MSU women rise to No. 20 in AP poll; Tenn. drops out

One week after nearly dropping out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the Michigan State women’s basketball team bounced back.

The Spartans (20-7), who picked up a 70-67 win over Rutgers on Thursday and a 114-106 victory over Minnesota on Sunday, moved up five spots to No. 20 in Monday’s new rankings.

Not much changed at the top as Connecticut (26-0) maintained its No. 1 ranking for the 200th straight week, while Notre Dame (25-1), South Carolina (25-1), Baylor (27-1) and Ohio State (23-4) all held firm to round out the top five.

Perhaps the biggest news is that Tennessee’s 31-year run in the top 25 came to an end, snapping a 565-week streak that started on Feb. 17, 1985. The Lady Vols (16-11) dropped out after losing two of their three games last week.

UConn now holds the longest active ranked streak at 428 consecutive weeks.

ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL

1. Connecticut (32 first-place votes), 26-0 record, 800 points (1 last week)

2. Notre Dame, 25-1, 756 (2)

3. South Carolina, 25-1, 746 (3)

4. Baylor, 27-1, 704 (4)

5. Ohio State, 23-4, 656 (5)

6. Maryland, 25-3, 623 (6)

7. Oregon State, 24-3, 608 (7)

8. Texas, 24-2, 581 (8)

9. Arizona State, 24-4, 563 (9)

10. Louisville, 22-6, 508 (11)

11. Texas A&M, 20-7, 463 (12)

12. Florida State, 21-5, 421 (10)

13. Stanford, 22-6, 409 (15)

14. UCLA, 20-7, 387 (12)

15. Kentucky, 19-6, 338 (16)

16. Mississippi State, 22-6, 319 (14)

17. Miami, 22-5, 258 (18)

18. Syracuse, 22-6, 241 (23)

19. DePaul, 23-7, 221 (21)

20. Michigan State, 20-7, 134 (25)

21. South Florida, 19-7, 131 (19)

22. Oklahoma State, 19-7, 94 (17)

23. Oklahoma, 18-8, 91 (20)

24. Missouri, 21-6, 76 (NR)

25. Colorado State, 24-1, 58 (NR)

Others receiving votes: Florida 55, BYU 50, West Virginia 42, Georgia 23, UTEP 14, Arkansas State 7, Oregon 7, Green Bay 5, Florida Gulf Coast 4, Duquesne 3, Tennessee 2, Washington 2.