College basketball for women What Yahoo Sports thought.

Nine teams in the Associated Press Top 25 lost during the yearly Feast Week of college games over Thanksgiving break. At their events, two teams lost back-to-back games.

Only No. 3 Colorado and No. 6 UConn lost out of the top 10, so the top of the list is pretty much the same as it was last week. This season, I’m an AP voter, and I’ll share my ballot every week along with team results and my reasons for moving teams up or down in my rankings. (The full AP poll results are shown below.)

1. South Carolina (5-0)

In the past few years, the Gamecocks have played a lot of “no typo” games, but none as crazy as their 101–19 win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday. They’re beating teams like Notre Dame and Maryland by an average of 51.6 points, which is the most in Division I. With an average of 44.7 points per game, Utah is second in terms of spread. Through five games, South Carolina has scored 100.4 points on average and given up 48.8 points per game, which is third in the country.

2. UCLA (6-0)

The Bruins beat UConn 78–60, which was the first time in school history that they beat the Huskies. It solidifies their position near the top of the rankings and puts them ahead of Stanford because they were able to hold off Paige Bueckers long enough to win. With 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists, Kiki Rice had a great game. They were ahead by as many as 23 points.

3. Stanford is 7-0.

With big games from Cameron Brink (19 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks) and Kiki Iriafen (30 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Stanford beat Florida State 100–88, which was a big win. Brink played 16 minutes even though he had been flagged for fouls. This week, the Cardinal also beat Belmont 74–55 and Albany 79–35.

4. Iowa (7-1)

Teams don’t usually play each other twice in November, but Iowa got back at Kansas State by beating them 77–70 on Sunday to win the Gulf Coast Showcase. Most Valuable Player Caitlin Clark scored 32 points by making 10 of 25 shots (7 of 16 from 3). For Iowa’s long-term hopes, guard Kate Martin’s double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) and guard Molly Davis’s full line (13 points, 5 of 9 shooting, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) stood out more. The Hawkeyes also beat Florida Gulf Coast 100–62 and Purdue Fort Wayne 98–59.

5. North Carolina State (7-0)

Their 78–60 win over Colorado, which was named No. 3 last week, was another big surprise in the top five this season. They get 35.4 defensive rebounds per game, which is third best in the country, and Colorado centre Aaronette Vonleh only scored five points on 2 of 7 shooting while pulling down five rebounds. She averaged 18.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 70.8% shooting before the game.

NC State beat UConn twice, and each time they did it very well, moving into the top five.

6. USC (5-0)

USC is 5-0. They beat Seton Hall and Penn State by a total of 11 points in their two games. In the game against Penn State, it was youngster JuJu Watkins who made the difference. With 3:11 left in the game, Penn State was ahead by four points. Watkins scored two straight baskets to put the Trojans back in front after a six-minute scoring slump. It was the 15th time the lead changed. She also grabbed 12 boards, giving her her first double-double in college.

7. Colorado (6-1)

The Wolfpack are to blame for Colorado’s drop in the rankings. Cincinnati (77-60) and Kentucky (96-53) were no match for the Buffaloes. However, NC State beat them in their third game in three days.

8. Fifth-place Virginia Tech

Last week, Virginia Tech had a tough time too. They beat Kansas 59–58 and Tulane 76–70. Elizabeth Kitley, a finalist for the 2023 Naismith Award, scored 31 points and grabbed 18 boards in the Kansas game. Georgia Amoore, a guard, scored 24 points and had seven assists and five rebounds in the game against Tulane. She shot 56.3% total.

9. LSU (7-1)

Angel Reese is still not with the Tigers because he did not go to the Cayman Islands. Kateri Poole, a starting guard in the Final Four, also did not go on the trip. Head coach Kim Mulkey said she would let them know what was going on with Poole when they got back to Louisiana. A bright spot for LSU in the first month was sophomore forward Sa’Myah Smith. However, she hurt her right knee in the event’s first game, a 99–65 win over Niagara.

With one second left, LSU beat Virginia 76–73. Virginia was one of only three top-100 NET-ranked teams on LSU’s nonconference schedule. In two games, Aneesah Morrow scored 65 points and grabbed 26 boards. After this, they will play Virginia Tech again in the Final Four.

10. Utah (5-1)

The Utes only played one game and beat Merrimack 98-34. They played better defence and held Merrimack to 15 points in the first half, giving them a 55–15 lead. The team’s head coach, Lynne Roberts, was pleased with how they shared the ball (28 assists on 33 made goals) and made a variety of 3-pointers. However, she said that they could and should be more efficient. They only got 17 out of 45 (37.8%), but that was still the sixth-best rate of 41.2% for the year. It was the most 3s ever made by Kennady McQueen.

11. Texas (7-0)

Texas beat High Point 101–39 on Friday, which was the biggest win of the season, and South Florida 76–44 on Saturday. In five of its seven games, the defence has given up less than 45 points. However, only South Florida (NET 39) finished 2022–23 ranked higher than 113 in NET. Before putting the Longhorns too high, I’d like to see them play more top teams.

