No. 1 UConn has aced every test in the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season so far, as No. 23 Notre Dame looks to disrupt the undefeated Huskies' national title defense in Monday's nonconference lineup.
Fresh off a 79-66 ranked loss to No. 9 Louisville on Thursday night, the Irish will lean hard on star guard Hannah Hidalgo on Monday.
The junior is averaging 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists on the season, while Hidalgo's 25.1 points-per-game rate trails only No. 19 Iowa State star Audi Crooks on the NCAA stat sheet.
"It's a long season, and I can't dwell on the loss for too long because my team needs me," Hidalgo said after Thursday's fall to the Cardinals.
On the flip side, UConn is racking up blowout wins, with the team's last single-digit victory dating back to a pre-Thanksgiving 72-69 win over No. 8 Michigan on November 21st.
The Huskies are now riding a 34-game winning streak, fueled by consistent output from sophomore Sarah Strong and senior Azzi Fudd.
"I've been trying to tell the girls that UConn is a different beast," Hidalgo said. "If we think certain teams that we have lost to were tough, then we're going to have a rude awakening [against] UConn."
How to watch Notre Dame vs. UConn women's basketball
The No. 1 Huskies will host the No. 23 Fighting Irish at 5 PM ET on Monday, with live coverage airing on FOX.
The No. 1 UConn Huskies kept their unbeaten streak alive in Brooklyn on Saturday, taking down the No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes 90-64 while continuing to run the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season's AP Top 25.
The Huskies spun a tale of two halves in the victory, as senior guard Azzi Fudd and sophomore forward Sarah Strong combined for 50 points — Strong with 20 in the first half, followed by Fudd's 21-point second-half show.
"That's an example of why our team is so special — any moment anyone can go off and make shots," Fudd said postgame. "We do a great job of playing unselfish basketball."
While they aren't the only team standing tall against top NCAA competition this year, UConn is averaging a 20.4-point margin of victory through five Top 25-ranked wins — and showing few signs of slowing down.
"We've had a lot of identities over the years, a lot of people are more talking about us offensively," said longtime Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma following Saturday's win. "We had to play the way the hand was dealt, we played a little bit differently. Now we're back to where we play the way I like playing."
How to watch UConn basketball in action
The No. 1 Huskies now move fully into conference play, squaring off against unranked Butler on Sunday.
The Big East matchup will tip off at 4 PM ET, airing live on TNT.
No. 1 UConn can't stop winning, winding down the year's regular-season nonconference play undefeated after dominating No. 16 USC 79-51 on Saturday.
Senior guard Azzi Fudd led the Huskies' scoring effort with 17 points on the night, while UConn's defense limited the Trojans to just 17 first-half points.
"On a team like this, you have to play unselfish basketball," Fudd said postgame. "You have to be aggressive whether it be from three or taking it to the rim."
As the Big East's only ranked team, the reigning NCAA champions had to make the most of an aggressive nonconference schedule — and so far, so good.
UConn already claimed ranked wins against No. 22 Louisville, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 16 USC — with matchups against No. 11 Iowa, No. 19 Notre Dame, and No. 18 Tennessee still to come.
"We've always been pretty good at trying to spread our brand around, not get stuck just playing regional-type games," Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said ahead of Saturday's matchup. "You want to try to keep adding new ones."
How to watch UConn basketball this week
Following a clash with unranked Big East opponent Marquette at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, UConn's next big test will be on Saturday, when the Huskies host No. 11 Iowa at 1:30 PM ET.
UConn's game with the Golden Eagles will air live on Peacock, with their game against the Hawkeyes airing on FOX.
Dallas has once again jumped to the front of the line, as the Wings locked down the No. 1 overall pick at the 2026 WNBA Draft, scoring the top draft selection for the second straight year at Sunday's lottery.
The Wings selected UConn star guard Paige Bueckers with last year's No. 1 pick, with the NCAA champion going on to win 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
"We've got an exciting young group, and we really bond together," said Dallas Wings forward and 2023's overall No. 3 draftee Maddy Siegrist. "I'm excited to bring someone else in."
In the rest of Sunday night's 2026 lottery results, the league's rich got richer, with 2025 WNBA playoff contenders the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm claiming the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, respectively, after both teams gained draft assets via trades.
The Washington Mystics will boost their already impressive young roster with the fourth draft pick in April, while the Chicago Sky snagged the fifth and final lottery spot on Sunday.
With 2026 WNBA season expanding to 15 teams, the league's two incoming expansion sides — the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire — will select in the Nos. 6 and 7 spots.
