Projected AP Top 25 after Oklahoma beat Vols

We had a very busy day women’s college basketball Sunday when 18 teams from the current AP Top 25 were in action. With so much basketball being played, there will likely be some changes in the Top 25 this week, especially with four ranked teams losing on Sunday: Ole Miss, Iowa, North Carolina and Tennessee.

What should we expect Monday’s AP Women’s College Basketball Top 25 rankings to look like?

1. UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4. USC
5. Texas
6. L.S.U.
7. University of Connecticut
8. Maryland
9. Ohio State
10. TCU
11. Oklahoma
12. Kansas State
13. Georgia Tech
14. Duke
15. Kentucky
16. Tennessee
17. W.V.
18. Alabama
19. North Carolina
20. Michigan State
21. North Carolina State
22. California
23. Utah
24. State of Florida
25. Iowa

Dropout: Michigan, Ole Miss

UConn won its third straight game on Sunday, defeating Big East foe Villanova by 31 points, the fifth 30-plus point win against a major conference opponent this season for the Huskies.

But that victory was marred by injury concerns when star guard Paige Bueckers suffered a knee issue, colliding with Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe as the two chased a loose ball in the third quarter.

While head coach Geno Auriemma said after the game that Bueckers will be fine, his injury history has to make fans nervous. UConn won’t drop any spots in the AP Poll because of Bueckers’ injury, but until he suits up and gets back on the court, things are a little rocky in Storrs.

The Sooners might lose a couple spots after finishing 1-1 this week, but the team showed it can be competitive against the best of the best, so let’s call it an overall success.

While Oklahoma had wins over UNLV, Michigan and Louisville on its resume, the team’s status as a contender felt tenuous entering the week, and that status looked even more tenuous after the team began the new year with a loss to Texas .

But that was a close loss as the Sooners fell by just seven points, making them the first team to keep the margin against Texas in single digits since the Horns suffered their only loss of the season on December 5.

Oklahoma then rebounded greatly, defeating Tennessee on Sunday with a balanced effort, with four players scoring in double figures. This is a very deep Oklahoma team, as evidenced by the fact that they beat Tenessee on a day when leading scorer Raegan Beers took just seven shots.

Michigan, the No. 24 team last week, falls out of the poll this time thanks to the team losing three of its last four games, all by double digits. However, don’t expect the Wolverines to be down for long. This freshman team just lost to three very good teams (Oklahoma, USC and UCLA), but the schedule eases up from here on out.

This Wolverines team is very talented, with freshman Syla Swords leading the way with 16.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The defense may not look great on paper, but when paced, the team ranks 27th in opponent points per 100 possessions.

The Bruins are still number one in the country and have yet to lose a game. This week, the team defeated a couple of really good teams, defeating Michigan and Indiana.

UCLA has not had a game finish with a single-digit margin since the season opener against Louisville. The team has the fifth-best net rating in the country and its win over South Carolina remains the best win by any team this season.

Early in Iowa’s loss to Maryland on Sunday, he was prepared to knock the Hawkeyes out of the Top 25 as Maryland led 48-27 at the half.

But Iowa fought back, winning the third and fourth quarters and losing the game by eight points. That ability to fight back keeps the Hawkeyes in the Top 25, but just barely, and only because Vanderbilt, which had a chance to break into the rankings, was eliminated by Kentucky.

So far this season, the AP Top 25 has been dominated by major conference teams. No teams outside of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC have been ranked at any point this season.

And it’s not that intermediate races don’t end up in the rankings sometimes. Last season, Fairfield, Gonzaga, Princeton and UNLV all made the poll at some point.

Harvard and Portland received votes last week, but the mid-major team with the best chance of eventually making the poll appeared to be Buffalo… until Sunday, when the Bulls suffered their first loss of the season against Kent State.

With Portland also losing this week, hopes for a mid-ranking appear to be all on Harvard’s shoulder. The Crimson beat Yale on Saturday and have a chance to make a big statement next week against Princeton.