USA Today coaches poll for Dec. 2, 2014: Notre Dame stays No. 1, Texas leaps into top five
After taking the top spot last week, Notre Dame (7-0) holds its position at No. 1 in the USA Today Sports Top 25 women’s basketball coaches poll. South Carolina (6-0) and Connecticut (5-1) held their places as well at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Texas (7-0) made the leap into the top 5 at No. 4 after a banner week beating Tennessee (4-2) as well as UT-Pan American. The Lady Vols fell out of the top 10, going from No. 5 to No. 14. They dropped back-to-back games last week beginning with a loss to Chattanooga (4-3).
North Carolina (7-0) entered the top ten for the first time this season, moving six spots to No. 6. The Tar Heels went undefeated in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown beating Stanford, Prairie View and Hawaii over the Thanksgiving holiday. James Madision (5-1) fell out of the poll. The Dukes suffered their first loss of the season against Maryland on Friday at the San Juan Shootout.
Mississippi State entered the rankings at No. 25. The Bulldogs won the preseason WNIT title beating Western Kentucky 88-77 on November 23. MSU continued its streak into the week beating Louisiana-Monroe and New Orleans for a 6-0 start to the season. Freshman sensation Victoria Vivians leads MSU with 16.3 points per game. The Bulldogs host North Dakota State at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at Humphrey Coliseum. The contest will be broadcast online and via the WatchESPN app on SEC Network +.
Washington State received no votes for the poll after beating this week’s No. 10, Maryland, in the San Juan tournament. The Cougars started their season taking down Dayton when the Flyers were ranked at No. 22 in the preseason poll.
Team records through Monday are in parentheses. Total points are based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last week’s poll and first-place votes received.
| Rank | School (record) |
Points
|
Last week’s rank
|
First-place votes
|
| 1 | Notre Dame (7-0) |
780
|
1
|
19
|
| 2 | South Carolina (6-0) |
771
|
2
|
10
|
| 3 | Connecticut (5-1) |
739
|
3
|
1
|
| 4 | Texas (5-0) |
689
|
9
|
2
|
| 5 | Texas A&M (7-0) |
683
|
6
|
0
|
| 6 | North Carolina (7-0) |
598
|
12
|
0
|
| 7 | Louisville (7-0) |
587
|
11
|
0
|
| 8 | Duke (5-1) |
574
|
7
|
0
|
| 9 | Stanford (5-2) |
570
|
4
|
0
|
| 10 | Maryland (6-1) |
458
|
8
|
0
|
| 11 | Baylor (4-1) |
457
|
13
|
0
|
| 12 | California (6-0) |
436
|
14
|
0
|
| 13 | Kentucky (6-1) |
421
|
10
|
0
|
| 14 | Tennessee (4-2) |
407
|
5
|
0
|
| 15 | Nebraska (6-0) |
399
|
15
|
0
|
| 16 | Michigan State (4-1) |
281
|
17
|
0
|
| 17 | Oklahoma State (5-1) |
242
|
19
|
0
|
| 18 | Oregon State (5-0) |
220
|
20
|
0
|
| 19 | Iowa (6-1) |
164
|
16
|
0
|
| 20 | Rutgers (6-0) |
155
|
24
|
0
|
| 21 | West Virginia (4-1) |
147
|
21
|
0
|
| 22 | Syracuse (5-1) |
139
|
22
|
0
|
| 23 | Georgia (7-0) |
136
|
25
|
0
|
| 24 | DePaul (4-2) |
90
|
18
|
0
|
| 25 | Mississippi State (6-0) |
85
|
Not Ranked
|
0
|
Dropped out:Â No. 23 James Madison (5-1).
Others receiving votes: James Madison (5-1) 71; South Florida (5-2) 18; Arkansas (6-0) 16; St. John‘s (5-0) 16; Florida State (6-1) 12; Wisconsin-Green Bay (5-2) 8; Western Kentucky (6-2) 7; Northwestern (5-0) 5; Seton Hall (5-1) 5; Vanderbilt (5-2) 4; Arizona State (5-1) 3; Dayton (2-3) 3; Albany (3-1) 1; Arkansas-Little Rock (5-0) 1; George Washington (5-2) 1; Washington (5-1) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
Poll provided by the WBCA.
