The Arizona women’s basketball team remained at No. 19 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.
The Wildcats (15-4, 5-3) played only one game this past week, defeating rival Arizona State 80-67. The Sun Devils have yet to win a Pac-12 game this season.
It was a noteworthy victory in that it occurred in Tempe, where Arizona has won only twice since 2000.
The Wildcats return to the court for a home series against the Washington schools this weekend. The UA will face UW at 7 p.m. Friday before hosting Washington State at noon Sunday.
No Texas teams
For the first time in the 47-year history of the AP women’s basketball poll, no team from Texas is in the Top 25.
The Texas Longhorns fell out of Monday’s poll, ending an 835-week run that had at least one team from the Lone Star state in the rankings. From Wayland Baptist, Stephen F. Austin and Baylor appearing in the first poll in 1976 to Texas’ No. 25 ranking last week, there has always been at least one team from the state in the poll until now.
“Texas is the oil state and also has certainly been rich in women’s basketball as well,” said Mel Greenberg, who started the poll during the 1976-77 season while with the Philadelphia Inquirer. “When I started, the state had some of the best teams with Wayland and Stephen F. Austin. Then Jody (Conradt) at Texas and eventually Kim (Mulkey) at Baylor continued the tradition.”
Middle Tennessee entered the rankings for the first time in nine years at No. 23. The Blue Raiders (16-2) have won 14 consecutive games, including a victory over Louisville, which is the fourth-longest winning streak in the country behind the last three unbeaten teams.
That group is topped by No. 1 South Carolina (20-0), which has 26 consecutive victories dating to its run to the NCAA championship last season. The Gamecocks, who were again a unanimous choice from the 28-member national media panel, have been ranked atop the poll for 31 consecutive weeks — the fourth-longest streak ever. Only UConn (51 and 34 weeks) and Louisiana Tech (36) have had longer runs at No. 1.
Ohio State (19-0) remained No. 2 behind the Gamecocks going into a week that includes games against No. 11 Iowa and sixth-ranked Indiana.
Stanford flipped places with LSU for No. 3 after beating then-No. 8 Utah and No. 25 Colorado, which dropped a spot after the loss. LSU (19-0) is fourth and UConn fifth.
Notre Dame, UCLA, Utah followed the sixth-ranked Hoosiers.
Purdue No. 1
Purdue is back at No. 1 in the AP men’s basketball Top 25. Alabama is right behind the Boilermakers.
Purdue returned to the top spot Monday, moving up two places after Temple knocked off No. 1 Houston over the weekend. The Boilermakers received 39 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel after a volatile week where just two teams kept the same spot from a week ago.
Alabama climbed two spots to No. 2, picking up 23 first-place votes for its highest ranking since reaching No. 1 in 2002-03. Houston, Tennessee and Kansas State round out the top five.
Purdue (19-1, 8-1 Big Ten) had dropped to No. 3 after four weeks at No. 1 following a loss to Rutgers on Jan. 3 but has since won six straight.
Alabama (17-2, 7-0 SEC) has made a steady climb since being ranked No. 20 in the preseason AP Top 25, moving into the top 10 in early December. The Crimson Tide had lopsided wins over Missouri and Vanderbilt after Darius Miles was dismissed from the team as he faces a murder charge in a fatal shooting near campus.
Alabama coach Nate Oats reached out to Ray Lewis before the Crimson Tide played Vanderbilt last week, sharing a Bible verse suggested by the Hall of Fame linebacker. Alabama ended up beating Vandy by 12 and rolled over Missouri by 21.
“I did see some guys break down postgame,” Oats said. “I think they’ve been bottling some stuff up. We’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to get to the game. We got to the game and took care of business, and then it’s almost like a big relief. The game’s over, and we can let out a sigh of relief.”
