USA Today coaches poll for Dec. 23, 2014: South Carolina continues reign, James Madison and DePaul enter
In the last poll of the year before the Christmas break, undefeated South Carolina (12-0) stands strong in the No. 1 spot. There were no changes in the top 5. Baylor moved into the No. 6 spot while Stanford fell from No. 7 to No. 15 after back-to-back losses on the road, first to Chattanooga and then to No. 11 Tennessee.
Another Pac-12 power, Cal, dropped out of the poll after three consecutive losses, two on the road followed by one at home vs. No. 7 Louisville on Sunday. St. John’s also fell out of the top 25 after falling to Indiana State, 73-67, in overtime on Sunday. James Madison and DePaul entered at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.
Team records through Monday are in parentheses. Total points are based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last week’s poll and first-place votes received
| Rank | School (record) |
PointsÂ
|
Last week’s rank
|
First-place votes
|
| 1 | South Carolina (12-0) |
793
|
1
|
25
|
| 2 | Connecticut (8-1) |
771
|
2
|
6
|
| 3 | Texas (10-0) |
734
|
3
|
1
|
| 4 | Notre Dame (11-1) |
702
|
4
|
0
|
| 5 | Texas A&M (11-1) |
652
|
5
|
0
|
| 6 | Baylor (10-1) |
625
|
9
|
0
|
| 7 | Louisville (11-1) |
568
|
10
|
0
|
| 8 | North Carolina (11-1) |
532
|
6
|
0
|
| 9 | Maryland (9-2) |
501
|
11
|
0
|
| 10 | Duke (8-3) |
500
|
13
|
0
|
| 11 | Tennessee (9-2) |
497
|
12
|
0
|
| 12 | Oregon State (10-0) |
477
|
14
|
0
|
| 13 | Kentucky (10-2) |
427
|
8
|
0
|
| 14 | Nebraska (10-1) |
375
|
15
|
0
|
| 15 | Stanford (7-4) |
329
|
7
|
0
|
| 16 | Georgia (12-0) |
323
|
17
|
0
|
| 17 | Oklahoma State (9-1) |
321
|
16
|
0
|
| 18 | Rutgers (9-2) |
256
|
19
|
0
|
| 19 | Mississippi State (14-0) |
236
|
20
|
0
|
| 20 | Iowa (9-2) |
131
|
24
|
0
|
| 21 | West Virginia (9-2) |
127
|
18
|
0
|
| 22 | Michigan State (8-3) |
118
|
21
|
0
|
| 23 | Syracuse (8-3) |
67
|
22
|
0
|
| 24 | James Madison (9-1) |
63
|
not ranked
|
0
|
| 25 | DePaul (8-4) |
36
|
not ranked
|
0
|
Others receiving votes: Florida State (12-1) 34; Arizona State (10-1) 33; California (7-3) 28; Princeton (13-0) 25; Wisconsin-Green Bay (9-2) 23; South Florida (9-3) 21; Washington (10-1) 17; Seton Hall (11-1) 16; St. John‘s (10-1) 14; Northwestern (10-1) 11; George Washington (9-2) 5; Chattanooga (9-3) 4; Washington State (9-2) 3; Dayton (7-3) 2; Tulane (9-2) 2; Arkansas-Little Rock (7-2) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
