Women’s CBK AP Top 25: UNC Surges, Alabama Exits, Fairfield Enters

UConn heads into the postseason undefeated and still the unanimous No. 1 choice in The Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25. The Huskies, who have won 47 consecutive games, are 31-0 this season after routing St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. It’s the 11th time they’ve headed to the conference tournament undefeated. The 47 wins in a row are tied for the fifth-longest streak in Division I women’s basketball history. They received all 31 first-place votes in Monday’s poll from a national media panel. The top nine teams remained unchanged this week with UCLA, South Carolina and Texas following the Huskies. Vanderbilt and LSU were next followed by Oklahoma, Michigan and Iowa. TCU replaced Louisville in the top 10 after the Cardinals lost at Notre Dame on Sunday. North Carolina made the biggest jump, moving up five spots after knocking off Duke on Sunday. The Tar Heels have won four straight. Another 12 teams received votes for the poll this week. Alabama led the way with 29, followed by Notre Dame, which upset previous No. 10 Louisville, with 26. Columbia received 25, while Villanova – the second-seed in the Big East – picked up 19. Oklahoma State (13), NC State (11), Rice (8), Washington (4), Tennessee (3), Rhode Island (2), Illinois (2) and Iowa State (2) rounded out the dozen others. Here is the full top 25: 25. Fairfield, 25-4, MAAC24. Ole Miss, 21-10, SEC23. Princeton, 23-3, Ivy League22. Georgia, 22-8, SEC21. Texas Tech, 25-6, Big 1220. Baylor, 24-7, Big 1219. Minnesota, 22-7, Big Ten18. Michigan State, 22-7, Big Ten17. Kentucky, 21-9, SEC16. North Carolina, 25-6, ACC15. West Virginia, 24-6, Big 1214. Maryland, 23-7, Big Ten13. Duke, 21-8, ACC12. Louisville, 25-6, ACC11. Ohio State, 24-6, Big Ten10. TCU, 27-4, Big 129. Iowa, 24-5, Big Ten8. Michigan, 24-5, Big Ten7. Oklahoma, 23-6, SEC6. LSU, 26-4, SEC5. Vanderbilt, 27-3, SEC4. Texas, 28-3, SEC3. South Carolina, 29-2, SEC2. UCLA, 28-1, Big Ten1. UConn, 31-0, Big East In and out Fairfield entered the poll at No. 25 for the second time in three seasons. The Stags are 25-4 this season and tied with Quinnipiac atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings. They were ranked for three weeks in March at the end of the 2023-24 season. Alabama, which has dropped five of its last six games, fell out of the rankings. Conference supremacy The SEC has the most teams in the Top 25 with eight. The Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 has four teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference has three and the Ivy League, MAAC and Big East each have one. Games of the week The Power Four conferences tournaments begin with numerous potential Top 25 matchups in the Big Ten and SEC. If seedings hold, No. 5 Vanderbilt will face fourth-ranked Texas in the semifinals with a potential one-seed in the NCAA Tournament on the line. Texas was fourth and Vanderbilt fifth in the NCAA Top 16 reveal on Sunday. The Associated Press contributed to this report.