Women's basketball AP poll: South Carolina is back and playing angry

The ACC/SEC Challenge delivered the bright spot of the week with two overtime contests and four better-ranked teams taking losses on Thursday night. The annual event, won 10-6 by the SEC, attempts to pit equally talented teams against each other and provides a solid indication of where programs are heading into conference play.

South Carolina left its win over Duke looking every bit the title contender we thought the Gamecocks would be in the preseason. Texas and Notre Dame have us wishing and dreaming for a March rematch after an 80-70 overtime win by the Irish.

North Carolina secured its first ranked win over a non-conference opponent at home since 2014 and looked good doing it in a surprisingly complete game against Kentucky. NC State clawed its way into fringe poll contention for another week by taking advantage of Ole Miss’ troubling slow starts.

And a friendly note to LSU fans this season: Don’t take your eyes off this team until the final buzzer. The Tigers again somehow miraculously escaped an upset bid and defeated ACC newbie Stanford, 94-88, in overtime.

Here’s what we learned this week, what to watch and an Associated Press poll update.

South Carolina ain't playin'

The double-digit loss to UCLA is turning into the best thing for South Carolina’s repeat title chances. The Gamecocks came out of it angry, focused and committed in the four victories since transfer Te-Hina Paopao and sophomores MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson took their first losses in a South Carolina uniform.

The 40-point decimation of Iowa State, whom they held to 36 points, could have been chalked up to initial rage. The 48-point margin against Purdue showed signs of a lesser opponent. Then, in the span of four days, they added Quad 1 wins against Duke (NET 10) and TCU (NET 9), the latter a 33-point win and not close after the first quarter.

South Carolina is so back. Arguably, it merely left for a moment.

“We’re defending like our normal selves,” head coach Dawn Staley said after keeping TCU to a season-low output 30 points below its average. “We are very patient offensively. We know what really works for us offensively.”

TCU head coach Mark Campbell spoke of the game as a building block for his program, which played in a matchup of top-10 teams for the first time in history.

“You schedule South Carolina to test yourself and learn where you’re at this point in the season against the best program in college basketball,” Campbell said.

The problem with the Gamecocks as a litmus test, particularly after Staley refocuses them from a poor performance, is that nearly no one can level up that far. The Gamecocks overwhelmed TCU with 10-deep depth. They were more experienced in the moment. They successfully imposed their will early and used their physicality to run away with it.

Ashlyn Watkins’ dunk embodied that all early. Late in the first quarter of a five-point game, the 6-foot-3 forward attempted to drive by 6-7 Sedona Prince. Prince blocked the shot and Madison Conner snagged the rebound to start the fast break.

Watkins recovered, tapped away the loose dribble and secured herself at least one dunk in every season despite Prince closing in on the play.

Sometimes all you can do against South Carolina is watch and hope they’re not on your side of the NCAA bracket.

Tennessee re-enters relevancy under Kim Caldwell

Though Tennessee’s NCAA tournament run remained intact the last decade, the elite institution became a has-been rather than a legitimate player. Early indications are that’s changing. The Lady Vols (7-0) are one of the season’s early surprises, putting a stamp on their entry with back-to-back wins against teams in the top 30 of the NET rankings.

In their first true tests of first-year head coach Kim Caldwell’s tenure, their constant full-court pressure and transition scoring frustrated Power Four opponents. Caldwell’s philosophy is to beat teams by earning and capitalizing on more possessions, and she keeps players fresh for it by using hockey lineups, switching in a full next five for the first five on the floor. She used a different starting lineup each game, with eight total players earning a start.

Tennessee scored 42 of their 78 points (53%) off Iowa’s season-high 30 turnovers (16 steals). It was the most the program forced since 2002 and it secured a Quad 1 victory, 78-68, after the Lady Vols went winless in eight games against NET 1-25 teams a year ago. (The Quad evaluation system is new to the women’s game this year.) The SEC/ACC Challenge win against Florida State wasn’t up to Caldwell’s expectations (about 20-25 turnovers, 15 steals, 20 offensive rebounds), but they had 16 more field goal attempts and scored the final bucket.

