ESPN scored a pair of blockbuster wins last weekend, as Sunday’s NCAA basketball doubleheader featuring No. 5 UConn vs. No. 6 South Carolina plus No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 LSU earned the network record viewership.
First, UConn’s 87-58 blowout of the reigning national champion Gamecocks garnered an average of 1.8 million viewers with a peak of 2.2 million. Later, Texas’s 65-58 victory over the Tigers peaked at 2.3 million viewers while drawing an average of 1.7 million fans.
The back-to-back lineup became the most-watched women's basketball games across ESPN platforms this season. Even more, the matchups registered the third and fourth highest regular-season viewership in the NCAA sport in the broadcast giant's history.
Sunday’s pregame show also put up impressive numbers, becoming the most-watched regular-season Women’s College Gameday since 2010.
Notably, Sunday's doubleheader aired on the broadcast conglomerate's flagship network, ABC — placing some of the country's tops college stars into a prime national spotlight.
Fans tune in as NCAA season sprints toward March Madness
With March's postseason play fast approaching, interest in top NCAA basketball programs — and the elite stars on their rosters — continues to explode throughout the 2024/25 regular season.
ESPN’s ratings have risen accordingly, with UConn’s December upset loss to Notre Dame averaging 847,000 viewers, while South Carolina’s win over SEC rivals LSU averaged 1.56 million fans last month.
Ultimately, when major networks elevate regular-season women's college basketball games, fans consistently respond with massive viewership numbers. For ESPN, there’s nowhere to go but up, as the NCAA tournament rights-holder keeps successfully pushing college coverage.
How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball on Thursday
With almost 260 college basketball games earning airtime across ESPN's platforms this week, 16 of the country's Top 25 teams will be featured on the broadcaster's networks before next Wednesday.
Top Thursday matchups include an SEC clash between No. 18 Alabama and hosts No. 15 Tennessee, which tips off at 6:30 PM ET and will stream live on ESPN subsidiary SECN+.
Earning a prime broadcast spot on ESPN2 is No. 11 Duke, who will host unranked Louisville at 7 PM ET.
No. 4 UConn bagged their first signature win of the season on Sunday, taking down then-No. 4 South Carolina 87-58 to snap the Gamecocks’ 71-game home winning streak. Dating back to 2020, South Carolina's string of home victories was the fourth longest in Division I women's basketball history.
"They had their way with us," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the game. "There's no trying to find a silver lining to it. We got beat. We got beat bad."
Leading the beatdown was Husky guard Azzi Fudd, who notched a game-high 28 points while teammates Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong each snagged double-doubles en route to UConn's massive victory.
Despite dominating the Big East this season, UConn has struggled against non-conference foes, picking up losses against Notre Dame, USC, and, for the first time since 2007, Tennessee.
"We needed to prove that to ourselves, that we could never let up for 40 minutes," Fudd said on Sunday.
"More than anything else, it was evident today that we played to win," echoed UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
Top 10 upsets set the stage for March Madness
UConn wasn’t the only team showing out against Top 10 teams on Sunday, as then-No. 3 Texas took down former No. 5 LSU 65-58 in just the second SEC loss of the Tigers' season.
Now riding on three straight Top 8 wins, including humbling the reigning champion Gamecocks on February 9th, Texas currently sits atop the SEC standings. With less than two weeks of 2024/25 play left, the Longhorns have a real shot at the conference's regular-season trophy, as well as the key postseason seeding that title bestows.
Overall, the weekend’s slate tossed any presumptions about March Madness out the window, with top-ranked contenders stepping up to bust brackets before they’ve even been created. The only thing to expect? The unexpected.
Elite action paves Notre Dame's rise to No. 1
Last week’s NCAA onslaught brought bedlam to Monday's AP Top 25, with Notre Dame enjoying the view from the top after earning their first No. 1 ranking since 2019.
Sunday's top matchups sent South Carolina and LSU down two spots each to Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, while UConn earned an equitable rise to No. 5 with their defeat of the Gamecocks. Meanwhile, by taming the Tigers, Texas scaled up one spot to sit just behind Notre Dame at No. 2.
As for then-undefeated No. 1 UCLA, the Bruins fell two spots to No. 3 after their Thursday loss to crosstown rival USC, who leapt from No. 6 to No. 4 with the win.
Notre Dame is flying high for now, but with an unranked loss amid their ranked wins, their grip on the top slot is far from ironclad.
