Women's basketball AP Poll: South Carolina holds No. 1 spot after dominant early wins as Michigan, Oklahoma climb

We’re a week into the college basketball season, and South Carolina already has a pair of convincing ranked wins under its belt.The Gamecocks remained at No. 1 in the first true Associated Press poll of the season on Monday, thanks to an opening win against Maryland and then a 45-point blowout over North Carolina to open the new season. South Carolina held on late to beat Maryland in their opener in Paris, and then returned to the United States for a dominant outing against the Tar Heels. Chloe Kitts had a double-double in that second contest, which was essentially over at halftime. North Carolina, now with two losses on the year, fell 11 spots down to No. 23 in this week’s poll.Michigan jumped up to No. 2 with its 11-point win over UConn. Te’Yala Delfosse dropped a career-high 22 points in that outing, which ended UConn’s regular season win streak. The Huskies had won 39 games in a row dating back to Feb. 6, 2025.UConn bounced back after that, however, and beat Iowa behind a 39-point outing from Sarah Strong on Sunday. The Hawkeyes remained at No. 10, and share that spot with UConn this week. USC, now with JuJu Watkins back, remained at No. 3 in the poll. Duke rounded out the top five.Notable games to watchAll times ET | * Denotes neutral site gameThursday, Nov. 12No. 2 UConn at No. 17 Ohio State | 6:30 p.m. | FS1Arizona at No. 10 UCLA | 10:30 p.m. | BTNSunday, Nov. 15No. 3 USC at No. 1 South Carolina | 1 p.m. | ABC No. 8 Vanderbilt vs. No. 10 Iowa | 1 p.m. | FS1 *No. 2 UConn at No. X7Louisville | 5:30 p.m. | ESPNAP Top 25The full Associated Press women’s basketball poll from Nov. 9, 2026.1. South Carolina (2-0)2. Michigan (2-0)3. USC (2-0)4. UConn (2-1)5. Duke (2-0)6. Texas (2-0)7. Louisville (2-0)8. Vanderbilt (2-0)9. LSU (2-0)T10. UCLA (2-0)T10. Iowa (2-1)12. Kentucky (3-0)13. Notre Dame (2-0)14. Oklahoma (2-0)15. TCU (3-0)16. Washington (2-0)17. Ohio State (3-0)18. Minnesota (2-0)T19. Oklahoma State (2-0)T19. Maryland (1-1)21. Ole Miss (2-0)22. Illinois (2-0)23. North Carolina (0-2)24. West Virginia (3-0)25. Nebraska (2-0)Others receiving votes: Baylor 39, NC State 35, Arizona State 20, Virginia 18, Kansas 8, Florida 4, Michigan State 3, Fairfield 2, Colorado 2, Tennessee 1, Princeton 1This post will be updated with more information shortly.