No. 19 Tennessee back in women's AP Top 25 after year out of poll; UCLA, UConn remain 1-2

 

[December 10, 2024]  By DOUG FEINBERG

Tennessee has returned to The Associated Press Top 25 at No. 19, ending the school's longest drought in the 48-year history of the women's basketball poll.

The Lady Vols (7-0) had not been ranked since Nov. 27, 2023, a span of 22 polls. Since the rankings began in 1976, Tennessee has been in the Top 25 in 779 of 870 total weeks (89.5%).

Tennessee is off to an undefeated start with a pressing style that includes fresh players constantly coming in.

“The beauty of it is we earned it,” first-year coach Kim Caldwell said in a phone interview. “Not because the name is Tennessee. We didn’t start (ranked).”

UCLA, UConn and South Carolina remained the top three teams in the poll released Monday. The Bruins received 24 first-place votes from the 32-member national media panel. UCLA beat Washington by 11 in its lone game last week. The Huskies garnered the other eight top votes after routing Louisville 85-52 in the Women's Champions Classic.

LSU and USC each moved up a spot after then-No. 4 Texas lost to Notre Dame 80-70 in overtime. The Longhorns fell to sixth and the Irish rose two spots to eighth. Maryland was seventh. Duke and Oklahoma rounded out the first 10, with the Sooners moving up a spot.

Climbing Spartans
Michigan State moved up seven spots to No. 17 as the Spartans (9-0) are off to the best start in school history. They routed DePaul in their lone game last week and next face No. 21 Iowa on Sunday. It's the team's best ranking since the Spartans were 15th in 2019. Robyn Fralick's squad bettered the previous best 8-0 starts in 2012-13 and 2020-21.

Tennessee's Ruby Whitehorn (2), Talaysia Cooper (55) and Kaniya Boyd (4) celebrate their win over Iowa in an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

Moving in and out
Georgia Tech (9-0) entered the poll for the first time since Feb. 28, 2022, coming in at No. 25 as the team is off to its best start since 1977-78. The Yellow Jackets host Louisiana-Monroe before visiting No. 14 North Carolina on Sunday. N.C. State also returned to the poll at No. 22 while Illinois, Alabama and Louisville fell out. The Cardinals have four losses this season, all to ranked teams (UCLA, UConn, Kentucky and Oklahoma).

Conference breakdown
The Big Ten has eight teams in the poll this week, down one from the previous poll. The Southeastern Conference has seven with the ACC and Big 12 having five and four respectively. The Big East has one.

Game of the week
No. 2 UConn at No. 8 Notre Dame, Thursday. The two former Big East rivals tip off in one of the most highly anticipated games of the season. Both teams have All-American stars in UConn's Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo. The Huskies are at full strength while the Irish are still working through some injuries.

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