Riding holiday success, Texas climbs to No. 2 in Top 25

Field Level Media|published: Mon 1st December, 12:57 2025

NCAA Womens Basketball: Final Four National Semifinal-South Carolina at Texas

Apr 4, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Lee (7) reacts during the second quarter in a semifinal of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Texas jumped to No. 2 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 after winning two big games over the Thanksgiving holiday in Las Vegas.

The Longhorns (8-0) received 10 first-place votes after beating then-No. 3 UCLA on Wednesday and then-No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday to capture the Players Era Championship title.

The Longhorns returned to Austin for an 81-63 win against Penn on Sunday. Their challenging schedule continues on Thursday at home against No. 11 North Carolina (8-1).

No. 1 UConn (7-0) earned the other 22 votes in Monday's poll after opening Big East play with a 104-39 romp Sunday at Xavier.

The Gamecocks and Bruins slipped one spot. LSU (8-0) remains at No. 5 after setting an NCAA record with 100-plus points in each of its first eight games.

Michigan (6-1), Maryland (9-0), TCU (8-0), Oklahoma (7-1) and Iowa State (9-0) rounded out the top 10.

Ohio State (6-1) entered the poll this week at No. 23 and NC State (5-3) dropped out.

The rest of the Top 25:

11. North Carolina (8-1)

12. Iowa (8-0)

13. Ole Miss (7-0)

14. Baylor (7-1)

15. Vanderbilt (8-0)

16. Southern California (5-2)

17. Kentucky (8-1)

18. Notre Dame (5-1)

19. Tennessee (5-2)