The Irish did manage to cement their No. 1 status with a 64-49 dismantling of No. 11 Duke just hours after Monday’s poll update, flexing their national prowess with a big ACC win.
However, UCLA and Texas each received multiple first-place votes this week, proving the AP's No. 1 ranking is far from unanimous as teams stare down their last few regular-season games.
With March fast approaching, conference tournament seeding could boil down to Top 10 wins — and teams will need every bit of leverage they can manage as the NCAA tournament looms.
AP College Basketball Top 25: Week 16
1. Notre Dame (23-2, ACC)
2. Texas (26-2, SEC)
3. UCLA (24-1, Big Ten)
4. USC (23-2, Big Ten)
5. UConn (24-3, Big East)
6. South Carolina (23-3, SEC)
7. LSU (25-2, SEC)
8. Ohio State (22-3, Big Ten)
9. North Carolina (23-4, ACC)
10. TCU (24-3, Big 12)
11. Duke (20-6, ACC)
12. Kansas State (24-4, Big 12)
13. NC State (20-5, ACC)
14. Kentucky (20-4, SEC)
15. Tennessee (19-6, SEC)
16. Oklahoma (19-6, SEC)
17. West Virginia (21-5, Big 12)
18. Alabama (21-5, SEC)
19. Baylor (22-5, Big 12)
20. Georgia Tech (21-5, ACC)
21. Maryland (20-6, Big Ten)
22. Michigan State (19-6, Big Ten)
23. Creighton (21-4, Big East)
24. Oklahoma State (20-5, Big 12)
25. Illinois (21-5, Big Ten)
The last perfect DI basketball season has officially fallen, as USC phenom JuJu Watkins put up a historic performance to lead the No. 6 Trojans to a 71-60 win over then-undefeated No. 1 UCLA on Thursday.
Watkins finished the night with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and eight blocks, becoming the first DI player to register an overall stat-line so robust in 20 years.
"It took everything. It's been a rough couple weeks for me," Watkins said after the game, referencing uncharacteristic performances leading up to Thursday's rivalry matchup. "To be able to kind of snap back into it and get into my rhythm here at Galen versus UCLA, it's really all I could ask for."
"I'm really just like a kid out there and living out my dream."
Throughout the back-and-forth battle, Watkins's consistency made all the difference. She scored every one of USC's 14 second-quarter points, and helped lead a monster fourth quarter in which the Trojans slammed the door by outscoring the Bruins 24-8.
"I didn't teach JuJu any of that," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after the game. "[I] just try to put her in situations to be her best self, and she does most of that work. What I was so impressed with tonight, obviously, was just the mentality she came out with."
With the marquee win, USC now sits firmly atop the Big Ten. That said, UCLA will have a chance to avenge the loss in the pair's March 1st rematch, when that final regular-season game could decide the conference title.
Until then, the Trojans will be riding high on their Thursday night dominance.
"We'll never forget this night," Gottlieb said. "It's as good as anything I've ever seen."
How to watch Top 10 NCAA basketball this weekend
With no undefeated teams left in DI basketball, Watkins's performance has put the field on notice to not make any assumptions about who might end up on top.
While Sunday will see USC roll against unranked Washington and UCLA try to bounce back against No. 22 Michigan State, the NCAA slate will also serve up two huge Top 10 matchups.
First, No. 7 UConn will take their final major regular-season test when they visit No. 4 South Carolina at 1 PM ET, when Paige Bueckers and the Huskies will aim to pull off a similarly impressive USC-inspired upset.
Then at 3 PM ET, No. 5 LSU heads to No. 3 Texas, where the Tigers will hunt their first win over the Longhorns in more than 22 years.
Both elite meetings are set to air live on ABC.
With less than three weeks left in NCAA basketball regular-season play, the final games will determine the winner of the Big Ten — a title that's increasingly likely to land in Los Angeles.
Already sitting atop their conference compatriots by at least two wins, No. 1 UCLA and No. 6 USC will meet for the first of two season clashes on Thursday, before closing out NCAA play against each other on March 1st.
The crosstown rivals are vying for a first-ever Big Ten regular-season title after joining the historically Midwest conference in 2024.
The games will feature two of the sport's biggest stars, as USC sophomore JuJu Watkins and UCLA junior Lauren Betts square off for the first time since their 2024 Pac-12 Tournament semifinal, when the eventual champion Trojans needed two overtime periods to outlast the Bruins.
This season, however, UCLA has an slight advantage over the Trojans. While the Bruins remain the only unbeaten Division I team left standing, USC has two defeats on their 2024/25 record, including a lone conference loss to unranked Iowa in early February.
