Kentucky women’s basketball climbs a spot in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
After three straight weeks ranked 16th, Kentucky women’s basketball has finally climbed into the top 15 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. This comes after another 2 – 0 week for the Wildcats.
On Monday, Kentucky got a blowout win over Queens. Then, on Saturday, the defeated Purdue by 30 points on the road. It was their first true road victory of the season, and another week where the Cats look like one of the best teams in the country.
The SEC has seven teams ranked in the top 25, led by South Carolina at number two. They’re followed by the LSU Tigers at number three, and Texas Longhorns at number six.
Kentucky is the fifth highest SEC team in the rankings this week, just ahead of the Tennessee Volunteers. Coach Kenny Brooks has the Wildcats playing well, and they will set their sights on the top ten next.
Here are the full results of this week’s coaches poll.
The Blue Devils held on to the last spot in the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll for the second week in a row.
USA TODAY Sports released its updated women’s basketball coaches poll on Tuesday, and for the second straight week, the Duke Blue Devils took the last spot at No. 10.
The lack of movement makes sense considering that the Blue Devils haven’t played since their December 8 victory over Virginia Tech. Duke has won seven of its past eight, including triumphs over the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 12 Kansas State Wildcats, with the only loss coming to defending national champion South Carolina.
Head coach Kara Lawson and her team did lose ground at the top of the ACC, however. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, with an identical 9-2 record, catapulted up five spots to No. 4 after last week’s win over the Connecticut Huskies.
The undefeated UCLA Bruins kept the top spot for the third straight week with the Gamecocks and LSU Tigers close behind. The North Carolina Tar Heels (No. 18), NC State Wolfpack (No. 19), and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (No. 20) all also made this week’s ranking from the ACC.
Duke plays its first game in 10 days on Wednesday night, a home bout against Wofford before a weekend road trip to face South Florida.
Kentucky moves up to number four overall in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
It wasn’t the prettiest week for Kentucky basketball, but they went 2 – 0 with wins over Colgate and in-state rival Louisville. Both games were perhaps closer than expected, but the Wildcats won and now move up a spot in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Kentucky moved up from number five to number four, but are still the third highest SEC team. The Tennessee Volunteers are number one, with the Auburn Tigers at number two.
The Florida Gators just missed the top five, and came in at number six, while the Alabama Crimson Tide are the fifth SEC team in the top ten. Overall, nine teams from the SEC are ranked in the top 25, with another three receiving votes.
Kentucky continues to out-perform expectations. They are now 10 – 1 on the year, with a couple of wins over top ten teams. For a roster hastily rebuilt through the transfer portal, it’s doing pretty well.
Up next for the Cats is Ohio State on December 21st.
Here is the full coaches poll this week:
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1
Tennessee
10-0
765 (22)
2
Auburn
9-1
744 (9)
3
Iowa State
9-1
708
4
Kentucky
10-1
664
5
Duke
8-2
638
6
Florida
10-0
610
7
Alabama
8-2
601
8
Kansas
8-2
518
9
Marquette
9-2
496
10
Oregon
10-1
454
11
Texas A&M
9-2
368
12
Houston
6-3
363
13
UConn
8-3
337
14
Gonzaga
7-3
328
15
Oklahoma
10-0
308
16
Ole Miss
9-1
282
17
Purdue
8-3
264
18
UCLA
9-1
263
19
Michigan State
8-2
178
20
Cincinnati
8-1
146
21
Michigan
8-2
113
22
Memphis
8-2
111
23
San Diego State
7-2
110
24
Dayton
9-2
92
25
Mississippi State
9-1
92
Schools Dropped Out
No. 16 Clemson; No. 22 Wisconsin; No. 25 Baylor;
Others Receiving Votes
Clemson 87; Baylor 79; Illinois 50; St. John’s 48; Drake 44; Utah State 40; Arkansas 31; Maryland 29; Georgia 23; Wisconsin 22; Pittsburgh 21; Missouri 18; North Carolina 9; West Virginia 5; Creighton 5; Texas Tech 3; Penn State 2;
Alabama (8-2 overall) moved up one spot to No. 7 following the win over the Bluejays on Saturday. Mark Sears had a game-high 27 points, his best performance to date this season. The Crimson Tide moved past the previously fourth-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles (9-2), who lost 71-63 at Dayton over the weekend.
