, are amongst the few teams taking a slim early lead in the Big Ten standings. They are two of five teams that are undefeated in league play (along with UCLA, Ohio State, Indiana), a minor claim this early in the season, yet one that carries more weight this year than any other. Though UCLA is the No. 1 team in the country, the Terps are in the next group on the Bruins' heels.

“It will be the hardest conference slate we’ve ever faced,” Frese said. “Which, I love to be facing it with this team. And I’ve said this all along, with 18 conference games [and] only one team that is a double, every game matters.”

Maryland will double up against Ohio State while UCLA doubles up against USC. They are all similarly positioned. But a team like Indiana doubles up against Purdue, and that’s an advantage if it can keep pace. And with only one game against 16 teams, each game could now be a tiebreaker.

A New Year’s Day doubleheader (3 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network) from Los Angeles takes center stage next: Michigan (10-2, 1-0) at UCLA (13-0, 2-0) and Nebraska (10-3, 1-1) at USC (11-1, 1-0).

USC Trojans players celebrate during a win over Michigan over Dec. 29. (Gina Ferazzi/Getty Images)
USC Trojans players celebrate during a win over Michigan over Dec. 29. (Gina Ferazzi/Getty Images)

Conference standings can often get out of whack this time of year since so few games have been played. In the ACC, it’s Georgia Tech atop the pack as one of the country’s eight remaining undefeated teams. The Yellowjackets, picked to finish 10th in the ACC’s preseason poll, are one of the biggest turnarounds this season.

Georgia Tech feeds off its defense and crushes opponents behind the 3-point line, averaging nearly 10 a game and scoring 35% of their 82.9 average points there. Four players are shooting at least 36% on two or more attempts per game. Dani Carnegie is shooting 39.4% on more than seven attempts per game as one of the four freshmen playing standout roles for head coach Nell Fortner. The team last finished above .500 in the ACC in 2021-22.

The Yellowjackets (14-0, 2-0) are the only of the three 2-0 ACC teams with a signature in-conference win (vs. North Carolina). They crushed Pittsburgh, 100-61, in their first triple-digit ACC game since a double overtime game against Virginia in March 2008.

Notre Dame (11-2, 2-0) took wins over Syracuse and Virginia, while NC State (10-3, 2-0) defeated Louisville and survived Clemson. Duke (10-3, 1-0) was one of the favorites to push Notre Dame at the top. And new entries Stanford (8-4, 0-1) and Cal (13-1, 1-0) could cause disruption to the ACC powers.

Like the Big Ten realignment, certain teams will have an upper hand. Georgia Tech faces Clemson twice, Notre Dame plays Louisville twice and NC State faces Wake Forest, whereas Duke and North Carolina double up.

The highlight of the ACC week doesn’t come until Sunday when Notre Dame faces North Carolina in Chapel Hill (1 p.m. ET, ESPN). Senior center Maria Gakdeng, who is off to one of her best and most efficient seasons, will be another sizable challenge for Notre Dame freshman Kate Koval.

It’s a major week ahead for Oklahoma. The Sooners (12-1) begin SEC play against some of the very best in Texas and Tennessee a mere three days apart, so it’s a good thing they shook the rust off in a non-conference win over New Mexico State on Sunday.

Raegan Beers, a 6-foot-4 junior from Oregon State, is one of the most impactful transfers of the season averaging nearly a double-double in 13 games. She leads the Sooners in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounding (9.7 rpg), blocks (1.4 bpg) and field goal percentage (69.3%, top 10 in Division I). Oklahoma likes to push the pace, but its glaring weaknesses (turnovers, fouls) will be exposed in back-to-back contests if the Sooners don’t clean them up soon.

Oklahoma first hosts Texas on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). It’s the inaugural season in the SEC for both former Big 12 teams. They shared the Big 12 regular season title in 2023 and Oklahoma won it outright in 2024 while sweeping two games against Texas. The Longhorns lead the series, 39-29. Texas and Oklahoma each averaged 91.6 ppg in a largely lackluster non-conference schedule.

The Sooners then travel to Tennessee for a Sunday matinee (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) that could end up looking more like an NBA score. Tennessee is third in pace (82.2 possessions per 40 minutes), and first of all Power Six teams. Oklahoma is fifth (80.9) and second of any Power Six team.

It will be the beginning of a grueling January for Oklahoma that will determine its conference and NCAA tournament standing. The Sooners play at South Carolina on Jan. 19 and at LSU on Jan. 30, the two most recent NCAA champions. The game against the Tigers begins a tough three-game stretch over eight days including Kentucky (Feb. 2) and Ole Miss (Feb. 6).

Oklahoma at Tennessee, Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN) — If there’s only time for a single game this week, it’s the rare SEC meeting of two teams ranked top-five in scoring average and pace. It will be the first significant matchup for either team after their non-conference schedules allowed for chemistry development more than resume building.

1. UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4. USC
5. Texas
6. LSU
7. UConn
8. Maryland
9. Oklahoma
10. Ohio State
11. TCU
12. Kansas State
13. Georgia Tech
14. Duke
15. Tennessee
16. Kentucky
17. North Carolina
18. West Virginia
19. Alabama
20. California
21. Michigan State
22. NC State
23. Iowa
24. Michigan
25. Ole Miss

1. Notre Dame
2. UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. Texas
5. USC
6. Maryland
7. UConn
8. Oklahoma
9. LSU
10. Ohio State
11. Georgia Tech
12. Kansas State
13. Tennessee
14. Duke
15. TCU
16. North Carolina
17. Kentucky
18. Michigan
19. West Virginia
20. Iowa
21. Michigan State
22. California
23. Alabama
24. Vanderbilt
25. Illinois