The ongoing dominance of UConn basketball has started to break records, as the top-ranked Huskies humbled unranked Notre Dame 85-47 on Monday — keeping their perfect 2025/26 NCAA season intact.
Monday's 38-point margin of victory marked the largest in the teams' 20-year rivalry, with the win also snapping the Huskies' three-game head-to-head losing streak against the Fighting Irish.
"UConn showed why they're the best team in the country," Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said postgame.
Even more, UConn sophomore forward Sarah Strong added her own individual history to Monday's tally, becoming the third-fastest Husky to reach 1,000 career points, with the 19-year-old trailing only program legends Maya Moore and Paige Bueckers — who each did so in 55 games to Strong's 59 — in the race to reach that stat.
"I would love to see if anybody has scored 1,000 points by taking less shots than she's taking," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. "She's so efficient."
"It means a lot to me I guess, but I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates," Strong said after leading the Huskies with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double on Monday night.
How to watch UConn basketball this week
UConn now returns to Big East play, with the No. 1 Huskies taking on unranked Georgetown at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on TNT.
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.
The Power Four wrapped up their 2024/25 NCAA basketball seasons on Sunday, with newly minted conference tournament champions punching their tickets to the March Madness tournament.
While the Big 12's weekend was all chalk as No. 8 TCU added their first tournament title since 2005 to their 2024/25 regular-season conference trophy on Sunday, the ACC capped their contest with chaos.
No. 11 Duke put the conference — and the NCAA selection committee — on notice, upsetting both No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 7 NC State en route to their first ACC tournament championship in 12 years.
In the SEC, No. 5 South Carolina had the last word against No. 1 Texas. After splitting their two 2024/25 meetings and sharing the regular-season title, the defending national champion Gamecocks turned the SEC tournament final into a defensive masterclass, defeating the Longhorns 64-45 to claim the conference trophy.
Meanwhile, Sunday's Big Ten finale saw No. 4 UCLA enact revenge on their crosstown rivals, No. 2 USC. After dropping both their matchups and ceding the conference's regular-season title to the Trojans, the Bruins held USC to just 34.3% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc to snag the tournament crown with a 72-67 win.
Conference winners eye NCAA tournament seeding
With their Sunday wins and their automatic entries into the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament, conference champions are now eyeing their shots at top national seedings.
While TCU and Duke each made strong cases for increasing their seeds, UCLA and South Carolina fully cemented themselves as frontrunners to top the 2024/25 bracket.
"When you win this [SEC] tournament and play the schedule that we play, I do think we’re the No. 1 overall seed," remarked South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. "There isn’t anybody in the country that has played the schedule that we have played, that had share of the regular-season title, won this tournament and beat the No. 1 team in the country."
The stats back up Staley's claims. South Carolina played more Top 25 opponents this season than any other currently ranked squad, winning 12 of those games — seven against Top 10 teams. The only three losses they logged all season came against No. 1 Texas, No. 3 UConn, and No. 4 UCLA, with the Gamecocks handing the Longhorns two defeats in return.
UCLA head coach Cori Close took a more diplomatic approach when asked about top seeding after winning the Big Ten title.
"I think it would mean a lot for us [and USC] both to be No. 1 seeds," Close told ESPN. "And I hope we do get the chance to do it [in the Final Four] in Tampa a fourth time."
The final decisions rest with the selection committee, who will reveal their 2024/25 NCAA tournament bracket this Sunday.
How to watch Monday's Big East tournament final
Though the Power Four have handed out their hardware, other DI conference tournaments will be in action all week, with the Big East championship tipping off Monday night.
No. 3 UConn is hunting their fifth straight Big East tournament trophy, but they'll have to beat No. 23 Creighton to hoist it.
The No. 1-seed Huskies and No. 2-seed Bluejays will tip off at 7 PM ET, with live coverag on FS1.
For the first time in 21 years, Texas basketball is the No. 1 team in the nation, with the AP Poll minting the Longhorns as the fourth top-ranked NCAA team of the season on Monday.
"I'm so happy for my kids, they’ve earned where they are today," Texas head coach Vic Schaefer told the AP ahead of his team’s resounding 57-26 win over unranked Georgia on Monday. "There's so much parity in the game right now."
The Longhorns’ leap comes after then-No. 1 Notre Dame’s double-overtime loss to NC State on Sunday, a result that sent the Irish falling to No. 3 in the rankings. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, earned one of the week's biggest boosts due to the marquee win, jumping four spots to No. 9.
After spending 12 weeks at No. 1 before now-No. 4 USC snapped a school-record 23-game unbeaten streak earlier this month, UCLA also benefitted from Notre Dame’s slip-up, rising one spot to sit at No. 2.
Along with reigning champion No. 6 South Carolina, who began the 2024/25 NCAA season as the No. 1 team, there have now been four squads atop this season's AP Polls. There have never been more than four to reach that summit in the survey’s history.
Small shifts litter Monday's AP Top 25
Similar to the minor changes in the Top 3, the Poll’s remaining 22 teams saw mostly incremental shifts as the final 2024/25 NCAA regular-season weekend looms.
ACC standouts No. 24 Florida State and No. 25 Louisville re-entered the rankings this week after snagging upset victories over then-No. 20 Georgia Tech and then-No. 11 Duke, respectively. As a result, the now-unranked Yellow Jackets joined Illinois in exiting this week's poll.
The Blue Devils saw the biggest drop after their loss to the Cardinals, falling five spots to No. 16, while last week's upset loss to unranked Indiana sent Ohio State down four spots this week to No. 12.
How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball games this week
With most major regular-season conference titles boiling down to this final week of play, some of the fiercest matchups are on deck this week.
The top two teams in three major conferences will fight for trophies and postseason seeding this week, with the Big East's No. 5 UConn hosting No. 22 Creighton at 7 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on CBS Sports Network.
Then on Saturday, a No. 4 USC vs. No. 2 UCLA rematch will decide the Big Ten at 9 PM ET, with live coverage on Fox.
Sunday will see the Big 12 crown their season champion after No. 17 Baylor battles No. 10 TCU for the honor at 6:30 PM ET, airing live on FS1.
AP College Basketball Top 25: Week 17
1. Texas (27-2, SEC)
2. UCLA (26-1, Big Ten)
3. Notre Dame (24-3, ACC)
4. USC (25-2, Big Ten)
5. UConn (26-3, Big East)
6. South Carolina (25-3, SEC)
7. LSU (27-2, SEC)
8. North Carolina (25-4, ACC)
9. NC State (22-5, ACC)
10. TCU (26-3, Big 12)
11. Tennessee (21-6, SEC)
12. Ohio State (23-4, Big Ten)
13. Oklahoma (21-6, SEC)
14. Kansas State (25-5, Big 12)
15. Kentucky (21-5, SEC)
16. Duke (21-7, ACC)
17. Baylor (25-5, Big 12)
18. West Virginia (21-6, Big 12)
19. Maryland (21-6, Big Ten)
20. Alabama (22-6, SEC)
21. Oklahoma State (22-5, Big 12)
22. Creighton (23-4, Big East)
23. Michigan State (20-7, Big Ten)
24. Florida State (22-6, ACC)
25. Louisville (19-8, ACC)