UCLA, South Carolina ranked 1-2 in pre-tourney Top 25

Field Level Media|published: Mon 17th March, 13:37 2025

UCLA Bruins guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) reacts after her team defeats the USC Trojans during the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament final on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UCLA defeated USC 72-67.

UCLA is No. 1 and South Carolina No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday, the final poll before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

The voting mirrored the selection of UCLA (30-2) and South Carolina (30-3) as the top two seeds in the tournament. But the AP voters and the committee differed on the next three.

UConn (31-3), which received five of the 32 first-place votes, is ranked No. 3, followed by Southern California (28-3) and Texas (31-3).

On Sunday night, the selection committee awarded Texas and USC the other two No. 1 seeds; the Longhorns were No. 3 overall and the Trojans No. 4, leaving UConn on the line with the second seeds.

Rounding out the top 10 in the poll were No. 6 TCU (31-3), followed by Duke (26-7), Notre Dame (26-5), North Carolina State (26-6) and LSU (28-5).

The selection committee gave TCU, Duke and NC State the remaining No. 2 seeds and put Notre Dame and LSU among the No. 3 seeds.

The remainder of the Top 25 poll:

11. Oklahoma (25-7)

12. North Carolina (27-7)

13. Kentucky (22-7)

14. Baylor (27-7)

15. Ohio State (25-6)

16. West Virginia (24-7)

17. Oklahoma State (25-6)

18. Maryland (23-7)

19. Kansas State (26-7)