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.
NCAA upsets rocked the AP Poll again this week, with significant Top 10 movement as women's basketball underdogs muscle their way up the 2025/26 table.
LSU's Sunday victory over once-unbeaten Texas saw the Longhorns fall two spots to No. 4, while the Tigers returned to the Top 10 to claim No. 6 in a six-spot jump.
No. 7 Kentucky fell one spot after a loss to No. 21 Alabama and a Top-10 win over then-No. 5 Oklahoma, with the Sooners exiting the single-digits in an eight-spot plummet to No. 13 after two losses of their own.
Meanwhile, No. 1 UConn earned unanimous first-place votes after Texas's defeat, with the Huskies joined in the Top 5 by the also-undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores.
Three teams left the AP Poll entirely, as Washington, USC, and North Carolina continue to struggle — with the Trojans snapping a 51-week ranked streak as they strive to find their footing without injured star JuJu Watkins.
No. 19 Iowa State also saw a precipitous eight-rank drop, losing three games in a row as injured starter Addy Brown watched from the bench.
On the flip side, Alabama, No. 23 Notre Dame, and No. 25 Illinois broke back into the Top 25 with Monday's rankings drop.
How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball this week
Though ranked matchups will resume on Thursday, Tuesday night puts one of the three remaining undefeated Division I seasons to the test when No. 17 Texas Tech takes the court against unranked Houston.
The clash tips off live at 7 PM ET on ESPN+.
2025/26 AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 10
1. UConn (17-0, Big East)
2. South Carolina (17-1, SEC)
3. UCLA (15-1, Big Ten)
4. Texas (18-1, SEC)
5. Vanderbilt (17-0, SEC)
6. LSU (16-2, SEC)
7. Kentucky (16-2, SEC)
8. Michigan (14-2, Big Ten)
9. Louisville (16-3, ACC)
10. TCU (16-1, Big 12)
11. Iowa (14-2, Big Ten)
12. Maryland (16-2, Big Ten)
13. Oklahoma (14-3, SEC)
14. Ohio State (15-2, Big Ten)
15. Michigan State (16-1, Big Ten)
16. Ole Miss (16-3, SEC)
17. Texas Tech (18-0, Big 12)
18. Baylor (15-3, Big 12)
19. Iowa State (14-3, Big 12)
20. Tennessee (12-3, SEC)
21. Alabama (17-1, SEC)
22. Princeton (14-1, Ivy)
23. Notre Dame (12-4, ACC)
24. Nebraska (14-3, Big Ten)
25. Illinois (14-3, Big Ten)
Another unbeaten NCAA basketball team fell over the weekend, as No. 2 Texas suffered their first loss of the 2025/26 season at the hands of No. 12 LSU on Sunday.
Junior guard Mikaylah Williams led LSU with 20 points, with five Tigers registering double-digit points en route to the team's first win over an AP Top-2 opponent since 2008.
"They played much harder than we did, and they were way tougher than we were," Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said after the 70-65 defeat. "By far our worst game of the year, and we'll give them credit for that."
Just three Division I teams remain undefeated in the 2025/26 campaign — No. 1 UConn, No. 7 Vanderbilt, and No. 17 Texas Tech — with high-profile upsets continuing to shake up college basketball's top ranks.
Sunday also saw unranked West Virginia hand No. 11 Iowa State their third straight loss in an 83-70 upset, while No. 19 Ohio State took down No. 8 Maryland 89-76 and unranked Minnesota shocked No. 21 USC 63-62.
"I think we have a lot of potential to be really good, but not if we don't figure some things out," said USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, after the Trojans went 0-2 against unranked programs over the last week — leaving the team still hunting their first win in 2026.
How to watch Texas women's basketball this week
The No. 2 Longhorns don't have much time to regroup from their season's first loss, as Texas prepares to visit fellow SEC titan No. 3 South Carolina on Thursday.
The clash will tip off live at 7 PM ET on ESPN2.
Only four Division I basketball teams remain unbeaten after a wild week of early NCAA conference play upsets handed seven programs their first defeats of the 2025/26 season.
Now-No. 12 LSU dropped games against SEC rising stars No. 6 Kentucky and No. 5 Vanderbilt late last week, with fellow top-ranked teams No. 8 Maryland, No. 13 TCU, and No. 11 Iowa State also falling for the first time this season.
"We're not tough enough," Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey said after Sunday's 65-61 loss to the Commodores. "And toughness is, you either have it or you don't."
