Where Kentucky women stand in national rankings entering regular season’s final week
Another week, more movement for Kenny Brooks and the Kentucky Wildcats in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings.
Kentucky (21-5, 10-4 SEC) fell one spot to No. 15 in the Week 17 edition of the rankings Monday after picking up a 73-65 road win against Missouri on Thursday and losing 65-58 to top-10 LSU (27-2, 12-2 SEC) on Senior Day at home. The Wildcats and the Tigers, who did not move from their seventh-ranked spot, represent two of seven Southeastern Conference programs in this week’s Top 25.
Among those is new No. 1 Texas (26-2, 12-1), which improved one spot following Notre Dame’s (last week’s No. 1 team) double-overtime loss at North Carolina State (22-5, 14-2 ACC) on Sunday. The Fighting Irish (24-3, 15-1 ACC) dropped to No. 3, making space for the Longhorns and previous No. 3 UCLA (26-1, 14-1 Big Ten) to move up, while N.C. State checked back in to the top 10, improving four spots to No. 9.
This week’s top 10, which no longer contains previous No. 8 Ohio State (23-4, 12-4 Big Ten) after a loss to unranked Indiana pushed the Buckeyes down to No. 12, is as follows — No. 1 Texas, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Southern California (25-2, 15-1 Big Ten), No. 5 Connecticut (26-3, 16-0 Big East), No. 6 South Carolina (25-3, 13-1 SEC), No. 7 LSU, No. 8 North Carolina (25-4, 13-3 ACC), No. 9 N.C. State and No. 10 TCU (26-3, 14-2 Big 12).
No. 11 Tennessee (21-6, 8-6 SEC) improved four spots after defeating ranked Alabama and unranked Florida, while No. 13 Oklahoma (21-6, 9-5 SEC) jumped three spots thanks to victories over Vanderbilt and Arkansas. No. 20 Alabama (22-6, 9-5 SEC) fell two spots after the loss to the Sooners and a bounce-back win against Auburn.
Ole Miss (18-8, 9-5 SEC) received Top 25 votes, while No. 25 Louisville returned to the rankings after defeating then-No. 11 Duke in Durham.
NET rankings update
Following the up-and-down week, the NCAA NET rankings have Kentucky at No. 22.
Updated daily to reflect all Division I games, the NET is an official tool used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to rank all 362 women’s college basketball programs and determine tournament teams and their seeding.
The NET top 10 remains the same as it was one week ago — No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Southern California, No. 7 Kansas State, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 TCU and No. 10 LSU.
The Gamecocks, Longhorns, Tigers and Wildcats are joined in the NET’s top 25 by No. 11 Tennessee, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 16 Alabama and No. 25 Vanderbilt.
Kentucky’s two final regular-season opponents, Tennessee and South Carolina, provide opportunities for the Wildcats to tackle additional ‘Quadrant 1’ opponents, against which they currently hold a record of 4-4. The Wildcats’ four Quad 1 wins came against Oklahoma, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Illinois; their losses came at the hands of North Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas and LSU.
Per NCAA guidelines for the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season, this year’s NET rank quadrant ranges are “quadrant one (home 1-25, neutral 1-35 and away 1-45); quadrant two (home 26-55, neutral 36-65 and away 46-80); quadrant three (home 56-90, neutral 66-105 and away 81-130) and quadrant four (home 91-plus, neutral 106-plus and away 131-plus).”
No. 34 Mississippi State (19-9, 6-8), No. 55 Florida (14-14, 5-9), No. 56 Auburn (12-15, 3-11) and No. 61 Missouri (13-16, 2-12) remain within the NET’s top 75, while No. 101 Texas A&M (10-16, 3-11) dropped outside of the top 100 after checking in at No. 81 one week ago. The Aggies join No. 120 Georgia (10-17, 2-11) and No. 144 Arkansas (9-20, 2-12) within the top 150.
State of the SEC
What started as a marathon for Kentucky in the SEC standings will finish as a sprint, as the Wildcats’ sole ownership of the fourth and final double-bye in the SEC Tournament is in jeopardy in the final week of the regular season.
South Carolina, Texas and LSU appear to have enough breathing room to maintain their standings within the top three, but the Wildcats lay only one game ahead of Alabama, Oklahoma and Ole Miss, each of which have only one league loss more than Kentucky’s four. Tennessee looms just beyond, with six conference losses entering Thursday’s rivalry game against the Cats.
Remaining games for SEC’s top eight teams
1. South Carolina (13-1) — at Ole Miss, vs. Kentucky
2. Texas (12-1) — at Georgia, at Mississippi State, vs. Florida
3. LSU (12-2) — at Alabama, vs. Ole Miss
4. Kentucky (10-4) — vs. Tennessee, at South Carolina
5. Alabama (9-5) — vs. LSU, at Oklahoma
5. Oklahoma (9-5) — at Florida, vs. Alabama
5. Ole Miss (9-5) — vs. South Carolina, at LSU
8. Tennessee (8-6) — at Kentucky, vs. Georgia
Next game
No. 11 Tennessee at No. 15 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Tennessee 21-6 (8-6 SEC), Kentucky 21-5 (10-4)
Series: Tennessee leads 61-15
Last meeting: Tennessee won 78-62 on March 6, 2024, in the second round of the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