The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot behind the No. 6 Florida Gators, who are 10-0 for the first time in a decade, and one spot ahead of the preseason No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (8-2) at No. 8.
Alabama returns to action Wednesday night when they visit North Dakota (4-8) from the Summit Conference. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
The SEC continued to dominate the top spots of the new poll.
Tennessee (10-0 overall) remained No. 1 after its thrilling buzzer-beater win at Illinois on Saturday. Auburn (9-1) stayed at No. 2 for the third straight week, followed by Iowa State (9-1) at No. 3. First-year coach Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats (10-1) moved up to No. 4 with Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils (8-2) at No. 5.
The SEC had nine teams ranked in this week’s poll. The Texas A&M Aggies (9-2) were one of the biggest risers, moving up seven spots to No. 11 following their 70-66 upset win at previously 11th-ranked Purdue.
The Oklahoma Sooners (10-0) rose two spots to No. 15 with Ole Miss (9-1) at No. 16. Mississippi State (9-1) debuted in the Coaches Poll at No. 25 following their 66-63 win over McNeese State.
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Duke only played once last week, a 72-46 victory over Incarnate Ward on Tuesday, but [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates still moved up one spot to No. 5 in the updated rankings.
The Blue Devils have struggled to score points early on in games, digging double-digit holes in three of their last five games and taking nearly 15 minutes to build a lead over the Cardinals, but the Duke defense might be the best unit in the nation. Head coach Jon Scheyer and his roster have held each of their first 10 opponents under 80 points, and the Blue Devils surrendered fewer than 50 points in three different games.
The Tennessee Volunteers, Auburn Tigers, Iowa State Cyclones, and Kentucky Wildcats each ended up above Duke in the standings. The Blue Devils beat the Tigers but lost to the Wildcats earlier in the season.
Check out the complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll below.
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1
Tennessee
10-0
765 (22)
2
Auburn
9-1
744 (9)
3
Iowa State
9-1
708
4
Kentucky
10-1
664
5
Duke
8-2
638
6
Florida
10-0
610
7
Alabama
8-2
601
8
Kansas
8-2
518
9
Marquette
9-2
496
10
Oregon
10-1
454
11
Texas A&M
9-2
368
12
Houston
6-3
363
13
UConn
8-3
337
14
Gonzaga
7-3
328
15
Oklahoma
10-0
308
16
Ole Miss
9-1
282
17
Purdue
8-3
264
18
UCLA
9-1
263
19
Michigan State
8-2
178
20
Cincinnati
8-1
146
21
Michigan
8-2
113
22
Memphis
8-2
111
23
San Diego State
7-2
110
24
Dayton
9-2
98
25
Mississippi State
9-1
92
Dropped Out
No. 16 Clemson; No. 22 Wisconsin; No. 25 Baylor
Receiving Votes
Clemson 87; Baylor 79; Illinois 50; St. John’s 48; Drake 44; Utah State 40; Arkansas 31; Maryland 29; Georgia 23; Wisconsin 22; Pittsburgh 21; Missouri 18; North Carolina 9; West Virginia 5; Creighton 5; Texas Tech 3; Penn State 2
Duke kept itself within the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll, but the Blue Devils lost their spot atop the ACC.
The Duke Blue Devils stuck within the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll on Tuesday, but one of their conference foes jumped over them to retake the unofficial lead among ACC teams.
Duke lost for the second time this season last Thursday, an 81-70 defeat at the hands of South Carolina, but coaches around the country clearly didn’t see any shame in losing to the defending national champions. The Blue Devils only slipped back one spot to No. 10, but they did trade places with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to fall back behind the preseason conference champions.
Both teams have two losses so far this season, but the Blue Devils have played two more games than the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame earned 546 points in the voting while Duke trailed far behind with just 483.