LSU's struggles highlight key differences between scheduling approaches, with the inevitable SEC competition leaving few places to hide despite significant nonconference success.
"If we hadn't played that [easier nonconference] schedule, we might would be sitting here with a lot of losses," Mulkey told reporters.
Elsewhere, other conferences also showed their depth, as unranked Utah defeated TCU in Big 12 play while the Big Ten saw unranked Illinois take down Maryland and No. 23 Washington beat No. 9 Michigan.
Meanwhile, top-ranked UConn, No. 2 Texas, the aforementioned No. 7 Vanderbilt, and No. 17 Texas Tech are holding strong in 2025/26 play, avoiding upsets to become the last undefeated NCAA basketball teams still standing.
Stakes are sky-high for Wednesday night's Cy-Hawk Series clash, as undefeated No. 10 Iowa State welcomes unbeaten No. 11 Iowa to Ames for the highest-ranked NCAA women's basketball matchup in the cross-state rivalry's history.
"[If] you grew up in the state, just there's nothing like it," Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of the historic series. "You've dreamed, you've watched those big football matchups when you're little, you watched the basketball games when you were little, and to get to be in one — boy, it doesn't get much better."
"[It's] one of those things where it truly is a rivalry, because teams [go] back and forth and have their streaks and wins and losses," echoed Cyclones boss Bill Fennelly.
The red-hot Hawkeyes enter Wednesday's game with the head-to-head advantage having won three straight against the Cyclones — and eight of the last nine in the series.
That said, the Cyclones have the nation's leading scorer on their side, with junior center Audi Crooks's 27.6 points per game showcasing unmatched efficiency in the 2025/26 NCAA season.
"Audi's tough," Jensen said about the Iowa State star. "She's just really, really incredible…. When you let her get it, she's pretty accurate."
How to watch Iowa vs. Iowa State in the 2025 Cy-Hawk Series
The No. 11 Hawkeyes will visit the No. 10 Cyclones in the 2025 edition of the Cy-Hawk Series at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, with live coverage airing on ESPN.
Two years after her breakout NCAA tournament performance as a freshman, No. 10 Iowa State center Audi Crooks has become an unstoppable force for the Cyclones as they look to better their first-round exit from last year's postseason.
The junior is leading the nation in scoring with a career-high 27.3 points per game, all while smashing her own Iowa State single-game scoring record with a 47-point performance against Indiana on November 30th.
"These scoring records are really team records, especially for me as a post," Crooks told the Des Moines Register after the Cyclones' 106-95 win over the Hoosiers. "I don't bring the ball up. Somebody else does that and I don't pass the ball in the paint. Somebody else does that."
Crooks, who will turn 21 years old this Saturday, continued her scoring pace with a 30-point game against Northern Illinois on Sunday — registered in only 19 minutes of playing time during the 105-52 blowout win.
Her efficiency has been on full display in the young 2025/26 NCAA season, with Crooks currently sitting first in field goal percentage at 73.8% while averaging only 25.3 minutes of playing time per game.
"It's always fun to watch her cook. When you get the ball to her hands and it's going in, it's Audi-matic," said Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson following Sunday's victory.
How to watch Crooks and Iowa State in action this week
Crooks and the No. 10 Cyclones will take on their season's biggest test yet on Wednesday, when they'll host in-state rival No. 12 Iowa.
The two unbeaten programs will clash at 7 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.
A full 19 months removed from their back-to-back Final Four runs, No. 11 Iowa basketball refuses to go away, with the Hawkeyes already notching one Top-25 win in the young 2025/26 NCAA campaign so far.
The still-unbeaten Hawkeyes took down No. 15 Baylor 57-52 last Thursday, with Iowa starting post players Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden combining for 28 points while guard Taylor Stremlow added another 12 off the bench in the marquee win.
"We have nice pieces," said Iowa head coach Jan Jensen this week. "But it's knowing when to play which pieces and with whom, and we're six games in."
The Hawkeyes have been finding their new identity under Jensen after a transformative period saw Iowa's longtime head coach Lisa Bluder retire while superstar guard Caitlin Clark joined the WNBA.
"Jan's been amazing," Stuelke told JWS at the Big Ten Media Day in October. "She stepped up like she needed to, and she's been growing every day since she's been the head coach, which it's really cool to see she cares. And it's a great environment for all of us."
"I have a year under my belt," Jensen echoed. "I know what this chair feels like now, and I have a little better of understanding of what that first road trip feels like, what that first big win feels like, or the tough loss feels like."
