Women's Fastbreak On SI

UConn Climbs to No. 2 Spot Behind South Carolina in Latest NCAAW NET Rankings

UConn Huskies fans will like their team's new position in the latest NCAAW NET Rankings.
Grant Young|
Jan 22, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after her three point basket and being fouled by the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jan 22, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after her three point basket and being fouled by the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Very few NCAA women's basketball teams in the country can claim that they've had close to as difficult of a schedule as the UConn Huskies have had so far in this 2024-25 season.

They've currently played five games against ranked opponents, including contests against top-five teams USC and Notre Dame. While UConn came up short in both of those contests, the fact that they're getting this experience in the regular season (along with them now having won nine straight games) bodes well for their future.

And the January 27 edition of the NCAA Net Rankings (which "takes into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses" when determining NCAA Tournament seeding) clearly reflected that.

Monday morning, the NCAA March Madness X account made a post that wrote, "🚨 NET RANKINGS UPDATE 🚨

"1. South Carolina
2. Uconn
3. Texas
4. UCLA
5. USC
6. Notre Dame
7. Kansas State
8. Duke
9. LSU
10. TCU".

It's no surprise that Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks have remained on top over the past couple of weeks, as their last four wins have come dominantly against ranked teams.

But UConn was the No. 3 seed the last time Women's Fastbreak on SI wrote an article about the NET rankings just two weeks ago, having been slotted behind Texas. Then Texas lost in convincing fashion to the aforementioned Gamecocks, which was clearly enough for UConn to overtake them for the second spot.

It's interesting to see that LSU didn't lose any ground from those January 13 rankings after they lost their undefeated record against South Carolina on January 24.

Surely these rankings will continue to shift as the season heads toward March.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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