The Lady Vols lead DI in steals per game (16.6) and rank second in steal rate (18.3%). Those stats are night and day compared to last season, when they ranked in the third percentile. Four opponents turned the ball over at least 30 times against Tennessee and five of the seven had a season-high against the Lady Vols. Tennessee's average of 39.3 points off turnovers accounts for 42% of its offense.

That disruption and the 20-plus point efforts from redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper alone don’t put Tennessee into fringe title contender talk. They desperately need those extra possessions, given the Vols are shooting 43% from the field (13th in the 16-team SEC) and rank dead-last in field goal percentage (46.4%). They’re high-volume 3-point shooters but low-efficiency hitters (28.7%). They’ll have a few more tune-up contests before facing Texas A&M to open the SEC schedule on Jan. 2.

Undefeated teams begin to fall in earnest

’Tis the season for undefeated programs to fall. The competition levels up and no one knows these teams better than their conference foes.

There are 11 teams still standing after ranked Nebraska took down Minnesota in the Big Ten opener and South Carolina methodically decimated TCU on Sunday night. Five teams took their first loss earlier in the week during the ACC/SEC Challenge: Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Miami.

That leaves four teams from the Big Ten (Maryland, Michigan State, UCLA, Ohio State), two from the SEC (LSU, Tennessee), one from the ACC (Georgia Tech), one from the Big East (UConn) and a handful from mid-major conferences (Portland, Buffalo and Western Kentucky).

Could any make it to the NCAA tournament undefeated as South Carolina did in March? It’s unlikely many make it another month.

UConn (at Notre Dame on Thursday) and Georgia Tech (at North Carolina on Sunday) could be out of the running by the end of the week. The Huskies (NET 2, 2-0 Quad 1) still have Iowa State and USC by the turn of the calendar. Georgia Tech (NET 25, 1-0) is off to its best start since 1977-78.

There’s one potential battle of unbeatens coming when Michigan State travels to Maryland (Dec. 29). Both are currently ranked. Another day to circle: Dec. 20, when Ohio State hosts Stanford and UCLA hosts Creighton. In a gauntlet of the Big Ten, it’s unlikely any run the table.

Chances are also slim for the mid-major teams, all of which were selected in their conference’s preseason polls to finish third or fourth. Western Kentucky scheduled a tougher non-conference slate with Oregon State (Dec. 19) and Kentucky (Dec. 28).

Game of the Week

UConn (8-0) at Notre Dame (7-2), Thursday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN: After injuries marred the 2023 meeting of powerhouses, UConn’s guard duo of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd will go head-to-head with Notre Dame’s duo of Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles for the first time. It’s not unfathomable that all four land on the All-American team by the season’s conclusion.

Official AP rankings

1. UCLA
2. UConn
3. South Carolina
4. LSU
5. USC
6. Texas
7. Maryland
8. Notre Dame
9. Duke
10. Oklahoma
11. Ohio State
12. TCU
13. Kansas State
14. North Carolina
15. West Virginia
16. Kentucky
17. Michigan State
18. Iowa State
19. Tennessee
20. Michigan
21. Iowa
22. Ole Miss
23. NC State
24. Nebraska
25. Georgia Tech

Yahoo Sports AP ballot

1. UConn
2. UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. Texas
5. Notre Dame
6. Maryland
7. Duke
8. USC
9. Oklahoma
10. LSU
11. Kansas State
12. West Virginia
13. Ohio State
14. North Carolina
15. TCU
16. Iowa State
17. Kentucky
18. Ole Miss
19. Michigan
20. Illinois
21. Iowa
22. Tennessee
23. Michigan State
24. Georgia Tech
25. North Carolina State