That said, a Thursday home win would pull the Trojans even with UCLA at 11-1 on the Big Ten table, setting up a photo finish with the coveted No. 1 seed in March's conference tournament on the line.
"[UCLA is] a team that clearly has it clicking right now," USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told ESPN. "We know there'll be a lot of pride on the line."
NCAA National Player of the Year race heats up
Watkins and Betts aren't just making moves on the court this week. Both stars also made the John R. Wooden Award's 20-player late midseason watch list, which spotlights the athletes on track to vie for this season's overall best college basketball player honor.
Along with the SoCal standouts, Tuesday's list included Notre Dame guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles, Texas sophomore Madison Booker, LSU stars Aneesah Morrow and Flau'jae Johnson, and UConn senior Paige Bueckers, who became the award's first-ever freshman winner back in 2021.
Notably, a pair of true freshmen could follow in Bueckers' footsteps, with both fellow Husky Sarah Strong and Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes earning nods.
Though unlisted players remain eligible for the eventual 15-athlete ballot, these 20 represent the likeliest to follow in back-to-back Wooden winner Caitlin Clark's footsteps.
On the other hand, the Naismith Awards — the other leading NCAA honor — dropped its official positional shortlists last week, with 10 nominees in the running for each of the five awards. The 10-player lists will shrink to five finalists for each honor in March, and fans are currently eligible to vote on who makes that final cut.
Nearly all of the athletes on the Wooden Award's radar are also in the running for their respective Naismith honor.
How to watch Thursday's Top-10 NCAA basketball matchups
Players on both the Wooden and Naismith lists will feature in Thursday's top NCAA basketball matchups.
With Big Ten dominance on the line, Lauren Betts and No. 1 UCLA will visit JuJu Watkins and No. 6 USC at 10 PM ET, streaming exclusively on Peacock.
Meanwhile in the SEC, Madison Booker's No. 3 Texas squad will take on a No. 8 Kentucky team reeling from an upset loss to Ole Miss on Monday. Fellow Wooden watch list and Naismith nominee Georgia Amoore will try to lead the Wildcats past the Longhorns at 7 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN2.
A recent string of Top 10 upsets made its mark on Monday's updated AP Top 25 Poll, as undefeated No. 1 UCLA continues holding court above the shifting chaos.
Notre Dame rose to No. 2 for the first time since 2019, buoyed by strong performances against Stanford and then-No. 21 Cal last week.
Climbing to No. 3 was Texas, who claimed the boost by ending South Carolina's multi-year SEC unbeaten streak on Sunday. As a result, the defending champion Gamecocks fell from No. 2 to No. 4.
On the other hand, No. 15 Tennessee is on the upswing, as last Thursday's upset win over UConn lifted the Vols four spots while sending the Huskies skidding from No. 5 to No. 7.
No. 20 Oklahoma State achieved the week's biggest win, however, as Saturday's 85-55 blowout victory over then-No. 12 Kansas Sate gave the Cowgirls a five-spot boost.
Teams jockey for AP Poll positions as March Madness looms
While a jump in the rankings certainly provides bragging rights, it also impacts both conference and NCAA tournament seeding as the regular season winds down.
ESPN's Bracketology currently has UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Texas taking the NCAA tournament's four No. 1 seeds. Notably, two of those teams — the Bruins and the Longhorns — are rookies in their respective conferences, showcasing significant dominance fresh out of the realignment gate.
Meanwhile, other major players like LSU, USC, and UConn still have time to pad their resumes en route to their conference showdowns, which will tip off in early March.
AP College Basketball Top 25: Week 15
1. UCLA (23-0, Big Ten)
2. Notre Dame (21-2, ACC)
3. Texas (24-2, SEC)
4. South Carolina (22-2, SEC)
5. LSU (25-1, SEC)
6. USC (21-2, Big Ten)
7. UConn (22-3, Big East)
8. Kentucky (19-3, SEC)
9. Ohio State (20-3, Big Ten)
10. NC State (19-4, ACC)
11. TCU (22-3, Big 12)
12. North Carolina (21-4, ACC)
13. Duke (19-5, ACC)
14. Kansas State (22-3, Big 12)
15. Tennessee (17-6, SEC)
16. Oklahoma (18-6, SEC)
17. Maryland (19-5, Big Ten)
18. West Virginia (19-4, Big 12)
19. Georgia Tech (20-4, ACC)
20. Oklahoma State (19-4, Big 12)
21. Alabama (20-5, SEC)
22. Michigan State (18-5, Big Ten)
23. Florida State (19-5, ACC)
24. Creighton (20-4, Big East)
25. Baylor (20-5, Big 12)
No. 4 Texas basketball claimed their revenge over No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday, taking down the reigning NCAA champs 66-62 to even the pair's regular-season series at 1-1.