Iowa's season heats up with a ranked rivalry matchup against No. 10 Iowa State on Wednesday, December 10th.
The state rivals will tip off at 7 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.
The NCAA tournament tips off in earnest with the bracket's 64-team first round on Friday, as eager March Madness fans look beyond the chalk to eye the competition's underdogs after a rollercoaster 2024/25 basketball season.
Early upsets aren’t exactly the norm in the women’s tournament. Only one lower seed won their first-round matchup in 2024, and no team below a No. 3 seed has ever gone the distance, but in a season of increased parity, a few lower-rated squads are rounding into underdog form.
Breaking down potential March Madness bracket-busters
For potential March Madness upset instigators, late-season momentum late season momentum is the name of the game — a dangerous factor in any single-elimination tournament.
Even without superstar grad Caitlin Clark, No. 6-seed Iowa capped their regular season on a high before narrowly losing to No. 4-seed Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament's quarterfinals. Should they advance past No. 11-seed Murray State in their first-round Saturday matchup, the Hawkeyes are poised to give No. 3-seed Oklahoma a run for their money in the second round on Monday.
Entering as a No. 10-seed, Ivy League tournament champs Harvard will have their hands full against No. 7-seed Michigan State on Saturday, but Crimson senior Harmoni Turner and her season-average 22.5 points per game could tilt the scales in Harvard's favor.
After edging out first-round opponent No. 11-seed Iowa State, No. 6-seed Michigan is playing like an upset contender. Now a potential second-round matchup against No. 3-seed Notre Dame — fresh off a recent losing skid — awaits the young squad.
With the brackets locked and the teams loaded, the prospects of twists and turns make the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament especially exciting — even if this year’s frontrunners appear destined for Tampa.
How to watch Women's March Madness games this weekend
The Big Dance officially begins at 11:30 AM ET on Friday, when No. 11 Iowa State tips off against No. 6 Michigan on ESPN2.
Saturday's slate will complete the 2024/25 NCAA tournament's first round, with No. 6 Iowa beginning their Madness run against No. 11 Murray State at 12 PM ET on ESPN.
No. 10 Harvard will start dancing a few hours later, with the Crimson facing No. 7 Michigan State at 4:30 PM ET on ESPNews.
All games in the 2025 March Madness tournament will have live coverage across ESPN networks.
March Madness opens its doors on Wednesday night, as the 2024/25 NCAA tournament’s First Four round takes the court with eight teams pursuing the final four tickets to the Big Dance.
Two of the play-in games will pit the last four teams to receive at-large bids against each other, sending Princeton, Iowa State, Washington, and Columbia into battle to snag one of the tournament's final two No. 11 bids.
The other two games are comprised of the lowest ranked conference tournament champions, meaning SWAC champ Southern, Big West winner UC San Diego, CAA victors William & Mary, and Big South title-holders High Point will all compete to enter this weekend's first round as No. 16 seeds.
First Four ups the ante with compelling NCAA storylines
Thanks to growing parity across the NCAA, this year’s First Four brings a new level of heat, with 2024 breakout stars, conference titans, and tournament newcomers raising the stakes right from the jump.
As two of 2025’s six March Madness debutants, both UC San Diego and William & Mary are hoping for a bit of beginner's luck as they take the NCAA tournament court for the very first time.
Meanwhile, the Ivy League will take aim at securing three spots in the 64-team bracket, with both Princeton and Columbia hoping to join conference tournament champion No. 10 seed Harvard in the first round's field.
Standing in Princeton's way is underdog Iowa State, who nearly scored what would have been one of the 2024 tournament's biggest upsets.
Fueled by now-sophomore sharpshooter Audi Crooks — who currently ranks 12th in the nation in field goal percentage — the Cyclones pushed then-No. 2 seed Stanford to the brink, forcing overtime before the Cardinal claimed the 87-81 second-round victory.
"It’s definitely possible," Crooks said this week, commenting on the likelihood of replicating Iowa State's 2024 run. "I think for me it just amplified me personally, and also us as a team. Any success that I have is the team’s success, not necessarily about individual things."
How to watch Women's March Madness First Four games
Stepping into Wednesday's spotlight are Princeton and Iowa State, who will take the court at 7 PM ET before UC San Diego takes on Southern at 9 PM ET.
Then on Thursday, Washington will face Columbia at 7 PM ET, with William & Mary's match against High Point wrapping up the First Four round at 9 PM ET.
Both Wednesday matchups will air on ESPNU, with ESPN2 carrying live coverage of the Thursday clashes.