Texas Rises to No. 2 After Major Thanksgiving Tournament Wins

NEW YORK (AP) — Texas jumped to No. 2 in the women’s AP Top 25 rankings on Monday following impressive victories over top-ranked opponents during a Thanksgiving tournament in Las Vegas.

The Longhorns defeated then-No. 2 South Carolina 66-64 and then topped then-No. 3 UCLA 76-65. This marks the first time in 25 years that any team has beaten two top-3 teams in such a short timespan.

Texas earned 10 first-place votes from a 32-member national media panel, while UConn, who maintained the top spot, received the remaining 22 votes after routing their opponent 104-39 to kick off Big East play.

South Carolina slipped to third in the rankings, with UCLA following in fourth place. LSU remained in fifth, and the Tigers are setting records of their own, having scored over 100 points in each of their first eight games. This achievement breaks the previous mark of six consecutive games scoring over 100, which was held by the 1981-82 Louisiana Tech team, famously featuring current LSU coach Kim Mulkey.

The top 10 is rounded out by Michigan, Maryland, TCU, Oklahoma, and Iowa State. Iowa State’s star player had a standout game with a school-record 47 points against Indiana on Sunday.

Ohio State made its debut in this year’s poll at No. 23 after an 83-81 nail-biter over West Virginia last week, quickly followed by a historic 98-point win against Niagara, marking the most points scored in the program’s history.

The Big Ten Conference now matches the Southeastern Conference in having eight teams ranked in the Top 25 after Ohio State’s entry. The Big 12 has five teams in the rankings, while the Atlantic Coast Conference has three and the Big East has one.

This week features several exciting matchups in the ACC-SEC challenge, including a game where No. 22 Louisville will host No. 3 South Carolina, No. 11 North Carolina visiting No. 2 Texas, and No. 13 Ole Miss facing No. 18 Notre Dame.