In the process, the Longhorns snapped South Carolina's 57-game regular-season SEC winning streak — a victory chain dating back to December 2021.
Texas star sophomore Madison Booker led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, prompting South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley to levy high praise by calling her "a beast on the boards" after the game.
Strength of SEC sets up fight for NCAA tournament positioning
This weekend's results ultimately bottlenecked Texas, South Carolina, and LSU into a three-way regular-season tie for first-place in the SEC — one of the NCAA's toughest leagues.
The No. 6 Tigers earned their own marquee win on Sunday, downing No. 19 Tennessee 82-77.
With that result, all three teams now have 10-1 conference records, though LSU and Texas could break from the line during their possible winner-take-all date this Sunday.
All in all, the Southeast's depth is both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, the conference's elite teams are gearing up to take March Madness by storm: Each of the SEC's top trio is likely to finish the season as an AP Top-10 team, ultimately earning a strong seeding throughout the postseason.
Other strong squads, however, must grapple with under-seeding due to disappointing conference records suffered in the gauntlet of the SEC.
For example, despite last week's big win over No. 5 UConn, Tennessee's string of slim conference losses have them sitting 4-6 in SEC play. This means that the Vols will likely face an uphill battle to claim beneficial seeding in March's NCAA tournament, giving them a disproportionately difficult road to the Final Four.
Lauren Betts isn't done with the NCAA
Already looking beyond the 2024/25 NCAA postseason, star center Lauren Betts will return to UCLA next season and forego the 2025 WNBA Draft, the National Player of the Year candidate confirmed on Friday.
Ranked No. 1 out of high school, the 6-foot-7 junior transferred to the Bruins from Stanford after her freshman year, making the 21-year-old eligible to pass up her senior season and instead turn pro this spring.
"College is the best years of your life, and so I don't think I'd ever give that up," Betts told ESPN. "Why not be spoiled for a whole another year?"
"The way the coaches take care of us in this program, like, how comfortable I am here, and I think that the friendships I've created -- I'd want to do that for another year," she added.
She also cited the opportunity to play with her sister, incoming UCLA freshman forward Sienna Betts, as a factor in her decision to remain in the NCAA.
"I think that I would be crazy if I gave up the opportunity to play with my sister, so obviously, I'm going to come back next year," Betts said.
WNBA teams eye draft-eligible college athletes
Betts isn't the only top college player weighing her options. A number of factors are impacting the decision NCAA standouts currently face in deciding when to turn pro, from NIL money to the new CBA expected to reshape the WNBA in 2026.
Lottery locks like UConn's Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame's Olivia Miles could technically also opt to stay in school for another year. However, neither has indicated any plans to do so.
Accordingly, WNBA franchises eyeing the upcoming draft have noted that the volatility of the market is affecting first-round pick trades. Teams would be unwise to place their bets on every top NCAA prospect making the leap this April.
This weekend's NCAA basketball action saw unranked Penn State earn their first ranked win in almost four years against Big Ten foe Ohio State on Sunday, ending the then-No. 9 OSU's unbeaten run.
Though Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon and guard Chance Gray led the back-and-forth battle with 19 and 18 points, respectively, it wasn’t enough to hold off the Nittany Lions, who snapped a seven-game losing streak with the 62-59 victory.
"We had no fight. We had no grit," McMahon told reporters after the game. Subsequently, Ohio State skidded to No. 12 in yesterday's AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll update.
The Buckeye loss also narrows the DI undefeated team list down to two. Only No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 LSU remain unbeaten this season.
Big Ten teams tackle Top 25 clashes
Monday's inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic featured two Big Ten/Big 12 matchups, opening with top-ranked UCLA welcoming No. 25 Baylor back to the AP Poll with a 72-57 defeat.
The Bruins took off to 17-2 lead in the first quarter. The Bears then failed to get past star UCLA center Lauren Betts, who put up a game-high 24 points, nine rebounds, and a program-record nine blocks.
The weekend's top-ranked match closed out the Classic, with No. 7 Texas star Madison Booker posting 28 points to lead the Longhorns to a dominant 89-51 win over No. 8 Maryland.
