No. 3 Southern California has highest ranking in 38 years

Field Level Media|published: Mon 11th March, 12:50 2024

Unbeaten South Carolina and Caitlin Clark's Iowa squad sit atop this week's Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll, followed by No. 3 Southern California with its highest ranking since 1986.

The Gamecocks (32-0) once again received all 35 first-place votes on Monday after winning the Southeastern Conference tournament and coach Dawn Staley's crew will enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated for a second straight year.

Clark rallied the No. 2 Hawkeyes (29-4) to a 94-89 overtime win against Nebraska in Sunday's Big Ten tournament final. The NCAA's all-time leading scorer in Division I finished with 34 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and three steals as Iowa overcame an eight-point hole with 2:38 left in regulation.

The Trojans (26-5) achieved their highest ranking in 38 years after knocking off Stanford to win the Pac-12 tourney for the first time since 2014. The Cardinal (28-5) fell two spots to No. 4 after Sunday's 74-61 setback.

Texas (28-5) checks in at No. 5, with UCLA (25-6), Ohio State (25-5), LSU (28-5), Notre Dame (26-6) and UConn (28-5) rounding out the top 10.

The rest of the Top 25:

11. North Carolina State

12. Oregon State

13. Virginia Tech

14. Gonzaga

15. Indiana

16. Kansas State

17. Oklahoma

18. Colorado

19. Baylor

20. Utah