Head coach [autotag]Kara Lawson[/autotag] and her team didn’t end the week on a losing streak, however. Duke dominated Virginia Tech on Sunday in their first ACC game of the season thanks to a 27-point performance from five-star freshman Toby Fournier.
The UCLA Bruins and Connecticut Huskies remained in the first and second overall spots once again, and the Gamecocks moved back up to No. 3 with their midweek win. The LSU Tigers and USC Trojans both rose one place to complete the top five.
The Wildcats are now 8 – 1 on the season, and could arguably be ranked higher, but coach Kenny Brooks has to be happy with the start the team is off to.
The SEC is well-represented in the top 25 overall. Kentucky is the fifth highest team from the conference, which is led by South Carolina at number three. The LSU Tigers are fourth. The Texas Longhorns are also in the top ten.
Eight teams from the SEC are ranked in the coaches poll this week, with two more receiving votes.
The still undefeated Spartans continue their rise up the rankings
The Michigan State women’s basketball team hasn’t just been good this year, they have been dominant, winning almost every game in a blowout like their last win over DePaul.
Last week, the Spartans cracked the top-25 in the coaches poll for the first time under second-year head coach Robyn Fralick. This week, they continued their rise, jumping six spots to No. 19 overall. A major jump for a program that is starting to earn some buzz.
— Michigan State Women's Basketball (@MSU_WBasketball) December 10, 2024
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After beating Gonzaga, Kentucky is ranked in the top five of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
After climbing into the top ten in the top 25 polls, Kentucky basketball suffered their first loss of the season to the Clemson Tigers. However, they rebounded quickly, and on Saturday night, came back to beat Gonzaga, who was ranked eighth in the country. The result? The Wildcats gained a spot in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Kentucky comes in as the number five team overall in the newly released coaches top 25. Their record stands at 8 – 1, and they boast two wins over top ten teams so far this year.
The rest of the SEC is strong as well, and the Cats are the third team they have ranked in the top five, along with the Tennessee Volunteers and Auburn Tigers, who are the top two teams. Eight SEC teams are ranked in the top 25, with another five getting votes.
The job that new coach Mark Pope has done is nothing short of spectacular. So far, they have outperformed expectations, and few expected them to be ranked as a top five team. Fans will stay tuned to see if they can keep it up.
Clemson (9-1 overall) rose 29 spots to land at No. 16 in the Coaches Poll following their 70-66 win over Mark Pope and Kentucky Wildcats last Tuesday at Littlejohn Coliseum in the ACC-SEC Challenge. The Tigers then opened conference play on Saturday by beating the Miami Hurricanes, 65-55, in Coral Gables.
Against Kentucky, Ian Schieffelin had 11 points and a career-high 20 rebounds as the Tigers took down the fourth-ranked Wildcats to mark their latest win over a college basketball blue blood.
Clemson defeated North Carolina last season, marking only the second time in school history the Tigers had won in Chapel Hill. They beat the Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament to reach the Elite 8 for just the second time.
The Tigers ranked one spot behind the Ole Miss Rebels at No. 15 and one spot ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners at No. 17 in Monday’s Coaches Poll.
Clemson will host the Memphis Tigers (7-2) in another big nonconference matchup this Saturday at Littlejohn. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPN2.
Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers (8-0) moved to No. 1 in the poll following their 96-70 blowout win over the Syracuse Orange. The previously top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (7-2) suffered their first losses of the season, in back to back games to the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha and the Missouri Tigers in Columbia.
Elsewhere in the top five, the Auburn Tigers (8-1) stayed at No. 2 for the second straight week, followed by the Iowa State Cyclones (7-1) at No. 3 and Marquette Golden Eagles (9-1) at No. 4. Kentucky (8-1) rounded out the top five at No. 5.
Clemson was one of only two ACC teams ranked in the Coaches Poll. Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils (7-2) were the highest-ranked conference team at No. 6. The ACC went 2-14 against the SEC in the ACC-SEC Challenge, with Clemson and the Louisville Cardinals the only ACC teams to win last week’s games.