While the Terrapins’ 26 turnovers and silence from beyond the arc didn’t help the Big Ten team's case, injuries to top scorers accounted for at least some of Maryland's downfall. The Terps lost junior Bri McDaniel to a season-ending ACL tear last week, before senior Shyanne Sellers exited Monday's second quarter with a knee injury of her own.
How to watch top-ranked NCAA basketball games this week
In a battle for redemption after tough weekend losses, Big Ten foes No. 8 Maryland and No. 12 Ohio State will face off at 6 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage on BTN.
Though the week's marquee matchup belongs to two teams atop the SEC. Undefeated LSU will take on defending NCAA champions No. 2 South Carolina at 8 PM ET on Thursday, live on ESPN.
AP Top 25 NCAA Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 12
1. UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4. USC
5. LSU
6. UConn
7. Texas
8. Maryland
9. TCU
10. Kansas State
11. Kentucky
12. Ohio State
13. North Carolina
14. Duke
15. Oklahoma
16. West Virginia
17. Tennessee
18. Georgia Tech
19. Alabama
20. NC State
21. Michigan State
22. California
23. Minnesota
24. Michigan
25. Baylor
An unfazed No. 2 South Carolina isn't letting injury slow them down, earning their season's first Top 5 NCAA basketball win with a dominant 67-50 victory over No. 5 Texas on Sunday.
The Gamecocks' trademark lock-down defense was in full force, holding the Longhorns to a field goal percentage of 27.8 despite Texas's 22 forced turnovers.
"I would say with our team, they seem to really focus in when there's a number beside our opponent, they practice a little better," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of her squad's tough ranked schedule. "They’re more focused, they talk less. They knew the intangibles of this game would play a huge role in us winning or losing."
Coming off an undefeated championship season, South Carolina has taken their knocks while also proving just how capable they are of a repeat win.
The Gamecocks saw their 43-game winning streak snapped by No. 1 UCLA in November before losing key contributor Ashlyn Watkins to an ACL tear earlier this month.
At the same time, South Carolina has now tallied five ranked wins on the season — four of them over Top 10 teams. The Gamecocks are looking comfortable as they enter a particularly grueling stretch of conference play, with No. 19 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma waiting to try and topple the current champs later this week.
Ranked losses fuel AP basketball poll movement
Today's AP poll update saw significant shifts throughout Division I basketball's Top 25, with elite teams cooling off as the NCAA season heats up.
While No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame, and No. 4 USC held steady, the Longhorns' loss to the Gamecocks earned them a two-spot dip to No. 7.
Elsewhere in the Top 10, LSU's still-undefeated campaign saw the Tigers rise one notch into the No. 5 position, as UConn also capitalized on Texas's misfortune, coming in one spot higher than last week at No. 6.
Deeper into the Top 25, Georgia Tech and Iowa suffered some of the week's biggest tumbles. After adding Sunday defeats to their Thursday losses, the once-unbeaten Yellow Jackets fell four spots to No. 17, while Iowa joined fellow Big Ten member Michigan in being ousted from Monday's rankings entirely.
Snagging the largest leaps in Monday's poll were No. 14 UNC and No. 18 Cal, whose ranked upset wins boosted them five and six spots, respectively.
Two teams also joined the AP party, as two-loss Oklahoma State and one-loss Minnesota enter tied at No. 24. Both teams are making their poll debuts for the first time in years: The last time the Cowgirls were ranked was in 2018, and the Golden Gophers's last Top 25 appearance was in 2019.
Week 11 AP college basketball poll
1. UCLA (16-0, Big Ten)
2. South Carolina (16-1, SEC)
3. Notre Dame (14-2, ACC)
4. USC (16-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (19-0, SEC)
6. UConn (15-2, Big East)
7. Texas (16-2, SEC)
8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten)
9. Ohio State (16-0, Big Ten)
10. TCU (17-1, Big 12)
11. Kansas State (17-1, Big 12)
12. Kentucky (15-1, SEC)
13. Oklahoma (14-3, SEC)
14. UNC (15-3, ACC)
15. Tennessee (14-2, SEC)
16. Duke (13-4, ACC)
17. Georgia Tech (15-2, ACC)
18. Cal (16-2, ACC)
19. Alabama (16-2, SEC)
20. West Virginia (13-3, Big 12)
21. NC State (12-4, ACC)
22. Michigan State (13-3, Big Ten)
23. Utah (13-3, Big 12)
T24. Minnesota (16-1, Big Ten)
T24. Oklahoma State (14-2, Big 12)
On a Thursday night that saw several top NCAA basketball teams stumble, No. 6 LSU narrowly managed to keep their perfect season intact, though No. 16 Tennessee took the Tigers to the brink in a close 89-87 conference battle.