12. Connecticut (4-2)

Already, the Huskies’ season isn’t going the way they wanted it to. On Friday, they lost 78–67 to UCLA even though Bueckers scored 31 points, which was a great game. They were down to 10 fit players for the Cayman Islands Classic.

Geno Auriemma, the coach of UConn, said, “You can’t beat a really good team with one player.” “It was disappointing that more people didn’t contribute.” Right now, all of our combos are wrong, so that needs to be fixed.

The programme said last week that Azzi Fudd would miss the season because of a knee injury. Caroline Ducharme has also been having problems with concussions. Soon after, the team got back on track and beat a tough Kansas team 71–63. This season, Kansas could be ranked.

13. Baylor (5-0)

This season, the Bears scored 217 points in wins over McNeese (124–44) and Alcorn State (93–47). With a 70.2% assist rate, which is 12th in Division I, they share the ball well and are ranked in the top 10 in a number of scoring categories. They have players on their team who can score from almost anywhere. Out of the five starters, four are scoring over 10 points per game, and the sixth player is also in the top ten. They’re all shooting at least 50% of the time.

14. Missouri (6-1)

The Wildcats beat North Carolina 63–56 at the Gulf Coast Showcase, which was another big win for them. This set up a repeat with Iowa in the championship game. In the middle As she gets back to full playing time, Ayoka Lee averaged 16 points per game in the event. She also played more than 30 minutes in each of the last two games. Her stats were 14 points and 12 rebounds vs. North Carolina, but only 7 rebounds (all on defence) vs. Iowa.

15. The Ohio State (5-1)

Ohio State beat East Carolina (79–55), Oklahoma State (75–57), and Cornell (83–40) in a row this week. Four out of six games, they’ve had at least 10 steals, and three games, they’ve had four or more blocks. They only hit worse than 40% once, in their first loss of the season to USC.

16. The Fighting Irish (5-1)

Notre Dame’s offence is scoring a fifth-best 94.5 points per game and a seventh-best 51.2 field-goal percentage even without Olivia Miles. Also, they have some of the best buys. The Fighting Irish beat Ball State 90–59 and Chicago State 113–35.

17. The Florida State (5-1)

In their biggest win of the season, the Seminoles beat Northwestern by 38 points. But they then lost their first game of the season. Stanford, a good team that beat Florida State and shouldn’t lose its place, did it.

18. Indiana (5-1)

They beat both of their Fort Myers Tip-Off games. When Tennessee was ranked 19th, the Hoosiers beat them 71–57. After the Tigers got votes in the poll last week, they beat Princeton 72–63. Mackenzie Holmes is in charge of one of the best assist offences in the country.

19. Tennessee (4-2)

It was a rough week for the Lady Vols. They lost to No. 21 Indiana 71–57 and won the Fort Myers Tip-Off against No. 22 Oklahoma 76–73. Tennessee has won the fight for rebounds in five of the last six games, but forward Rickea Jackson is still out.

20. Mississippi State (8-0)

And they won all three: 81–78 against Clemson, 77–68 against AR Pine Bluff, and 102–58 against Tulsa. The win over Tulsa by 44 points ended a string of three wins by less than 10 points.

21. Ole Miss (6-1)

The Rebels beat Michigan 60–49 and Little Rock 58–45. They keep getting more rebounds than their opponents and scoring enough to win.

22. Kentucky (6-1)

Their first loss of the week was by five points to Alabama. They then got back on track by beating Liberty 72–63 and Gonzaga 81–70. The Zags are another team that might move up in the polls this year.

23. Washington State (7-1)

Before losing to Green Bay 59–48 in Mexico, the Cougars were off to their best start since 1978–79. They made 35% of their shots, which was the worst of the season, and were held to 29 points less than their average.

24. Princeton (4-2)

Although they lost to Indiana 72–63, Princeton beat then-No. 22 Oklahoma 77–63 and is still ranked higher than them. The Tigers got as close as six points twice in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t score enough or stop Holmes (28 points) and Scalia (28 points). I still believe this is a good team that has almost beaten the best teams.

25. Green Bay (4-2)

Green Bay beat a ranked Creighton team earlier in the season and beat No. 23 Washington State on Saturday. The Phoenix were also close to beating Maryland by 10 points, but lost 23–15 in the fourth quarter. One of the best things about Green Bay’s defence is that it forces mistakes, which can lead to wins.

North Carolina and Oklahoma both lost two games in a row last week.

Alabama (7-1), Gonzaga (6-2), and Marquette (6-0) are all being looked at.

AP Top 25 Poll (as of Nov. 27)

1. South Carolina (5-0)

2. UCLA (6-0)

3. Stanford (7-0)

4. Iowa (7-1)

5. NC State (7-0)

6. USC (5-0)

7t. LSU (7-1)

7t. Colorado (6-1)

9. Virginia Tech (5-1)