The victims of Sunday afternoon’s top-10 upsets slid a combined seven spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll, with Michigan and Louisville clinging to their top-10 statuses at No. 8 and No. 10, respectively, as Duke dropped three spots to No. 12.
Here’s how the rest of the top 25 shook out, with first-place votes denoted in parentheses, movement from last week’s poll tracked in brackets and teams entering (or re-entering) the poll identified with an asterisk:
- UConn (31)
- UCLA
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Vanderbilt
- LSU [+1]
- Oklahoma [+4]
- Michigan [-2]
- Iowa [+4]
- Louisville [-2]
- TCU [+1]
- Duke [-3]
- Ohio State [-3]
- Maryland
- Michigan State [+3]
- Kentucky
- West Virginia [+2]
- Baylor [-3]
- Ole Miss [-2]
- Texas Tech
- North Carolina [+1]
- Minnesota [+1]
- Georgia [+1]
- Alabama [+1]
- Princeton*
Here’s more on the state of the races (or routs)
for the Power Four regular-season conference championships ahead of the final week of the regular season.
As UCLA affirms their B1G dominance, can Michigan avoid a late-season slide?
No. 2 UCLA, arguably, has done all they could do to establish themselves as credible national championship contenders, even if skepticism persists because of their past tournament performances.
Already guaranteed a share of the Big Ten regular-season crown, the Bruins took it all for themselves on Sunday with a 20-point win over Wisconsin. It’s their first Big Ten regular-season championship; they last won the Pac-12 in 1999. At 17-0 in conference play, another win over LA-rival USC in the finale would clinch a perfect conference season for the Bruins.
With their Sunday shutdown of Michigan, Iowa overtook the Wolverines for second place in the conference. While the loss was not ideal for Michigan, it was not detrimental, as being on the opposite side of the Big Ten tournament bracket from the Bruins is most important.
Or, the loss was at least not yet detrimental.
The Wolverines have a brutal end to their Big Ten schedule, traveling to No. 10 Ohio State on Wednesday before closing the regular season by hosting No. 14 Maryland on Sunday. A loss to the Buckeyes would put the Wolverines at fourth in the conference, setting them up to meet the Bruins in the semifinals, rather than the final, of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hawkeyes should be able to hold on to second place, as their schedule finishes with friendlier matchups against Illinois and Wisconsin.
Which team will finish 2nd to South Carolina in the SEC?
If Big Ten teams want to be on the opposite side of the tournament bracket from UCLA, SEC teams really want to be on the opposite side of No. 3 South Carolina.
Sunday’s dismantling of No. 19 Ole Miss secured South Carolina a share of the SEC regular-season title, their fifth in a row. It will be all theirs if they beat Missouri on Thursday.
No. 5 Vanderbilt hung on to to second place, thanks to some late heroics from Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan, as, for the second time this season, the Commodores came back to squeak by No. 16 Kentucky. Both Vandy and No. 4 Texas are 11-3 in the conference, but the Commodores won the head-to-head matchup against the Longhorns.
Vanderbilt completes their SEC schedule against No. 24 Alabama and Tennessee on Thursday and Sunday, respectively, while Texas plays No. 23 Georgia and Alabama.
None of those games are guaranteed wins, suggesting No. 6 LSU, in fourth place at 10-4, could still sneak up to second or third place, putting them on the opposite side of the tournament bracket from South Carolina. The Tigers, who lost their lone game to Vandy and split their season series with Texas, have to take care of Tennessee on Thursday and Mississippi State on Sunday
Despite the end of their winning streak, Duke still controls their ACC fate
Duke left the door open for Louisville to win the ACC regular-season title.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they suffered their second conference loss, a home upset to Virginia, before the Blue Devils had their perfect ACC record punctured by Clemson.
With one loss and the head-to-head win over Louisville, Duke remains in strong position to win the program’s first regular-season conference championship since 2013. The Blue Devils just need to beat Florida State at home on Thursday.
Can TCU take the Big 12 title for the 2nd-straight season?
No. 12 TCU currently has a one-game lead over No. 17 West Virginia and No. 18 Baylor for first-place in the Big 12. With a win on Wednesday over Cincinnati, the Horned Frogs will win at least a share of the conference regular-season crown.
On Sunday, that prospect appeared more than a bit precarious, as TCU trailed Iowa State by 13 points over two minutes into the fourth quarter. But, 17 fourth-quarter points from Olivia Miles spurred a furious Horned Frog comeback, with a 25-4 run propelling the team to the 80-73 win. Miles finished with her fifth triple-double of the season: 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Next Sunday, Miles and company will have an opportunity to sweep the regular-season series against Baylor and secure the conference title all to themselves. A loss would give the Bears a share of the title.
