Kentucky improves to No. 16 in AP Top 25, but hosting NCAA games not promised
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky rose to No.16 after SEC wins but lost in quarterfinals to South Carolina.
- Tournament results shuffled top‑10 spots and influenced NCAA seeding projections.
- West Virginia won Big 12 title, boosting its NCAA hosting and seeding case.
Kentucky may have gone 2-1 during Champ Week, but it improved one spot to No. 16 in this week’s Associated Press women’s college basketball top 25.
The Cats (23-10, 8-8 SEC) entered the SEC Tournament as the No. 9 seed, setting up a Game 1 matchup Wednesday morning with No. 16 seed Arkansas.
Ahead of the tournament, ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme estimated that UK would need a minimum of two wins in Greenville, S.C., and a little help from teams outside the SEC in order to cement a top-16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Sure enough, Kentucky dominated in both its first- and second-round games; the Cats defeated the Razorbacks 94-64 and advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal with a Clara Strack-led 76-61 win over No. 8 seed Georgia.
UK’s national seeding fate looked even better following Thursday’s second-round Big Ten Tournament exits for Michigan State and Maryland, each of which ranked among the final spots for a top-16 overall seed in the Selection Committee’s latest early reveal on March 1.
Though an SEC Tournament quarterfinal victory over top-seed South Carolina on Friday likely would have ensured Kentucky’s hosting privileges, an upset was not expected — nor likely necessary.
Two hardfought games in consecutive days before a rematch with the league regular-season champion and national title contender, which had rested since narrowly defeating Kentucky in Lexington March 1 — meant fatigue was in play for the Cats, who already lack depth.
South Carolina dominated, racing to a 23-point victory behind double-figure performances from Joyce Edwards, Madina Okot (who posted a double-double), Tessa Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson. Point guard Raven Johnson played a strong game and guided the Gamecocks to yet another SEC Tournament semifinal.
Kentucky didn’t suffer the worst loss of the quarterfinals — that belonged to Oklahoma, which fell 112-78 to LSU — and it didn’t have the best showing of the around. That came from Ole Miss in an 89-78 upset of Vanderbilt. But the Cats’ Selection Sunday forecast remains cloudy.
The results of the SEC Tournament led to some shakeup in the top 10, as No. 3 Texas (31-3) improved one spot — and likely its NCAA Tournament seeding — after claiming its first SEC Tournament championship with a dominant, wire-to-wire win over the now No. 4 Gamecocks (31-3), who had occupied the No. 3 spot for weeks.
No. 5 LSU (27-5) improved one spot despite falling to South Carolina in Saturday’s first semifinal, while No. 6 Vanderbilt (27-4) fell one place after its quarterfinal loss to Ole Miss. No. 10 Oklahoma (24-7) fell three spots, but remains in the top 10 regardless.
No. 19 Ole Miss (23-11) was the biggest riser in this week’s poll, jumping five spots after the tournament action. No. 24 Georgia (22-9) fell two places with its one-and-done showing.
Alabama also received top-25 votes.
Caroline Makauskas’ Team of the Week
Several teams handled their business in the final power-conference games before Selection Sunday, further stating their cases to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Some teams proved they should be on the right side of the bubble, while others played themselves out of contention for higher seeding.
In each of the committee’s early top-16 reveals, released on Feb. 14 and March 1, the Mountaineers (27-6, 14-4 Big 12) were excluded; the Big 12’s only representative was eventual regular-season conference champ TCU, while other teams that had achieved significant AP Top 25 attention (Baylor, Texas Tech, West Virginia) throughout the course of the season would have to play their first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games on the road.
After going 0-2 against TCU, Mark Kellogg and the second-seeded Mountaineers earned a confidence victory — and hoisted themselves higher in the eyes of the selection committee — with their 62-53 win over the Horned Frogs in Sunday’s Big 12 Championship matchup.
“Great coaches, great staff,” Kellogg said. “We have unbelievable character around us, the players included. And then all the credit to those guys. They did the hard work. We just try to put the plans together and put them in place and let these kids go showcase what they’re capable of. And I think that was on display tonight.”
Seeds 13-16 aren’t set in stone until Selection Sunday’s presentation has come and gone. However, per projections by ESPN and USA Today, West Virginia’s climb to the top of Mount Big 12 is enough to grant the team hosting privileges in the opening weekend.
If West Virginia wanted to right the ship in what was most likely its final shot at TCU for the 2025-26 campaign, the Mountaineers would need the absolute most from their veteran core while slowing down TCU as much as possible — and that’s exactly what they got.
Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jordan Harrison set the tone on both ends of the floor, contributing 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while holding the high standard for defense that earned her Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Fellow all-tournament team selection Sydney Shaw scored 17 points (including a trio of 3-pointers) and recorded seven rebounds Senior forward Kierra Wheeler added 12 points, eight rebounds and a block. Junior forward Carter McCray posted five points and eight rebounds.
“We knew the things that were on the line,” Harrison said. “And that’s something that we talked about. We wanted to get two games in Morgantown.”
Prior to its championship victory, West Virginia also beat No. 10 seed Arizona State and No. 6 seed Colorado along the path to its second-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament title.
Caroline Makauskas’ Top 25 ballot: No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 West Virginia, No. 12 Louisville, No. 13 TCU, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 16 Maryland, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 18 North Carolina, No. 19 Kentucky, No. 20 Alabama, No. 21 Villanova, No. 22 Notre Dame, No. 23 Princeton, No. 24 Fairfield, No. 25 Georgia.
