STI/Hoopfeed Poll for 3/10/20: Upsets galore, Maryland moves up to No. 4
Portland stunned Gonzaga in the WCC semifinals and Zags fall in poll
With a week of conference tournaments in the rearview and some surprising upsets, this week’s poll features a shakeup in the top ten. However, the No. 1 team in the land, South Carolina, continues to hold steady in the top spot after beating No. 9 Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament championship on Sunday.
Oregon moved up a place to No. 2 after topping No. 8 Stanford in the Pac-12 championship title game Sunday night. One of the week’s most stunning upsets: No. 3 Baylor had its 58-game Big 12 win streak snapped by unranked Iowa State in the last regular-season game for both teams. The Lady Bears fell one place after the loss.
Maryland moved up a spot to No. 4 after beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten tournament crown. UConn rounds out the top five as the Huskies earned their seventh-straight American Athletic Conference tournament title, beating Cincinnati and finishing their last year in the league, before moving to the Big East next season, with a 139-0 conference record.
Another unexpected defeat was Gonzaga’s loss in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament to unranked Portland. The Pilots went on to win the tournament with an overtime win against San Diego. With the loss, Gonzaga dropped two places in the poll to No. 14.
Heading into the second week of conference tournaments, teams that secured an auto-bid with a league championship include UConn, Maryland, Dayton, DePaul, Maryland, IUPUI, Princeton, Oregon, South Carolina, Samford, South Dakota, Portland. Keep tabs on the tourney schedule and winners here.
No teams dropped out of the poll. Other teams that received votes: FGCU, TCU, Ohio State, Marquette, and Rutgers.
| Rank | School | Record | Last | Change |
| 1 | South Carolina | 32-1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Oregon | 31-2 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Baylor | 28-2 | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | Maryland | 28-4 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | UConn | 29-3 | 6 | 1 |
| 6 | Louisville | 28-4 | 4 | -2 |
| 7 | NC State | 28-4 | 11 | 4 |
| 8 | Stanford | 27-6 | 7 | -1 |
| 9 | Mississippi State | 27-6 | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | UCLA | 26-5 | 8 | -2 |
| 11 | Northwestern | 26-4 | 10 | -1 |
| 12 | Arizona | 24-7 | 13 | 1 |
| 13 | Oregon State | 23-9 | 14 | 1 |
| 14 | Gonzaga | 28-3 | 12 | -2 |
| 15 | DePaul | 28-5 | 19 | 4 |
| 16 | South Dakota | 30-2 | 15 | -1 |
| 17 | Kentucky | 22-8 | 17 | 0 |
| 18 | Florida State | 24-8 | 22 | 4 |
| 19 | Texas A&M | 22-8 | 16 | -3 |
| 20 | Indiana | 24-8 | 20 | 0 |
| 21 | Iowa | 23-7 | 18 | -3 |
| 22 | Princeton | 26-1 | 21 | -1 |
| 23 | Missouri State | 26-4 | 23 | 0 |
| 24 | Arkansas | 24-8 | 25 | 1 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 20-11 | 24 | -1 |
The STI/Hoopfeed Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of media members and other women’s basketball professionals.
This week’s AP Poll || USA Today Coaches Poll
Voting Panel
- Mel Greenberg
- Joan Bonvicini
- Prentice Beverly
- Brenda VanLengen
- Charles Hallman
- Rhiannon Potkey
- Kristopher Gardner
- Jacob Mox (for Her Hoop Stats)
- Cindy Brunson
- Kevin Danna
- Ben Parker
- Viet Nguyen
- Michael Roberson
- Lisa Bodine
- LaChina Robinson
- Cheryl Coward
