Rashard Hall's NCAA Power Rankings 4.0
With conference regular season play wrapping up, where do the top women's basketball teams in the NCAA stand? Rashard Hall breaks down his top squads.
This is, officially, the last regular season weekend in NCAA women’s basketball. Once the clock turns to March, the conference tournaments will begin and run for about two weeks before we hit the NCAA Tournament around the middle of the month. So what are No Cap Space WBB’s Top 25 teams heading into the end of the year? Rashard Hall breaks it all down here…
USC Trojans:
Since dropping a game to Iowa, USC has looked like the best team in the nation. Currently 25-2, they took down good teams in Ohio State, UCLA, and Michigan State.
JuJu Watkins leads the team with 24.2 PPG and 3.6 APG.
UCLA Bruins:
The Bruins are now 27-1. They’ve looked dominant this season until they ran into USC. Despite their recent loss, this is still a team that can be the ones to cut down the net when it’s all said and done.
Lauren Betts leads this team with 20.0 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 2.8 BPG.
Texas Longhorns:
The Longhorns (28-2) are currently tied with South Carolina at the top of the SEC standings after defeating the Gamecocks in their second matchup of the season at home.
The team is led by Madison Booker (16.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.0 APG).
UConn Huskies:
The Huskies (27-3) dropped a game to Tennessee, but bounced back in a dominant win against South Carolina, ending the Gamecocks 71-game home winning streak.
Paige Bueckers leads the team with 18.6 PPG and 4.9 APG.
South Carolina Gamecocks:
The Gamecocks (26-3) have looked vulnerable in their recent losses to Texas and UConn, showcasing a stagnant offense. They close their regular season out against a good Kentucky team before postseason play.
Freshman forward, Joyce Edwards, leads the team with 13.2 PPG.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish:
The Fighting Irish (24-4) seem to have hit yet another period of fatigue. They suffered back-to-back losses to NC State and Florida State. This is still one of the best teams in the country, but with only one game left in the regular season, there’s no time to take their foot off the gas.
Hannah Hidalgo leads the team with 24.3 PPG and 3.8 SPG.
TCU Horned Frogs:
The Horned Frogs are 27-3 in what has been a very impressive season. Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince both lead this team with 17.7 PPG each.
NC State Wolfpack:
The Wolfpack (23-5) have completely turned their season around and are now one of the best in the country. They enter the postseason with confidence after taking down Notre Dame.
Aziaha James leads the team with 17.9 PPG.
Ohio State Buckeyes:
The Buckeyes (24-4) recently dropped a game to Indiana but bounced back against Michigan State. They finish the regular season off against Maryland.
Cotie McMahon leads the team with 16.9 PPG.
LSU Tigers:
The Tigers are now 27-3 after dropping games to Texas and Alabama. Their next game is against Ole Miss.
Flau’jae Johnson leads the team with 18.9 PPG.
Oklahoma Sooners:
The Sooners are now 22-6. They finish the regular season in a matchup against Alabama.
Kansas State Wildcats:
The Wildcats (25-5), who are currently without Ayoka Lee, dropped three of their last six games. They close out the season in a matchup against Iowa State.
Kentucky Wildcats:
Kentucky is 22-5 on the season. They dropped a game to LSU, but immediately bounced back in a matchup against Tennessee. The Wildcats close out their regular season with a showdown against South Carolina.
Alabama Crimson Tide:
The Crimson Tide are 23-6 on the season. They’re coming off an impressive win against the LSU Tigers, but face another tough matchup to close out the season against Oklahoma.
Duke Blue Devils:
Duke (22-7) is 2-2 in their last four games. They finish off the regular season against Florida State, who just defeated the Fighting Irish.
North Carolina Tarheels:
The Tarheels (25-5) just dropped a game to Duke, who ended their 7-game winning streak. They were without starters, Alyssa Ustby and Reniya Kelly, in that game but are expecting to see them back soon.
Tennessee Lady Volunteers:
The Lady Vols (21-7) had an impressive victory over the UConn Huskies but dropped games to LSU and Kentucky. There’s a lot of potential with this team, but the inconsistencies have been showing throughout the season.
Maryland Terrapins:
The Terrapins (22-6) have faced quite a few injuries this season, which caused them to make a lot of abrupt adjustments. They finish out the regular season in a matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Florida State Seminoles:
This season hasn’t been the prettiest for the Seminoles (23-6), who continue to climb the rankings. But, anything is possible with Ta’Niya Latson. FSU had a rough start to the season but has since turned things around, which is evident in their win against Notre Dame.
Baylor Bears:
It seems as if the Bears (25-5) have finally figured some things out. They’re currently on a 9-game win streak and await a showdown with TCU to close out the season.
Oklahoma State Cowgirls:
The Cowgirls are 23-5 on the season and led by Stailee Heard, who’s averaging 16.0 PPG and 7.9 RPG.
West Virginia Mountaineers:
The Mountaineers are 22-6 on the season and 5th in the Big 12. They close out the season against Kansas before preparing for the Big 12 tournament.
Michigan State Spartans:
The Spartans are now 20-8 on the season. They just dropped three of their last five games and face Minnesota next to close out the season.
Louisville Cardinals:
The Cardinals (20-8) have shown that they can hang with some of the best teams in the nation. They close the season out against the Fighting Irish, and will be looking to make a statement heading into March Madness.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets:
Georgia Tech (21-8) are on a 3-game losing streak. They finish the season out at Stanford.