SEC Dominance Remains in Women’s AP Top 25 Poll
With nine teams coming in the top 25, the Southeastern Conference dominated the women’s basketball AP Poll yet again this week. Coming off a historic week where 10 teams from the same conference were slotted in the top 25, the SEC remained firm at nine, with Georgia dropping off the list.
As Florida (13-11, 1-8 SEC) continues to struggle in a tough conference, it looks for opportunities to strike as other teams rise and fall week by week. Florida faces Auburn next on Thursday at 7 p.m. at home and hopes to avenge a 60-50 loss from earlier this season.
Meanwhile, a Big Ten opponent took the biggest tumble of any team.
No. 13 Ole Miss
Despite their success, the Rebels (18-4, 5-2) had been quiet until Friday’s upset of Vanderbilt (21-2, 7-2 SEC). They moved up four places to No. 13.
Led by senior Cotie McMahon’s 27 points, Ole Miss clinched an unexpected win for the first time this season after having spent much of the year following the ups and downs of the toughness of its schedule. Aside from a 74-69 win over Oklahoma on Jan. 8, this victory was the Rebels’ biggest statement.
“They’re kind of like a lot of the other SEC teams, they kind of jump all over the place,” said Jeff Linder, an AP Poll voter and sportswriter at The Gazette. “I had them at 20 last week and then they go and beat [Vanderbilt], so I moved them up I think to 12 this week.”
Mississippi managing to stay in sixth in a strong SEC factors into his decision, especially at this point in the year where conference standings are important to him.
No. 22 Maryland
Having dropped four consecutive games and three of them at home in the past few weeks, Maryland (17-6, 5-6 Big Ten) plummeted six slots down to No. 22. The Terrapins’ skid began with a Jan. 11 loss to Ohio State at home and, despite a quick rebound on the road against Southern California, they’ve been trending downward since.
They’ve since caved to a tough slate, falling to No. 3 UCLA on the road and then to No. 10 Iowa State and No. 25 Washington back home in College Park, Maryland. Their unjustifiable loss, though, was their most recent 68-61 defeat at home against unranked Oregon.
“We just have to continue to stay grounded where we’re at and focus on what lies ahead,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.
While the loss was unexpected and a brutal one for the Terrapins, Linder said it is not uncommon for conference play.
“Thirteen of the top 25 teams, at least in my ballot, got beat last week,” he said. “With teams in conference play now, that’s just going to continue.”
With all of its losses so far coming from Big Ten opponents, Maryland has become one of the biggest exemplifications of the rigor of conference play.
Georgia (RV)
The first team to slip off the poll after being part of the historic 10-SEC-team list in Week 12 was Georgia.
Boasting an 18-4 overall record, the Bulldogs have suffered in conference play. They split their eight games and faced a grueling schedule that included six ranked SEC opponents.
Despite clinching a ranked win over Kentucky (18-5, 5-4 SEC), Georgia’s loss proved more costly than its win. Previously ranked No. 23, the Bulldogs’ ceding to Alabama (19-4, 5-4 SEC) on their home turf was enough to boot them off entirely in Week 13.
“Positive is there is a next game,” sophomore forward Mia Woolfolk said after the loss. “All we can do is learn from this. There’s just so many learning experiences that we could take as a team from this game. Now that we’re going into Tennessee, which is another tough game, we have so much that we can take away from this game, and we can move forward with that.”
Category: Basketball, College Baseball, Gators Women's Basketball, SEC, Women's College Basketball
