Where Kentucky women’s basketball stands in the rankings ahead of the SEC Tournament
The Kentucky Wildcats (22-6, 11-5 SEC) put on a show in the final week of the regular season to close out Kenny Brooks’ first SEC slate — and the national media rewarded them for it.
Kentucky improved three spots in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 rankings, jumping to No. 12 after its 82-58 victory over Tennessee on Senior Day and playing co-SEC champ South Carolina close until falling 78-66 on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (27-3, 15-1), who also took care of business on the road against Ole Miss on Thursday, improved one spot to No. 5, while Tennessee (21-8, 8-8), who suffered a puzzling loss to unranked Georgia in Knoxville on Sunday, fell a week-high seven spots to No. 18. All in all, the SEC leads the way among conferences with seven teams ranked within this week’s Top 25.
No. 1 Texas (29-2, 15-1) remains the AP’s pick for the nation’s top team, but longtime top-10 inclusion LSU (27-4, 12-4) dropped two spots to No. 9 after consecutive losses to ranked Alabama on the road and Ole Miss in Baton Rouge. Oklahoma (23-6, 11-5) improved three spots to No. 10 after tackling Alabama and Florida. The Crimson Tide (23-7, 10-6) improved one spot to No. 19.
LSU was one of four teams ranked within last week’s top 10 to lose at least one game. For the second time this season, UCLA lost to archrival Southern California; but this time, at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood, the Bruins’ loss meant that this year’s Big Ten title belongs to the Trojans, and the Los Angeles teams swapped spots in the top five. UCLA now sits at No. 4 while Southern California jumped to No. 2, its highest ranking in nearly four decades.
Notre Dame, ranked No. 1 two weeks ago, dropped out of the top five with its Feb. 27 loss to ranked Florida State in South Bend. The Fighting Irish (25-4, 16-2 ACC) are now No. 6. The top chunk of the ACC suffered additional shakeup with North Carolina, which lost to Duke on the road before ending its season with a tough loss to unranked Virginia at home. As a consequence, the Tar Heels (25-6, 13-5 ACC) fell six spots to No. 14.
This week’s top 10 is as follows — No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Southern California, No. 3 Connecticut (28-3, 18-0 Big East), No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 South Carolina, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 North Carolina State (24-5, 16-2 ACC), No. 8 TCU (28-3, 16-2 Big 12), No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Oklahoma.
Ole Miss (19-9, 10-6 SEC) received Top 25 votes, and No. 25 South Dakota State (26-3, 16-0 Summit League) entered the rankings after polishing off its perfect league slate with a 39-point slashing of St. Thomas.
NET rankings update
The Wildcats also improved in the NCAA NET rankings to No. 19.
The NET is an official tool, updated daily, used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to rank all 362 women’s college basketball programs and determine tournament teams and their seeding. One week ago, the Wildcats stood at No. 22.
The NET top 10 remains largely the same as it was one week ago, save for a slight reordering of spots seven through nine — No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Southern California, No. 7 Duke, No. 8 TCU, No. 9 Kansas State and No. 10 LSU.
The Gamecocks, Longhorns, Tigers and Wildcats are joined in the NET’s top 25 by No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 15 Alabama and No. 22 Vanderbilt.
Kentucky closed regular-season play with a 5-5 record against Quad 1 teams, the toughest competition as determined by the NCAA; the Wildcats defeated Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Illinois, but lost to South Carolina, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and current-NET-No. 20 North Carolina.
According to this season’s NCAA women’s college basketball guidelines, the NET rank quadrant ranges are Quad 1 (home 1-25, neutral 1-35 and away 1-45); Quad 2 (home 26-55, neutral 36-65 and away 46-80); Quad 3 (home 56-90, neutral 66-105 and away 81-130) and Quad 4 (home 91-plus, neutral 106-plus and away 131-plus).”
No. 33 Mississippi State (20-10, 7-9), No. 54 Florida (14-16, 5-11), No. 58 Auburn (11-17, 3-13) and No. 65 Missouri (14-17, 3-13) remain within the NET’s top 100. No. 107 Georgia (12-18, 4-12) shot up in the rankings after checking in at No. 120 exactly one week ago. No. 109 Texas A&M (10-18, ) and No. 138 Arkansas (10-21, 3-13) join the Bulldogs within the top 150.
Final SEC standings
1. South Carolina (27-3, 15-1 SEC)
1. Texas (29-2, 15-1)
3. LSU (27-4, 12-4)
4. Kentucky (22-6, 11-5)
5. Oklahoma (23-6, 11-5)
6. Alabama (23-7, 10-6)
7. Ole Miss (19-9, 10-6)
8. Vanderbilt (21-9, 8-8)
9. Tennessee (21-8, 8-8)
10. Mississippi State (20-10, 7-9)
11. Florida (14-16, 5-11)
12. Georgia (12-18, 4-12)
13. Arkansas (10-21, 3-13)
14. Auburn (12-17, 3-13)
15. Missouri (14-17, 3-13)
16. Texas A&M (10-18, 3-13)
Next game
No. 12 Kentucky in the 2025 SEC Tournament
Who: The winner of No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Arkansas/13 Georgia
When: 2:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
