The Stanford Cardinal have moved into the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll after both the No. 1 and No. 2 squads lost at Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands this weekend.
The third-ranked Cardinal held off No. 10 Mississippi State, 67-62, to win the Greater Victoria Invitational tournament championship on Sunday. It’s their first No. 1 ranking since 2012 and they got 23 of the 30 top votes.
Previously top-ranked Oregon and No. 2 Baylor took their first losses of the season, which opened the door for movement in the top 10. It was just the third time in 20 years the two top-ranked teams lost on the same day, per ESPN Stats and Information. They both held the top two spots every week to open the 2019-20 schedule.
Louisville, which got five first-place votes, moved up to second, having taken out the Ducks, 72-62, with stifling defensive show. Oregon dropped to third, UConn held at fourth — the Huskies interestingly had two first-place votes — and Oregon State moved into fifth. It’s the Beavers highest-ever ranking.
New @AP_Top25 is out and @StanfordWBB has moved up to No. 1; @UofLWBB is second. @OregonWBB fell to third. @UConnWBB and @BeaverWBB round out the top five.
— Doug Feinberg (@DougFeinberg) December 2, 2019
AP Top 25 — Week of Dec. 2
Team (record) (spots moved)
Stanford (8-0)(+3)
Louisville (8-0)(+6)
Oregon (6-1)(-2)
UConn (6-0)(—)
Oregon State (7-0)(+2)
South Carolina (8-1)(-1)
Baylor (7-1)(-5)
Florida State (7-0)(+4)
Maryland (7-1)(—)
Mississippi State (8-1)(—)
UCLA (7-0)(—)
Texas A&M (5-1)(-6)
NC State (8-0)(—)
Indiana (6-1)(+3)
Kentucky (7-0)(-1)
DePaul (6-1)(—)
Tennessee (7-0)(+3)
Gonzaga (6-1)(+4)
Michigan State (6-1)(+4)
Arizona (7-0)(+4)
Miami (5-2)(-2)
Missouri State (7-1)(NR)
Arkansas (7-1)(+2)
Michigan (6-1)(NR)
LSU (7-1)(NR)
Receiving votes: Syracuse, Florida Gulf Coast, South Dakota, West Virginia, Minnesota, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Rutgers, Northwestern, Purdue, Colorado, Creighton, TCU, Drake.
Voters had a rough time choosing Top 25
It was quite a shuffle this week with ranked teams falling around the tournament schedule, and some — South Carolina in particular — seeing both sides of the win/loss coin. The Gamecocks, ranked fifth last week, lost to Indiana, ranked 17th, on the opening day of Paradise Jam but closed the tournament by upending reigning national champion Baylor, 74-59. (Though Bears head coach Kim Mulkey made sure to note that Lauren Cox is still away with a stress fracture in her foot.)
It rightly so created some mind-boggling for voters, as explained by the Associated Press’ Doug Feinberg and described by ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel.
I feel for the voters this week; it feels like one of those old math word problems. Team A beats Team B, Team B beats Team C and Team C beats Team A. Figure out where to rank Team A, B and C
— Doug Feinberg (@DougFeinberg) December 2, 2019
OK, @ncaawbb fans, please don’t get too mad about AP poll results this week. It was a bit like trying to untangle a string of lights you swore you wouldn’t put away in a wadded-up mess, but did. (Or some similar analogy for those who never put up lights for any occasion.)
— Mechelle Voepel (@MechelleV) December 2, 2019
What in the heck am I gonna do w/ my @AP_Top25 poll this week! It's going to take several hrs of work to figure this out! Louisville w/ upset win over #1 Oregon creates movement at top! @DougFeinberg
— Debbie Antonelli (@debbieantonelli) December 1, 2019
And @StanfordWBB vs @HailStateWBK play in title game @VictoriaInvBC later!
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