The SEC's rising parity was fully on display as stars Jewel Spear and Talaysia Cooper posted 25 and 24 points, respectively, to try and put their surging Tennessee side on top.
Though the Vols chipped away throughout the game at LSU's nine-point first-quarter lead, it was Tiger junior Kailyn Gilbert who cemented LSU's win with a wild, last-second bucket, putting a bow on her 22 points off the bench.
LSU senior Aneesah Morrow also shined, registering 23 points and 21 rebounds — her NCAA-leading 16th double-double and second 20+ point, 20+ rebound performance this season.
Now 18-0, LSU is one of just three undefeated Division I college basketball programs this season, joining just No. 1 UCLA and No. 9 Ohio State in remaining unbeaten.
Seven top 25 NCAA teams fall on Thursday
LSU's victory over Tennessee was just one of seven NCAA basketball games to see ranked teams fall on Thursday night. No. 5 Texas annihilated No. 18 Alabama to the tune of 84-40, while No. 19 UNC and No. 24 Cal registered upsets of No. 14 Duke and No. 21 NC State, respectively.
Unranked teams also did damage in the Top 25, with Illinois downing No. 23 Iowa and Mississippi State bouncing back from the 95-68 shellacking they took at the hands of No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday by taking down No. 10 Oklahoma 81-77.
That said, No. 13 Georgia Tech suffered the most consequential defeat after seeing their unbeaten season disappear in a 105-94 double-overtime loss to unranked Virginia Tech.
Yellow Jacket junior Kara Dunn's game-leading 33-point, 10-rebound double-double and teammate Tonie Morgan's 28 points kept Georgia Tech alive throughout much of the back-and-forth battle.
However, 17+ point showings from Virginia Tech's entire starting lineup, not to mention a late, stifling defense that allowed them to outscore Georgia Tech 13-2 in the second overtime period, ultimately secured the win for the Hokies.
NCAA basketball weekend rife with upset potential
With 23 ranked NCAA teams facing unranked opponents this weekend, the potential for upsets is high, though the lone ranked pairing is a highly anticipated Top-5 affair.
The SEC will take center court again, as No. 5 Texas takes on defending national champions No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday.
Ahead of the tense matchup, guard Rori Harmon promised that the Longhorns are "going to make sure it's a knockdown, drag out."
"It's going to be a battle, and we look forward to the battle," said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, referencing her team's tough conference slate.
How to watch top-ranked NCAA basketball this weekend
No. 5 Texas will visit No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday at 1 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.
Women's college basketball star and Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles recorded her second-straight triple-double on Sunday, becoming the first ACC player to hit the tally in back-to-back NCAA games.
Miles notched a career-high 14 assists in Notre Dame's 95-54 win over Virginia, complementing the feat with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The 21-year-old now has six career triple-doubles, tying WNBA mainstay and Maryland alum Alyssa Thomas for the most in ACC history.
"It's even more special coming off a year where I just sat on my butt," Miles told reporters, referencing last season's sidelining ACL tear.
"It's definitely not an easy thing to do, to sit out, but I learned so much, and it's enabled me to come and do what I do."
NCAA conference play tips off with Top 10 matchups
With non-conference fireworks smoldering, college basketball is transitioning to conference play as tournament contenders enter the regular-season gauntlet hoping to peak at just the right time.
Subsequently, top NCAA basketball teams held court in two ranked Big Ten matchups over the weekend. No. 8 Maryland edged out No. 19 Michigan State 72-66 while No. 4 USC took down No. 23 Michigan 78-58.
This week's lone Top 10 matchup revives a longtime rivalry, when SEC newcomers and former Big 12 foes No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma tip off in Norman on Thursday.
Star Texas sophomore Madison Booker and senior point guard Rori Harmon will face big name Oregon State transfer Reagan Beers. Since joining the Sooners, Beers has emerged as Oklahoma's leading scorer this season.
The Sooners won't see much rest after their clash with the Longhorns, as Oklahoma then gears up for Sunday's date with No. 15 Tennessee.
How to watch Texas vs. Oklahoma college basketball this week
Oklahoma hosts Texas on Thursday at 9 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN2.