South Carolina, Iowa, USC and Texas are the top four teams in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, a day after all four were chosen as the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament that begins later this week.
The undefeated Gamecocks remained the unanimous No. 1 choice from the 35-member national media panel Monday. They had a week off after winning the SEC Tournament. Iowa and USC also didn’t play last week after winning the Big Ten and Pac-12 tournaments, respectively.
Texas moved up one spot to fourth after winning the Big 12 Tournament last Tuesday. The Longhorns earned their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 2004.
Stanford fell one place to fifth. UCLA, Ohio State and LSU were next. Notre Dame was ninth, the first difference between the poll and NCAA bracket as far as seeding; LSU was given a 3-seed in the NCAAs and the Irish a 2-seed.
UConn remained in 10th after winning its 22nd Big East Tournament last week.
The AP will have a final poll after the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the 47-year history of the poll.
TOUGH REGION
Iowa’s NCAA regional features five teams that spent time in the top three of the AP Top 25 during the season. The Hawkeyes, UCLA, LSU, Kansas State and Colorado all had turns up there. None of the other regionals has more than three teams that have done that. South Carolina is the lone team in its part of the bracket to achieve that.
CONFERENCE WATCH
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The Pac-12 got a conference record-tying seven teams in the NCAA Tournament, six of which are ranked in the poll — including three of the top six.
The ACC is next with five teams in the Top 25 while the Big 12 has four and the Big Ten three. The SEC, which got eight bids to the NCAAs, only has two teams ranked, matching the Big East. The West Coast and Mountain West join the MAAC with one team each.
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