Notre Dame Upset Shifts Top-25 Rankings: Texas Longhorns, UCLA, USC Trojans Rise

With conference tournaments quickly approaching, who will enter the postseason as the top women's college basketball team in the country? In the 17th edition of the AP Top-25 Poll's release on Monday, the Texas Longhorns are the new No. 1 team after Notre Dame was upset by No. 9 North Carolina State.

With the top spot in the rankings up for grabs, Texas moved up to No. 1 with the UCLA Bruins behind the Longhorns at No. 2. Notre Dame remains ranked above the No. 4 USC Trojans. USC received one first-place vote in this week's poll.

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey, right, embraces guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) as Hidalgo comes off the court during a NCAA women's basketball game between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 11 Duke at Purcell Pavilion on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame claimed the top spot in the rankings after USC knocked off the then-No. 1 UCLA in a thrilling come-from-behind win. After beating the Bruins, the Trojans rose two positions in the top-25, up to No. 4.

In addition to Notre Dame, the Texas Longhorns and UCLA Bruins were the only teams in the country receiving first-place votes. As a result of the Fighting Irish's 19-game winning streak being snapped, Texas is the most likely candidate as the next No. 1 team in the country.

The Longhorns did not play a game during the week. Their last result was a 65-58 win over the No. 7 LSU Tigers. UCLA beat Illinois before sneaking by the Iowa Hawkeyes with a two-point win on the road.

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USC and UCLA will have one more meeting in the regular season before potentially meeting in the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament. The last meeting between the Trojans and Bruins was a clash of titans with many celebrities in attendance for the Southern California matchup. USC star guard JuJu Watkins led all scorers with 38 points while UCLA's Lauren Betts scored 18 of her own.

What will round two look like with a potential Big Ten regular season title on the line?

Feb 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) dribbles the ball against the Michigan State Spartans in the first half at Galen Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Bruins must first get past the Wisconsin Badgers if they want to take the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament away from the Trojans.

Farther down the poll, then-No. 8 Ohio State was upset by the Indiana Hoosiers, causing the Buckeyes to drop out of the top-10 to the No. 12 ranking. North Carolina State made its case to be a top-10 team after taking down No. 20 Georgia Tech and No. 1 Notre Dame in a span of four days.

Then-No. 10 TCU beat No. 18 West Virginia after the Mountaineers upset No. 14 Kansas State. In what order will the Big 12 teams fall when the rankings are released? No. 17 Baylor currently has the same conference record as TCU at 14-2, but the Horned Frogs hold a head-to-head win over the Bears.

If Baylor can get past Kansas State on Monday night, the Bears will host the Horned Frogs with a chance to steal the Big 12 regular season crown from TCU.

Jan 3, 2024; Waco, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs guard Madison Conner (3) celebrates after a score against Baylor Lady Bears guard Yaya Felder (2) during the first half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

In the SEC, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament could be reportedly decided by a coin toss between Texas and South Carolina. If the Longhorns and Gamecocks both win out, they will finish with a 15-1 conference record with one loss to each other. As a result, they would share the SEC regular season title but the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament would be the winner of a coin toss, according to the conference's tiebreaker rules.

Here is the AP Top-25 Poll:

1 Texas

2 UCLA

3 Notre Dame

4 USC

5 UConn

6 South Carolina

7 LSU

8 North Carolina

9 North Carolina State

10 TCU

11 Tennessee

12 Ohio State

13 Oklahoma

14 Kansas State

15 Kentucky

16 Duke

17 Baylor

18 West Virginia

19 Maryland

20 Alabama

21 Oklahoma State

22 Creighton

23 Michigan State

24 Florida State

25 Louisville