Connecticut takes over top spot in Hoopfeed poll, four teams debut, Colorado lands at No. 19
Connecticut (4-0) edged Notre Dame (6-0) for the top spot in the Hoopfeed women’s basketball poll this week. Only one point separates the two at the top of the rankings. The Huskies defeated Dayton last week 98-65 while the Fighting Irish took down two opponents, Louisiana Lafayette and Texas Christian.
South Carolina remained at No. 3 while Baylor rose one spot to number four. After a starting the season routing overmatched opponents, No. 5 Maryland advanced a place. The team proved its mettle by soundly defeating last week’s No. 23 team Arizona State 83-42 and taking down Washington State 79-69 in a matchup that was neck-and-neck for most of the game.
Rounding Out the Top Ten
The remaining top ten teams are Mississippi State (7-0), Louisville (6-1), Ohio State (5-2), UCLA (5-1) and Florida State (6-1). Louisville fell three spots after a 24-point loss to South Carolina on Sunday, 83-59. While the teams seemed closely matched in the first quarter, the Gamecocks ran away from the Cardinals in the second and third quarters for the big win at the Basketball Hall of Fame women’s challenge.
UCLA moved into the top ten after wins at the Cancun Challenge over Iowa and Toledo.
The Newcomers
Four teams made their debut in the poll: No. 19 Colorado, No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 24 Virginia Tech and No. 25 Oregon.
Pac-12 team Colorado is having a great start under new head coach JR Payne, going 6-0 to start the season for the first time since 2013.
The Buffs beat three teams last week: North Dakota State, Saint. Francis Brooklyn and Southern Methodist. The previous week Colorado stunned the SEC’s Kentucky for a 79-69 victory. The team also landed at No. 21 in the Associated Press poll this week.
After getting their sixth win in a row, Payne said that “the consistency that we’re continuing showing on both sides of the floor, as a coach, is very exciting. Really proud of our effort, excited to win another ball game and keep on getting better.”
Texas A&M took down Little Rock and up-and-comer Abilene Christian last week.
Virginia Tech, under new head coach Kenny Brooks, delivered a 67-63 defeat to Tennessee on Sunday. It is the second year in a row that the Hokies have beaten the Lady Vols. Sophomore guard Chanette Hicks led her team with 24 points plus eight steals and five rebounds.
“Tremendous win for our program and particularly these kids,” said Brooks postgame. “Yes, it’s Tennessee and obviously, they’re a very storied program and so much history behind what they do, but it was important to us because we’ve asked these kids to sacrifice, to buy-in and now they are starting to see some of the fruits of their labor. I am very proud of them.”
Hicks’ efforts earned her the ACC Co-Player of the Week and espnW National Player of the Week honors.
Oregon also had a banner week with freshman guard Sabrina Ionescu bringing the goods for the Ducks. The youngster won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award Monday for the second week in a row after recording the first-ever triple-double in Oregon history in a win over last week’s Hoopfeed poll No. 25 team Michigan State.
Big Movers and Bigger Losers
Two teams moved up four spots: West Virginia and Miami. The Mountaineers won all four of their games last week including a 56-52 victory over Auburn.
Miami won its Thanksgiving holiday tournament with a win in the title game over Texas Tech, 74-56.
Of the teams still in the poll, No. 22 Syracuse and No. 25 Tennessee experienced the biggest drops. In addition to the loss at Virginia Tech, the Lady Vols also fell to Penn State in the previous week. Things are not going to get any easier for Tennessee as they face Baylor on Dec. 4, Texas on Dec. 14 and Stanford on Dec. 18.
Teams that fell out of the poll include Oregon State, Michigan State, Gonzaga and Arizona State. All of those teams still garnered votes except for Arizona State.
Other teams that received votes: Auburn, Oregon State, South Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, California, Green Bay, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Marquette, Gonzaga, UNLV
| Hoopfeed Rankings as of 11/29/16 | |||||
| Rank | Program | Record | Points | 1st place votes | Previous |
| 1 | Connecticut | 4-0 | 315 | 8 | 2 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 6-0 | 314 | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 5-0 | 305 | 3 | |
| 4 | Baylor | 7-1 | 287 | 5 | |
| 5 | Maryland | 6-0 | 272 | 6 | |
| 6 | Mississippi State | 7-0 | 260 | 7 | |
| 7 | Louisville | 6-1 | 254 | 4 | |
| 8 | Ohio State | 5-2 | 230 | 8 | |
| 9 | UCLA | 5-1 | 217 | 10 | |
| 10 | Florida State | 6-1 | 216 | 9 | |
| 11 | Stanford | 6-1 | 190 | 11 | |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 5-0 | 173 | 12 | |
| 13 | Washington | 6-1 | 169 | tied at 13 | |
| 14 | Texas | 2-2 | 134 | 15 | |
| 15 | West Virginia | 7-0 | 122 | tied at 19 | |
| 16 | Kentucky | 5-1 | 112 | tied at 19 | |
| 17 | Miami | 5-1 | 94 | 21 | |
| 18 | Florida | 4-1 | 82 | 16 | |
| 19 | Colorado | 6-0 | 80 | NR | |
| 20 | DePaul | 5-1 | 78 | 17 | |
| 21 | Texas A&M | 5-0 | 38 | NR | |
| 22 | Syracuse | 4-3 | 36 | tied at 13 | |
| 23 | Tennessee | 3-2 | 32 | 18 | |
| 24 | Virginia Tech | 6-0 | 28 | NR | |
| 25 | Oregon | 6-1 | 25 | NR | |
Voting panel
- Yvonne Sanchez
- Viet Nguyen
- Joan Bonvicini
- Lisa Bodine
- Kevin Danna
- Kristopher Gardner
- Brenda VanLengen
- Cindy Brunson
- Michael Roberson
- Mel Greenberg
- Bobbie Kelsey Grayson
- Cheryl Coward
- Ben Parker