As for the 2026 class, top NCAA prospects including UConn guard Azzi Fudd, UCLA center Lauren Betts, and TCU guard Olivia Miles — as well as international star Awa Fam from Spain — are likely to earn early selections in April's WNBA Draft.
The first Top 10 classic of the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season delivered on Friday, as No. 1 UConn survived No. 6 Michigan 72-69 — just barely keeping their unbeaten streak alive.
Guards on both sides stood out, with Husky senior Azzi Fudd scoring a game-high 31 points while Wolverine sophomore Syla Swords put UConn on notice with 29 points of her own.
"Those are two of the best shooters in the country playing tonight against each other," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said postgame. "They both put on quite a show."
UConn started strong in the first half, but a dominant third quarter from the Wolverines saw the Huskies' 17-point lead dwindle before Fudd got hot from behind the arc.
"I was proud how we stuck together, and we figured it out in the end," Fudd said afterwards.
While defending national champ UConn remains on top of the early 2025/26 NCAA field, the star is rising for Michigan and their 5-1 record, as the Wolverines jumped eight spots in last week's AP Poll — with another leap possible when the rankings update on Monday afternoon.
Elsewhere, the weekend's lineup featured a few other successful upset bids, with No. 24 Notre Dame taking down No. 11 USC 61-59 behind a gritty 22-point performance from Irish star guard Hannah Hidalgo on Friday and unranked mid-major Rhode Island stunning No. 16 NC State with a 68-63 Wolfpack loss on Sunday.
The top-ranked UConn Huskies are gearing up for their stiffest competition yet in the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season, as the defending national champions welcome the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines to Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday.
Both teams enter the game with undefeated records and a ranked win under their belts, with the Huskies taking down No. 21 Louisville in their season-opener before Michigan dramatically humbled No. 24 Notre Dame last weekend.
"Based on what I've seen from Michigan, they will be, for sure, the best team we play this year by a long shot at this time in the season," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
While UConn arrives armed with national talents like last season's Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong and the 2025 Final Four's Most Outstanding Player Azzi Fudd, rising NCAA basketball star Michigan will look to prove they can hang with college basketball's big dogs.
"They are all incredibly unselfish — they don't care who scores," longtime Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said of her squad. "The really good teams like UConn and South Carolina are the same way."
"Connecticut is really, really good," she added. "Our kids want to compete against the best. I always have a stomachache when those games are on our schedule."
How to watch No. 6 Michigan vs. No. 1 UConn on Friday
The Huskies will tip off against the Wolverines at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on FOX.
NCAA basketball is officially back in action, and the reigning champion No. 1 UConn Huskies will tip off their 2025/26 season against the No. 20 Louisville Cardinals in the recently relocated Armed Forces Classic on Tuesday afternoon.
The clash will make history as the first-ever women's edition of college basketball's military-site showdown, as UConn opens their season against a ranked opponent for the first time since 2017.
"It's going to be a lot of learning with five new players," Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said earlier this week. "There's a lot of exciting things that are ahead of us… and I want to help them overcome some of those challenges we're going to have."
Despite losing 2025 No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers to the WNBA last April, the Huskies enter the season with a healthy roster and more depth than recent years, centering the team around returning starters like top-ranked sophomore forward Sarah Strong and grad student guard Azzi Fudd.
"I have to learn how to sub again," Auriemma joked about having a complete bench to draw from. "We've had three or four years in a row there where there's nobody to sub."
Staying atop the NCAA rankings won't be easy, however — a lesson the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils learned after suffering the 2025/26 NCAA season's first top-ranked upset to the No. 16 Baylor Bears on Monday.
"I think you can learn a lot from the first game of the season, especially when you're playing a good team, because they expose a lot of things about you on both ends," said Duke head coach Kara Lawson about the 58-52 loss.
How to watch UConn vs. Louisville in the Armed Forces Classic
The No. 1 UConn Huskies will tip off the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season by taking on the No. 20 Louisville Cardinals at the US Naval Academy at 5:30 PM ET on Tuesday.
The clash will air live on ESPN.
Fresh off the program's record-extending 12th national championship, the UConn Huskies will tip off the 2025/26 NCAA season as the top-ranked team on the preseason AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll.
The elite start marks the Huskies' first No. 1 preseason ranking since 2017, as returning starters like sophomore forward Sarah Strong and grad student guard Azzi Fudd prepare to defend their NCAA title.
"Hopefully, it's a little bit of a confidence builder and not, 'Oh my god!'" UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said of his team's poll results. "I'm happy for them…. You tend to finish the year where you're predicted, so I like being in this position."
