EUGENE — After weeks of holding at No. 5, Oregon women’s basketball moved up in the AP poll. The Ducks (19-1, 8-0 Pac-12) are a season-high No. 4 in the AP poll, receiving 606 points this week. That’s down from 623 points last week, but two of the 30 ballots in the poll were not cast this week. Oregon is narrowly ahead of No. 5 Notre Dame (604) and opened up some space between the rest of the Pac-12, with No. 8 Stanford (488 points), No. 9 Oregon State (460), No. 14 Utah (282) and No. 21 Arizona State (127) also ranked. The Ducks host Utah on Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network) and Colorado on Sunday (12 p.m., Pac-12 Network).<doc-sep>NEW YORK -- Baylor is No. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll for the first time nearly six years. The Lady Bears (17-1) ascended to the top spot after then-No. 1 Notre Dame lost to unranked North Carolina on Sunday. Baylor, which received 24 of 28 first-place votes Monday from a national media panel, last was No. 1 in the final poll of the 2012-13 season. The team was the top choice among voters for the final 11 weeks of that season. The Fighting Irish fell to fifth, with UConn, Louisville and Oregon following Baylor. Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Stanford, Oregon State and Marquette rounded out the top 10. The Wolfpack are the only undefeated team left in Division I basketball. BYU entered the poll at No. 25 while Missouri fell out. It's the Cougars first ranking since February 2012.<doc-sep>Syracuse, N.Y. -- Voters in the latest Associated Press' women’s college basketball poll released Monday were apparently left cold by Syracuse’s loss to Miami last week. SU was kicked way down the rankings, from No. 13 to No. 18. The Orange (16-4, 5-2) rebounded for a win at Duke on Sunday, but that wasn’t enough to break the five-spot slide. Former No. 1 Notre Dame tumbled out of its top spot after a loss to North Carolina (a team that SU beat), sliding to No. 5. Baylor is the new No. 1, followed by UConn, Louisville and Oregon. SU visits Louisville on Feb. 7 and hosts Notre Dame on Feb. 25. Additionally, No. 7 N.C. State, the latest undefeated team at 20-0, visits Feb. 13. But first, Virginia visits the Carrier Dome 7 p.m. on Thursday.<doc-sep>NEW YORK — Kim Mulkey and Baylor returned to No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll on Monday for the first time nearly six years. The Lady Bears (17-1) ascended to the top spot after then-No. 1 Notre Dame lost to unranked North Carolina on Sunday. Baylor, which received 24 of 28 first-place votes from a national media panel, last was No. 1 in the final poll of the 2012-13 season. The team was the top choice among voters for the final 11 weeks of that season. NO. 1 GOES DOWN: UNC stuns No. 1 Notre Dame for first top-ranked upset since 2006 “Anything that’s considered positive for our program and Baylor, we welcome. But really, what does it mean? It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t win a championship for you. It just puts a bigger target on your back,” Mulkey said after the Lady Bears beat Oklahoma on Sunday. “It’s not the first time we’ve been ranked No. 1 ... I don’t think it will change anything about the kids in the locker room. I don’t think it will change anything about our practices. Our focus, right now, is Oklahoma State, and then our big focus is winning another Big 12 championship.” The Fighting Irish fell to fifth, with UConn, Louisville and Oregon following Baylor. Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Stanford, Oregon State and Marquette rounded out the top 10. The Wolfpack are the only undefeated team left in Division I basketball. Here is the full top 25: rank school record points previous 1 Baylor (24) 17-1 695 2 2 UConn (2) 18-1 670 3 3 Louisville (2) 19-1 630 4 4 Oregon 19-1 606 5 5 Notre Dame 19-2 604 1 6 Mississippi State 19-1 565 7 7 North Carolina State 20-0 541 8 8 Stanford 17-2 488 6 9 Oregon State 17-3 460 9 10 Marquette 18-3 452 10 11 Maryland 18-2 427 11 12 Texas 17-3 374 12 13 Iowa 16-4 338 17 14 Utah 18-1 282 21 15 Gonzaga 19-2 269 18 16 South Carolina 13-5 265 19 17 Rutgers 16-4 256 14 18 Syracuse 16-4 253 13 19 Kentucky 17-4 222 15 20 Texas A&M 16-4 142 24 21 Arizona State 14-6 127 16 22 Michigan State 15-5 109 23 23 Iowa State 15-5 106 20 24 Florida State 17-3 73 22 25 BYU 17-3 47 NR BYU entered the poll at No. 25 while Missouri fell out. It’s the Cougars first ranking since Feb. 13, 2012. Along with Utah, BYU gives the state of Utah two ranked teams for the first time since 2006, when both were in the AP Top 25. RISING UTES: One week after entering the poll, Utah moved up to No. 14 after beating then-No. 6 Stanford on Sunday. It’s the school’s best ranking since the Utes were 12th on March 10, 2008. The team’s best ranking ever was 11th in 1998. For the first time in program history, No. 21 @UTAHWBB is victorious over No. 6 Stanford!#ncaaW pic.twitter.com/34YohLO7RL — NCAA WBB (@ncaawbb) January 27, 2019 LAST OF THE UNBEATENS: N.C. State (20-0) visits Wake Forest and host North Carolina this week. If the Wolfpack still haven’t lost at that point, the schedule gets a bit tougher, with consecutive road games at No. 24 Florida State and No. 18 Syracuse before hosting Notre Dame. WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR: 9 teams that could be the next first-time national champion This article is written by Doug Feinberg and was legally licensed via the Associated Press through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.<doc-sep>
Associated Press New York — A pair of victories last week helped Michigan State climb one spot in the Associated Press women’s college basketball poll. Michigan State (15-5) is up to No. 22 this week, following victories over Illinois and rival Michigan. The Spartans have won three of their last four games. Baylor is No. 1 in the poll for the first time nearly six years. The Lady Bears (17-1) ascended to the top spot after then-No. 1 Notre Dame lost to unranked North Carolina on Sunday. Baylor, which received 24 of 28 first-place votes Monday from a national media panel, last was No. 1 in the final poll of the 2012-13 season. The team was the top choice among voters for the final 11 weeks of that season. The Fighting Irish fell to fifth, with UConn, Louisville and Oregon following Baylor. Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Stanford, Oregon State and Marquette rounded out the top 10. The Wolfpack are the only undefeated team left in Division I basketball. BYU entered the poll at No. 25 while Missouri fell out. It’s the Cougars first ranking since February 2012. WOMEN’S ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 Record Pts Prv 1. Baylor (24) 17-1 695 2 2. UConn (2) 18-1 670 3 3. Louisville (2) 19-1 630 4 4. Oregon 19-1 606 5 5. Notre Dame 19-2 604 1 6. Mississippi State 19-1 565 7 7. NC State 20-0 541 8 8. Stanford 17-2 488 6 9. Oregon State 17-3 460 9 10. Marquette 18-3 452 10 11. Maryland 18-2 427 11 12. Texas 17-3 374 12 13. Iowa 16-4 338 17 14. Utah 18-1 282 21 15. Gonzaga 19-2 269 18 16. South Carolina 13-5 265 19 17. Rutgers 16-4 256 14 18. Syracuse 16-4 253 13 19. Kentucky 17-4 222 15 20. Texas A&M 16-4 142 24 21. Arizona State 14-6 127 16 22. Michigan State 15-5 109 23 23. Iowa State 15-5 106 20 24. Florida State 17-3 73 22 25. BYU 17-3 47 — Others receiving votes: Miami (Fla.) 34, Drake 30, South Dakota 10, DePaul 7, Missouri 7, New Mexico 4, California 2, Clemson 2, Minnesota 1, Rice 1, UCF 1.