Kentucky women’s basketball stays in top 15 after major AP Top 25 shakeup
Last week was an eventful one for Kenny Brooks and the Kentucky Wildcats (17-2, 6-1 SEC), with the team’s nine-game win streak — and its undefeated Southeastern Conference record — coming to an abrupt end in a 61-55 upset loss to unranked Texas A&M on Thursday in College Station.
The good news for Kentucky, which improved to a season-best No. 11 in last week’s Associated Press women’s college basketball Top 25 poll, is that 12 other ranked teams dropped at least one contest, as well. LSU extended its losing streak (now 0-5) to South Carolina (19-1, 7-0 SEC) under Kim Mulkey, leaving UCLA (20-0, 8-0 Big Ten) as the only undefeated team left in college basketball.
Maryland fell to both UCLA and Ohio State, while Big 12 top-10 representatives TCU and Kansas State lost to unranked opponents. North Carolina fell in heartbreaking, buzzer-beating fashion to Florida State. West Virginia lost to Arizona. Tennessee lost a tight contest in Austin to Texas. Georgia Tech lost to Duke. Alabama fell to Vanderbilt. Minnesota lost to Michigan. Michigan lost to Michigan State. Baylor lost to TCU for the first time since 1990.
All of that, in combination with the Wildcats’ 89-69 victory over Arkansas on Sunday, led to their dropping only one spot to No. 12 in the Jan. 27 edition of the rankings. Needless to say, there was plenty of shakeup within the top 25.
The top four remain the same, with No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame (17-2, 8-0 ACC) and No. 4 Southern California (18-1, 8-0 Big Ten) leading the way. After the Longhorns’ big wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss, Texas (20-2, 6-1 SEC) improved two spots to No. 5. Connecticut (19-2, 10-0 Big East) holds strong at No. 6, while LSU (21-1, 6-1 SEC) fell two spots to No. 7.
Ohio State (19-1, 8-1 Big Ten) returned to the top 10, jumping four spots to No. 8 after defeating both Maryland and Nebraska. No. 9 TCU (20-2, 8-1 Big 12) stuck at No. 9, while No. 10 Duke (17-4, 8-1 ACC) re-entered the top 10 after improving four spots with its ranked win over Georgia Tech and a victory over SMU.
South Carolina, Texas, LSU and Kentucky are four of eight SEC teams in this week’s rankings. No. 13 Oklahoma (16-4, 4-3) improved two spots thanks to its 86-55 rout of Georgia. No. 18 Tennessee (15-4, 3-4) fell one spot after its loss to Texas; the Lady Vols were to host South Carolina on Monday night in head coach Kim Caldwell’s return to the court following the birth of her son last week. No. 22 Alabama (17-4, 4-3) dropped three spots after its loss to Vanderbilt, and the Commodores (17-4, 4-3) were rewarded with a No. 23 ranking.
Three teams — Baylor, Michigan and Minnesota — dropped out of the top 25 entirely, while No. 24 Oklahoma State and No. 25 Florida State join the Commodores as new entrants.
NET rankings update
The Wildcats also dropped in the NCAA NET rankings between Jan. 20 and Jan. 27, moving from No. 18 to No. 22.
The NET rankings, an official tool used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to determine bids and seeding come March, are updated daily.
Texas A&M (10-9, 3-4), which lost to LSU on Sunday, stood at No. 76 on Jan. 20; the Aggies are now No. 66 in the NET. Arkansas (8-14, 1-6) moved from No. 139 to No. 135 over the course of a week. Kentucky’s opponents this week, Alabama and Oklahoma, ranked No. 19 and No. 17, respectively, at the time of the writing of this article.
The NET top 10 is as follows — No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 Connecticut, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Southern California, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Kansas State (19-2, 7-1 Big 12), No. 8 Duke, No. 9 LSU and No. 10 TCU.
No. 11 Ole Miss (13-6, 4-3), No. 12 Tennessee, No. 18 Vanderbilt and No. 31 Mississippi State (16-5, 3-4) fill out the SEC’s top-50 representation in the NET.
No. 58 Florida (11-10, 2-5), No. 59 Auburn (11-10, 2-6) and No. 78 Missouri (11-10, 0-6) continue their presence in the top 100, while No. 129 Georgia (9-12, 1-6) joins the Razorbacks on the outside looking in.
Next game
No. 22 Alabama at No. 12 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 17-2 (6-1 SEC), Alabama 17-4 (4-3)
Series: Kentucky leads 36-19
Last meeting: Alabama won 91-74 on Jan. 28, 2024, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
