The Nebraska women’s basketball team remained unbeaten in their two matchups last week but could not garner more attention in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
After beginning the season with back-to-back home wins, the Husker women handled Southern at Pinnacle Bank Arena 84-58 on Tuesday before pounding South Dakota 113-70 at the Sanford Pentagon to improve to 4-0 on the season. Both wins kept Nebraska in the AP’s Top 25, settling the Big Red at No. 21.
The No. 21 spot ties for the Huskers’ highest ranking since the 2022-23 season. A decade ago during the 2014-15 season, Nebraska got as high as No. 12.
Nebraska’s 4-0 start is tied for sixth-best among Big Ten Conference teams. The Huskers’ point differential has helped separate the program from the rest of the pack, as the Big Red’s win in South Dakota was tied for the fourth most points scored in program history.
The Huskers are the fifth-highest rated program in the conference, behind No. 3 USC, No. 5 UCLA, No. 11 Maryland and No. 12 Ohio State. Two other Big Ten teams are right behind the Huskers: No. 22 Illinois and No. 23 Oregon. The Big Ten’s Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State also received votes.
The Southeastern Conference once again leads the top of the polls with No. 1 South Carolina garnering all 31 first-place votes. No. 4 Texas, No. 7 LSU, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 15 Kentucky, No. 17 Ole Miss, and No. 24 Alabama are all in this week’s poll, giving the SEC seven teams to match the Big Ten’s total.
UConn remains in the No. 2 spot and is the Big East’s only ranked team. Five Big 12 teams earned spots, including No. 8 Iowa State, No. 10 Kansas State, No. 13 West Virginia, No. 18 Baylor and No. 19 TCU. The ACC also had five programs land in the rankings, as No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 14 Duke, No. 16 North Carolina, No. 20 North Carolina State and No. 25 Louisville were all featured. The Wolfpack and Cardinals suffered the biggest drops of the week, as North Carolina State fell seven spots from No. 13 while Louisville dropped from No. 18.
Nebraska has a brief return to Lincoln on Tuesday night, hosting North Alabama at 7 p.m. CST, then travels up Interstate 80 to face the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha at 4 p.m. CST Friday.
POLL ALERT: South Carolina, UConn, USC top women’s AP Top 25 college basketball poll as top 12 unchanged; TCU joins rankings.
Full poll: https://t.co/ZpzgqczgyX pic.twitter.com/pAWwGBwmb9
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) November 18, 2024
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