Final STI/Hoopfeed Poll of the Season: South Carolina finishes at No. 1, Baylor tumbles

South Carolina ended the season as the No. 1 team in the nation

South Carolina’s press conference after beating Mississippi State in the SEC tournament title game

Voting panel || Coach reactions to NCAA tournament cancellation
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The 2019-2020 postseason came to an unexpected halt in early March as conferences began to cancel league tournaments in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak nationwide. The Ivy League was the first Division I conference to cancel its championships giving Princeton the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the Tigers did not get a chance to dance in March Madness as the NCAA canceled its entire tournament as well as all remaining winter and spring championships, a move that took teams into unprecedented territory as they grappled with COVID-19 prevention and containment measures on their own campuses sending students home and instituting shutdowns.

As a result, this week’s poll, the last of the season, is based on results that do not include the outcome of 18 league championships. However, there was movement due to a few surprising upsets in the last week of the regular season.

In the top five, Baylor suffered a big hit as the Lady Bears ended the season with a stunning defeat at the hands of Iowa State. The Cyclones halted Baylor’s 58-game Big 12 streak. The Lady Bears fell two places to end the season at No. 5.

SEC tournament winner South Carolina continued its nine-week run at the top, finishing 2019-2020 as the No. 1 team in the country. Pac-12 tournament victor Oregon remained at No. 2. Big Ten champion Maryland benefited from Baylor’s loss to move up to No. 3 in the poll finale. UConn came in at No. 4.

No teams dropped out of the poll. Other teams that received votes: FGCU, Marquette, TCU, Central Michigan

Conference tournaments that were canceled:

  • America East
  • Atlantic Sun
  • Big Sky
  • Big South
  • Big 12
  • Big West
  • Colonia Athletic (CAA)
  • Conference USA (CUSA)
  • Metro Atlantic Athletic (MAAC)
  • Mid-American (MAC)
  • Mid-Eastern (MEAC)
  • Missouri Valley (MVC)
  • Northeast (NEC)
  • Patriot
  • Southland
  • Southwestern (SWAC)
  • Sun Belt
  • Western Athletic (WAC)

Final Poll of the Season

Rank School Record Last Change
1 South Carolina 32-1 1 0
2 Oregon 31-2 2 0
3 Maryland 28-4 4 1
4 UConn 29-3 5 1
5 Baylor 28-2 3 -2
6 Louisville 28-4 6 0
7 Stanford 27-6 8 1
8 NC State 28-4 7 -1
9 Mississippi State 27-6 9 0
10 UCLA 26-5 10 0
11 Northwestern 26-4 11 0
12 Arizona 24-7 12 0
13 Gonzaga 28-3 14 1
14 Oregon State 23-9 13 -1
15 DePaul 28-5 15 0
16 South Dakota 30-2 16 0
17 Florida State 24-8 18 1
18 Kentucky 22-8 17 -1
19 Texas A&M 22-8 19 0
20 Indiana 24-8 20 0
21 Iowa 23-7 21 0
22 Princeton 26-1 22 0
23 Missouri State 26-4 23 0
24 Arkansas 24-8 24 0
25 Arizona State 20-11 25 0

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
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