South Carolina unanimously ranked No. 1 in women’s AP Top 25; Stanford and Oregon crack the rankings

South Carolina was the unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a pair of wins to kick off its repeat bid for the national championship, while Kansas State joined the top 10 and both Stanford and Oregon earned their first regular-season rankings achieved. the season.

The Gamecocks earned a hard-fought six-point win over Michigan in Las Vegas to open the season and top then-No. 9 North Carolina State by 14. The two wins ensured the defending champions were unanimously selected from the 31-member national media panel. In the preseason poll, No. 2 UConn received two first-place votes and No. 3 USC received one.

The top eight teams in the rankings remained unchanged, with Texas and UCLA rounding out the top five. Notre Dame, LSU and Iowa State were next with Oklahoma ninth and Kansas State 10th. NC State dropped to 13th.

Former Pac-12 schools Stanford and Oregon entered the rankings after impressive starts to their seasons. The No. 24 Cardinal, under new coach Kate Paye, went 3-0 last week, winning by an average of 41 points. Since 2000 until this season, they have been in the preseason poll every year.

The No. 25 Ducks enter the poll on the strength of a two-point home win over then-No. 12 Baylor. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak to ranked opponents for Oregon. The Bears dropped to 17th.

Further up

Maryland moved up seven spots to No. 11 after an impressive 85-80 win over then-No. 11. 11 Duke. This was the Terrapins’ first game against the Blue Devils since defeating their former ACC rival, 65-55, in the Sweet 16 in 2015. The win came nearly a year after the Terrapins ended their 13-year run in the polls as last saws end. season. Duke fell to 16th.

Falling out

Creighton, Indiana and Florida State all fell out of the poll after early losses. The Bluejays lost at South Dakota State, the Hoosiers at home against Harvard and the Seminoles at Illinois. The Illini entered the poll at No. 23.

Binding greatness

UConn coach Geno Auriemma is one win behind retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer for most wins all-time with 1,216. He could tie VanDerveer when the Huskies play No. 15 North Carolina. The potential record victory could come at home against FDU on November 20. VanDerveer had the Stanford court named after her.

Game of the week

No. 16 Duke in the state of South Dakota. Coach Kara Lawson is challenging her team early with three of the Blue Devils’ first four games on the schedule. Duke opened at Liberty before playing at Maryland.