The first week of 2026 rocked the AP Top 25 rankings, with several teams falling in the first few days of the new year. UConn remains on top with 28 first-place votes, meaning the Huskies are just four votes away from their first unanimous decision of the season.
Texas survived the upset panic against the Now-No. No. 18 Ole Miss will remain in second place on Sunday. The Longhorns are now 17-0 overall, their best start since the 1985-86 season.
South Carolina remained in third place and UCLA maintained its fourth-ranked ranking after a 34-point win over current No. 1 seed. 21 USC. Meanwhile, LSU dropped from 5th to 12th after losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, helping both teams crack the top 10.
This is the first time a Kim Mulkey-led team has started conference play 0-2. It won't be any easier for the Tigers as they host Texas next weekend. As for Vanderbilt, the Commodores moved up to No. 7 after their first win over a top-five opponent since the 2008-09 season. They did it thanks to the performance of Mikayla Blakes, who scored 32 points.
LSU wasn't the only team to have a bad start to the new year. Elsewhere in the top 10, Michigan, Maryland, TCU and Iowa State suffered losses. Player of the Year candidate Audie Crooks had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Baylor, but Remarkably, Baylor figured out how to keep it scoreless in the fourth quarter. Before this game, no other team had been able to stop Crooks.
Notre Dame fell out of the top 25 as Neele Ivey's six-player rotation suffered back-to-back losses. The Fighting Irish suffered an overtime loss to Georgia Tech on Jan. 1 and then lost by 14 points to Duke on Sunday despite Hannah Hidalgo flirting with a triple-double.
In the Big Ten, the Iowa Hawkeyes remained in 14th place after beating Nebraska 86-76. They join the Bruins as the only two undefeated teams in the Big Ten, which could make their early February meeting very interesting.
Only four women's college basketball teams are still undefeated: UConn, Texas, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech, whose 16-0 record is the best start in program history.
AP Women's Basketball Top 25
| 1 | University of California, Connecticut | 15-0 | 796 (28) | 1 |
| 2 | Texas | 17-0 | 772 (4) | 2 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 15-1 | 725 | 3 |
| 4 | UCLA | 14-1 | 715 | 4 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 14-1 | 654 | 8 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 15-1 | 625 | 11 |
| 7 | Vanderbilt | 15-0 | 621 | 12 |
| 8 | Maryland | 15-1 | 537 | 7 |
| 8 | Michigan | 11-2 | 817 | 6 |
| 10 | Louisville | 14-3 | 485 | 13 |
| 11 | Iowa | 14-1 | 462 | 10 |
| 12 | LSU | 14-2 | 456 | 5 |
| 13 | TCU | 14-1 | 454 | 8 |
| 14 | Iowa | 12-2 | 403 | 14 |
| 15 | Michigan | 14-1 | 280 | 24 |
| 16 | Baylor | 13-3 | 278 | 22 |
| 17 | Texas Tech | 16-0 | 263 | 21 |
| 18 | Ole Miss | 14-3 | 243 | 15 |
| 19 | Ohio | 13-2 | 237 | 19 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 10-3 | 162 | 23 |
| 21 | USC | 10-4 | 150 | 17 |
| 22 | North Carolina | 13-4 | 129 | 16 |
| 23 | Washington | 12-2 | 117 | 23 |
| 24 | Princeton | 13-1 | 91 | 25 |
| 25 | Nebraska | 13-2 | 65 | 20 |
The others receiving votes were: Illinois 58, Notre Dame 27, Stanford 25, NC State 22, Alabama 13, West Virginia 9, Georgia 5, Duke 3, Oklahoma St. 1.
