Fueled by Friday's victory over then-No. 3 Notre Dame, TCU made program history on Monday by securing the updated AP poll's No. 9 spot — their first-ever Top 10 ranking. With their rise, the Horned Frogs are now the only Big 12 team in the top tier of the poll.
Joining TCU in entering this week's Top 10 is No. 8 Duke, whose recent wins over then-No. 8 Kansas State and then-No. 9 Oklahoma propelled the Blue Devils to their best standing in 10 years.
Last week's mini-tournament chaos caused movement through most of the Top 10. The lone team to fall was Notre Dame, who crashed seven spots to No. 10.
On the other hand, both South Carolina and Texas climbed one spot to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, after victories over then-No. 15 Iowa State and then-No. 12 West Virginia. Meanwhile, LSU cracked into the Top 5 by following up a narrow 68-67 victory over Washington with a poll-ousting 82-65 win over then-No. 20 NC State and a 131-44 beatdown of NC Central.
The final Top 10 riser was Maryland, whose three-spot leap to No. 7 came courtesy of consistent play.
After securing their first-ever No. 1 ranking last week, UCLA held steady at the top, with UConn staying strong just behind the Bruins at No. 2. The only other Top 10 team to maintain their poll position on Monday was No. 6 USC, who put together a pair of dominant wins against decidedly overmatched opponents last week.
It's still early days in the 2024/25 NCAA basketball season, and while teams enjoy their view from the top, this week's ranked games — highlighted by Thursday's No. 4 Texas vs. No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 8 Duke vs. No. 3 South Carolina battles — are guaranteed to shake things up.
The AP Top 10 college basketball poll
1. UCLA (8-0, Big Ten)
2. UConn (6-0, Big East)
3. South Carolina (7-1, SEC)
4. Texas (7-0, SEC)
5. LSU (9-0, SEC)
6. USC (6-1, Big Ten)
7. Maryland (8-0, Big Ten)
8. Duke (8-1, ACC)
9. TCU (8-0, Big 12)
10. Notre Dame (5-2, ACC)
With college soccer's regular season officially in the books, DI teams around the country are now competing for conference tournament titles and the NCAA championship bids they guarantee.
Each of Division I's 30 conferences automatically send their tournament winner to the NCAA championship pool, with the rest of the 64-team national bracket decided by the governing body's selection committee by Monday afternoon.
The toughest tickets to grab are in the Power Four conferences, which currently house 20 of the Top 25 ranked teams while fresh faces breathe new drama into some established title contests.
Duke soccer still dominating the ACC
With just one loss on the season, No. 1 Duke has dominated the college soccer field this year, outscoring opponents 53-10 to enter the postseason on a 15-match unbeaten streak.
Even more, the Blue Devils have done so in arguably the sport's toughest conference. A full seven of the country's Top-14 teams compete in the ACC.
Duke's journey to a first-ever College Cup title begins with Thursday's ACC tournament semifinals, where the Blue Devils will take on in-state rival and 21-time NCAA champs No. 8 UNC at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on ACCN.
If they can beat the Tar Heels for the third time this season, they'll face either defending national champion No. 6 Florida State or No. 3 Wake Forest in Sunday's tournament final.
SEC sees newcomers stir the college soccer pot
Like Duke in the ACC, No. 2 Mississippi State put together a historic season, scoring their highest-ever program ranking by tearing through the SEC on their way to a one-loss regular-season finish.
While the SEC isn't quite as strong as the ACC, the top teams are well matched. Mississippi State defeated all three of the other ranked teams still in the SEC tournament — No. 5 Arkansas, No. 14 South Carolina, and No. 21 Texas — though only by a single goal in each contest.
For the Bulldogs to book their first-ever conference tournament trophy, they'll first have to beat Tennessee in Tuesday's 5:30 PM ET quarterfinal, airing on the SEC Network.
Big-time turnovers rock Big Ten college soccer
Fresh faces are ruling the Big Ten tournament, where three of the four semifinalists — No. 4 USC, No. 9 UCLA, and Washington — are conference rookies.
The former Pac-12 trio showed out this season, eclipsing traditional Big Ten powerhouses like No. 22 Penn State and 2023 title-winner No. 16 Michigan State in the race to the tournament title.