All of last season's Final Four teams will begin their 2025/26 campaigns on a high note, with national runners-up South Carolina ranking second while UCLA snagged third and Texas fourth.
Not every ranked team remained as unchanged, however, as No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 18 USC saw expectations dip in the face of significant player turnover.
USC will be without superstar guard JuJu Watkins for the entirety of the upcoming season, as the 20-year-old Trojan continues to rehab an ACL tear suffered during 2025's March Madness.
As for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish lost standouts Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld to the WNBA, with the team planning to re-center their approach around guard Hannah Hidalgo after celebrated point guard Olivia Miles transferred to No. 17 TCU.
The 2025/26 NCAA basketball season tips off on Monday, November 3rd.
The 2025/26 NCAA basketball preseason AP Top 25 poll
1. UConn (Big East)
2. South Carolina (SEC)
3. UCLA (Big Ten)
4. Texas (SEC)
5. LSU (SEC)
6. Oklahoma (SEC)
7. Duke (ACC)
8. Tennessee (SEC)
9. NC State (ACC)
10. Maryland (Big Ten)
11. UNC (ACC)
12. Ole Miss (SEC)
13. Michigan (Big Ten)
14. Iowa State (Big 12)
15. Notre Dame (ACC)
16. Baylor (Big 12)
17. TCU (Big 12)
18. USC (Big Ten)
19. Vanderbilt (SEC)
20. Louisville (ACC)
21. Iowa (Big Ten)
22. Oklahoma State (Big 12)
23. Michigan State (Big Ten)
T24. Kentucky (SEC)
T24. Richmond (Atlantic 10)
The 2025 season is nearly over for the No. 13 Dallas Wings, but they're banking on the future as the struggling WNBA team locked in the best odds to grab the 2026 overall No. 1 draft pick earlier this week.
After Monday's loss to the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Dallas — who drafted UConn superstar Paige Bueckers No. 1 overall at the 2025 WNBA Draft — now have a 40% chance of winning first dibs via the 2026 lottery, as well as a near-30% shot at snagging the No. 2 or No. 3 pick.
In an attempt to deter single-season tanking, the lottery uses combined two-year records to determine which team has a shot at a high draft pick.
This year's trades will complicate next season's lottery order, with No. 12 Chicago's natural first-round pick belonging to top-seed Minnesota, while the early selection owned by the No. 11 Connecticut Sun — heavily weighted due to the team's 2024 success — will likely go to Chicago by way of a pick swap involving the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury.
Even more, as the league expands, so must the lottery: The 2026 edition will feature the first five-team lineup in WNBA history, with next season's incoming franchises — the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire — projected to claim picks No. 5 and No. 6.
As for Dallas, after successfully transitioning Bueckers to the pros, the Wings are going all in on NCAA talent as next year’s projected top picks prep for their final college tour.
Leading the 2026 WNBA Draft class is UCLA center Lauren Betts, followed closely by Bueckers's former UConn teammate (and current girlfriend) Azzi Fudd as well as offseason TCU transfer Olivia Miles.
Every lottery is a gamble by definition, but back-to-back losing records in Dallas could spell a silver lining in 2026.
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd, Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, and more college talents struck a pose this week, teaming up with Kansas City Chiefs tight end — and newly minted fiancé — Travis Kelce to launch his new "Tru Kolors" American Eagle collection on Wednesday.
The Tru Kolors campaign highlights rising, current, and former NCAA athletes, with Fudd and Lee joined by UNC tennis commit Anna Frey as well as a trio of standouts in men's basketball and football.
"I'm inspired by where I come from and the people around me. That's why we chose six incredible athletes — Anna, Azzi, Drew, Kiyan, Suni, and Jeremiah — who stay true to themselves while changing the game," Kelce said in Wednesday's press release.
"Each athlete shares Travis's beliefs of staying true and living life beyond boundaries," the statement continues, describing reigning national champion Fudd as one of "college basketball's most resilient and dynamic players."
Lee is the only former collegiate icon featured in the campaign, with the Auburn alum departing NCAA competition to add three more medals to her six Olympic hardware total at the 2024 Paris Games.
College phenoms like Fudd and Lee have been able to funnel their athletic success into increasingly high-profile NIL deals.
Fudd has had a particularly lucrative year off the court, with this latest venture closely following a collab with Meta earlier this month.
How to buy the Travis Kelce American Eagle collection
Items from the initial Tru Kolors run hit shelves on Wednesday, with the rest of the 90-piece collection dropping on September 24th.
All pieces will be available to buy online at American Eagle.