Final STI/Hoopfeed Poll of the Season: South Carolina finishes at No. 1, Baylor tumbles
South Carolina ended the season as the No. 1 team in the nation
South Carolina’s press conference after beating Mississippi State in the SEC tournament title game
Voting panel || Coach reactions to NCAA tournament cancellation
The 2019-2020 postseason came to an unexpected halt in early March as conferences began to cancel league tournaments in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak nationwide. The Ivy League was the first Division I conference to cancel its championships giving Princeton the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the Tigers did not get a chance to dance in March Madness as the NCAA canceled its entire tournament as well as all remaining winter and spring championships, a move that took teams into unprecedented territory as they grappled with COVID-19 prevention and containment measures on their own campuses sending students home and instituting shutdowns.
As a result, this week’s poll, the last of the season, is based on results that do not include the outcome of 18 league championships. However, there was movement due to a few surprising upsets in the last week of the regular season.
In the top five, Baylor suffered a big hit as the Lady Bears ended the season with a stunning defeat at the hands of Iowa State. The Cyclones halted Baylor’s 58-game Big 12 streak. The Lady Bears fell two places to end the season at No. 5.
SEC tournament winner South Carolina continued its nine-week run at the top, finishing 2019-2020 as the No. 1 team in the country. Pac-12 tournament victor Oregon remained at No. 2. Big Ten champion Maryland benefited from Baylor’s loss to move up to No. 3 in the poll finale. UConn came in at No. 4.
No teams dropped out of the poll. Other teams that received votes: FGCU, Marquette, TCU, Central Michigan
Conference tournaments that were canceled:
- America East
- Atlantic Sun
- Big Sky
- Big South
- Big 12
- Big West
- Colonia Athletic (CAA)
- Conference USA (CUSA)
- Metro Atlantic Athletic (MAAC)
- Mid-American (MAC)
- Mid-Eastern (MEAC)
- Missouri Valley (MVC)
- Northeast (NEC)
- Patriot
- Southland
- Southwestern (SWAC)
- Sun Belt
- Western Athletic (WAC)
Final Poll of the Season
| Rank | School | Record | Last | Change |
| 1 | South Carolina | 32-1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Oregon | 31-2 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Maryland | 28-4 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | UConn | 29-3 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | Baylor | 28-2 | 3 | -2 |
| 6 | Louisville | 28-4 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Stanford | 27-6 | 8 | 1 |
| 8 | NC State | 28-4 | 7 | -1 |
| 9 | Mississippi State | 27-6 | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | UCLA | 26-5 | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | Northwestern | 26-4 | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Arizona | 24-7 | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | Gonzaga | 28-3 | 14 | 1 |
| 14 | Oregon State | 23-9 | 13 | -1 |
| 15 | DePaul | 28-5 | 15 | 0 |
| 16 | South Dakota | 30-2 | 16 | 0 |
| 17 | Florida State | 24-8 | 18 | 1 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 22-8 | 17 | -1 |
| 19 | Texas A&M | 22-8 | 19 | 0 |
| 20 | Indiana | 24-8 | 20 | 0 |
| 21 | Iowa | 23-7 | 21 | 0 |
| 22 | Princeton | 26-1 | 22 | 0 |
| 23 | Missouri State | 26-4 | 23 | 0 |
| 24 | Arkansas | 24-8 | 24 | 0 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 20-11 | 25 | 0 |
The STI/Hoopfeed Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of media members and other women’s basketball professionals.
This week’s AP Poll || USA Today Coaches Poll
Voting Panel
- Mel Greenberg
- Joan Bonvicini
- Prentice Beverly
- Brenda VanLengen
- Charles Hallman
- Rhiannon Potkey
- Kristopher Gardner
- Jacob Mox (for Her Hoop Stats)
- Cindy Brunson
- Kevin Danna
- Ben Parker
- Viet Nguyen
- Michael Roberson
- Lisa Bodine
- LaChina Robinson
- Cheryl Coward