The lone conference veteran still in the mix is Rutgers, who'll take on the top-seeded Trojans for the first time this year in Thursday's 2 PM ET semifinal, before the Bruins aim to hand the Huskies a second loss at 4:30 PM ET, both airing on the Big Ten Network.
Pushing toward the NCAA championship bracket in the Big 12
The Big 12 is arguably NCAA soccer's weakest Power conference with just two ranked teams, but that doesn't mean the conference tournament is without teeth.
One of Wednesday's four semifinalists — No. 7 TCU, No. 17 Texas Tech, 2023 College Cup semifinalist BYU, or Kansas — will emerge with the Big 12 trophy and a guaranteed spot in the NCAA tournament. The other three must wait until the selection committee decides their fate on Monday, making every minute left on the pitch a vital one.
How to watch this year's NCAA soccer conference tournaments
All Power Four conference finals are set for this weekend, with the Big 12 kicking things off at 8 PM on Saturday, with live coverage on ESPN+.
Then on Sunday, the ACC and Big Ten finals begin at 12 PM ET, with the ACC airing on ESPNU and the Big Ten on the Big Ten Network.
Later, the SEC trophy will be on the line during the 2:30 PM ET final, broadcast by the SEC Network.
The Women's College World Series began on Thursday, as eight teams vie for the 2024 NCAA championship title.
UCLA, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida have already moved on to the winners' bracket, emerging from Thursday's first round victorious. Meanwhile Alabama, Duke, Stanford, and Oklahoma State will face elimination tonight after all suffering first-round losses.
Texas and Oklahoma enter the final week of the postseason as top seeds, with the Longhorns winning the regular season and the Sooners taking the Big 12 Tournament Championship. Oklahoma is currently eyeing their fourth-straight title, having won every NCAA softball championship since the suspended season in 2020.
Despite an excellent regular season, Texas is still on the hunt for its first softball championship. And in yesterday's decisive win 4-0 over Stanford, Texas freshman Teagan Kavan became the first freshman in college history to throw a complete game shutout.
"I knew I was prepared and had been in front of a big stage before," Kavan said of her performance on Thursday.
The Blue Devils are also making NCAA history this week. Duke's Marissa Young — the first Black head coach in WCWS history — will lead the Blue Devils to their first visit to the final round of the softball playoffs Friday as they face off against Alabama.
Thursday’s session brought in 12,566 fans — a new session attendance record for the WCWS. All games will be broadcast live across ABC and ESPN networks.
Don't miss a moment of the action:
Game 5: Alabama vs. Duke — Friday, May 31st at 7 PM ET on ESPN2
Game 6: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State — Friday, May 31st at 9:30 PM ET on ESPN2
Game 7: UCLA vs. Oklahoma — Saturday, June 1st at 3 PM ET on ABC
Game 8: Texas vs. Florida — Saturday, June 1st at 7 PM ET on ESPN
No. 6 Stanford staved off Duke last night in overtime, 82-79, courtesy of a career-high scoring night for Cameron Brink.
The star senior dropped 29 points for the Cardinal, nine of those points in overtime, to keep her team undefeated in nonconference play so far this season. Brink also collected 11 rebounds and 6 blocks and went 10-10 from the free-throw line to top off her high scoring night.
Kiki Iriafen also had a standout night for Stanford. She contributed 27 points and 9 rebounds in its gutsy overtime win.
“They gave us all we could ask for and more,” Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer said to the Associated Press. “This game was kind of a heavyweight fight and it was a grind-out game. These are the kind of games that will get us ready for the Pac-12 gauntlet.”
After showing the Blue Devils everything she could do, Brink expected a warm welcome into the locker room from her teammates.
The 6-foot-4 forward leaped into the locker room and screamed. She closed her eyes and raised her arms to her chest. But the room was silent.
So Brink bottled her excitement and began to walk to her seat.
Only then did her teammates relent, jumping up around Brink, shouting and showering her in water. The players laughed and celebrated their undefeated record.
“We’re such a young team, getting a game like this under our belts shows us that we can fight through stuff,” Brink said.
Got her 😂#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/C8oglLZAzR
— Stanford WBB 🤓🏀 (@StanfordWBB) November 19, 2023