South Carolina No. 1 for 37th straight week, Iowa now No. 2
South Carolina stands alone with the second-longest streak atop The Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll as the Gamecocks remained No. 1 for a 37th consecutive week.
The Gamecocks (32-0) won the Southeastern Conference Tournament over the weekend to remain undefeated heading into the NCAA tourney. South Carolina, which received all 28 first-place votes from a national media panel Monday, broke a tie with Louisiana Tech for most consecutive weeks at No. 1. The defending national champions now trail only UConn's run of 51 straight weeks atop the Top 25.
With the final poll of the season set to come out next week, the Gamecocks are poised to go wire-to-wire at No. 1 this year ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa moved up five spots to No. 2 after running through the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hawkeyes routed Ohio State by 33 points in the title game Sunday behind another strong effort from Caitlin Clark, who had the third triple-double in conference tournament history.
It is the Hawkeyes' best ranking since they had an eight-week run at No. 2 in 1994.
Indiana dropped one place to third with Virginia Tech moving up four places to No. 4. The Hokies, who won the ACC Tournament for the first time, have their highest ranking ever.
Stanford and Maryland were the next two. UConn moved up to seventh with Utah and LSU next.
The Utes and Tigers each dropped five spots after losing in their conference tournaments.
Villanova finished out the top 10.
It's the Wildcats best ranking ever and it came as they faced UConn for the Big East title late Monday.
Tennessee jumped back into the poll at No. 24 after making a run to the SEC Tournament final.
South Florida and Iowa State dropped out of the Top 25.
The Cyclones had been ranked for 36 consecutive weeks before
falling out.
Men's basketball HOUSTON, UCLA, KANSAS TOP LATEST AP TOP 25 >>
UCLA is surging, both toward the postseason and in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll.
While Houston was No. 1 for a third straight week in Monday's poll, the Bruins rose two spots to No. 2 for their highest ranking of the season. UCLA (27-4) has won its last 10 games, including a showdown with highly ranked Arizona in the regularseason finale behind star Jamie Jaquez Jr. to complete a perfect home record.
Houston (29-2) closed out its regular-season schedule by winning at Memphis on a last-second basket Sunday, marking its 11th straight win.
The only change in the top five came with UCLA trading places with No. 4 Alabama, with Kansas remaining at No. 3 despite a loss at Texas in Saturday's regular-season finale and Purdue staying at fifth.
College baseball
RIOS' PATIENCE REWARDED WITH RECORD 11-RBI GAME FOR STANFORD >>
It took Alberto Rios until his third season at Stanford to break into the starting lineup. Days like Sunday will help keep him there.
He set the school record and tied the Pac-12 mark with 11 RBIs in a 24-9 win over Cal State Bakersfield.
“It's kind of ridiculous,” he said Monday. “I had no
idea until score.”
Rios appeared in eight of the Cardinal's 121 games his first two years and didn't play in the season opener against Cal State Fullerton.
He had two three-run homers, a pair of two-run singles and an RBI base hit during his 5-for-7 day.
I saw the box
Soccer
NEYMAR TO UNDERGO SEASON-ENDING SURGERY ON RIGHT ANKLE >>
Neymar will undergo season-ending surgery on his damaged right ankle and will be out for up to four months, Paris Saint-Germain said.
Neymar will miss PSG's Champions League match at Bayern Munich on Wednesday and will be operated on in the coming days at a hospital in Doha, the Qatari-backed club said.
Neymar picked up his latest injury last month in a 4-3 win over Lille in the French league. He also injured his right ankle in Brazil's opening match at last year's World Cup in Qatar, but the forward was able to return later in the tournament.
Tennis
DJOKOVIC WITHDRAWS AFTER FAILED BID TO PLAY INDIAN WELLS >>
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the upcoming BNP Paribas Open, having lost his bid to enter the United States unvaccinated to play in the Southern California event.
The tournament announced his withdrawal on Sunday night. Play in
the combined ATP-WTA event begins Wednesday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden and runs through March 19.
Sen. Rick Scott, RFla., said on Twitter that Homeland Security had rejected Djokovic's vaccine waiver request, which would have allowed him to play backto-back at Indian Wells and Miami, which runs March 19-April 2.
The U.S. is ending its COVID-19 emergency declaration on May 11, which will allow foreign air travelers to enter the county without being vaccinated.
UKRAINE'S KOSTYUK BEATS RUSSIA'S GRACHEVA FOR 1ST WTA TITLE >>
Marta Kostyuk won her first career WTA title at age 20 by beating Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 7-5 in the ATX Open final, then dedicated the victory to her home country of Ukraine.
The eighth-seeded Kostyuk and the unseeded Gracheva, a 22-year-old Russian, did not meet at the net for the traditional post-match handshake; Kostyuk has said she will not do so after facing any opponents from Russia, which began its invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, or Belarus, which helped launch the attack.
When Gracheva sailed a forehand long to end the match after 1 1/2 hours on Sunday, Kostyuk — who trailed 5-3 in the second set and saved a set point at 5-4 — dropped to her knees at the baseline, put her hands on her face and sobbed.