No. 2 is a first for A&M women
Texas A&M moved up to No. 2, its highest ranking ever, in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll, a day after winning its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title.
The Aggies (22-1) beat then-no. 5 South Carolina on Sunday to win the conference title and then moved up a spot in the Top 25.
“We needed to win this game to solidify who were were and what we've earned,” said Texas A&M coach Gary Blair, whose team received two first-place votes on Monday from a 30member national media panel.
In the men's poll, Baylor dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 after its loss to Kansas.
Baylor has struggled since coming off a three-week pause for COVID-19 issues, needing a frantic rally to beat bottomdwelling Iowa State before falling at Allen Fieldhouse. Bears coach Scott Drew was quick to congratulate the Jayhawks on the win, but he also made it clear that his team is still trying to find its legs after a long break.
“Anyone that's had COVID would know, when you come back, you're not 100 percent,” Drew said. “The people that didn't and weren't able to practice or work out, I would say that's rust. And then the last thing I would say, it's a chemistry game.”
Uconn remained the top choice in the women's poll, getting 27 first-place votes. The Huskies finished off their regular season Monday night against Marquette.
North Carolina State fell to No. 3, with Stanford and Louisville rounding out the first five teams in the poll.
Baylor, South Carolina, Maryland, UCLA and Indiana were the next five.
Texas A&M has reeled off 10 consecutive wins since its overtime loss at LSU. The Aggies snapped a seven-game losing streak to South Carolina on Sunday.
“We're the two best teams in the SEC and we had to prove it night in and night out,” Blair said. “Now it's up to both of us to throw this season away and start all over at the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”
The Aggies were one of the few teams not to have games scrapped this season because of coronavirus issues.
Led by Texas A&M, the SEC has five of the first 16 teams in the poll, with No. 13 Arkansas, No. 14 Tennessee and No. 16 Georgia joining the Aggies and Gamecocks. The conference had a strong presence in the latest NCAA top 16 reveal, with six of the top 16 seeds, including Texas A&M and South Carolina, projected as No. 1s. Those rankings came out before Sunday's games.
Gonzaga continued to hold down the top spot in the men's Top 25, just as it has all season, receiving 59 of 63 first-place votes among national media members. But Michigan picked up the other four to climb into second over Baylor.
Illinois climbed one spot to fourth, and Iowa gave the Big Ten three teams in the top five.
“We look at it like there's room for improvement,” said Wolverines coach Juwan Howard, whose team pushed its winning streak to seven with an easy win over Indiana on Saturday. “Our guys have that kind of growth mindset, ‘What can we do better?' I don't think there's ever such a thing as playing a perfect game, (but) one possession at a time, competing for 40 minutes, from start to finish, that's been our mindset going into ballgames.”
Now the question is whether the Wolverines can hold onto its No. 2 spot. They have a showdown with the Illini on Tuesday night before wrapping up the regular season with a home-andhome series against Michigan State.
“No question, they deserve all of the whatever the word you want to use — accolades, praise. They deserve it all,” Hoosiers coach Archie Miller said. “They have a great spirit about them. That's one thing you'd probably have to look at Michigan and just look at the way that they vibe and they play, both ends of the floor. They get after you, they play hard for one another, they have a great bounce to them, so you can tell they're very together. That's a big part of what they're doing.”
West Virginia continued its steady climb, up four spots to No. 6 after its third consecutive win. Ohio State fell three spots to seventh after its loss to the Hawkeyes. Alabama, Houston and Villanova rounded out the top 10.
Florida State was next, while Arkansas leaped eight spots to No. 12 after running its winning streak to six, including victories over then-no. 10 Missouri and the Crimson Tide. It's the highest the Razorbacks have been ranked since Feb. 16, 1998.
Also making a big move was No. 13 Kansas, fresh off its win over the Bears. The Jayhawks have won six of seven after their record 12-year streak in the Top 25 came to an end, with the loss coming to then-no. 14 Texas in overtime.
Creighton dropped one spot to No. 14, followed by the Longhorns. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were next, followed by Big 12 rival Texas Tech, with San Diego Staten and Loyola Chicago rounding out the top 20.