Women’s college basketball power rankings: Who's the new No. 1 after Notre Dame falls?

Given how much I respect my colleague Sabreena Merchants knowledge of womens basketball, even I had to take a step back this weekend and wonder if it were truly happenstance that she handed off the power rankings to me (a person who has acknowledged that my respect for the ACC was potentially not strong enough early on this season, mea culpa, mea culpa).

The ACC sent a pretty resonant reminder this week to the nation: Hello, were still here and some of our teams are peaking in time for a dominant March.

Advertisement NC States impressive win on Sunday over top-ranked Notre Dame (which followed a great Wolfpack road win over George Tech), wasnt the only eye-opening victory.

Louisville capped one heck of a week with road wins over ranked Florida State and Duke before returning home to take (an Alyssa Ustby-less) UNC down to the wire.

The Tar Heels won their seventh straight game, including two over ranked opponents (add a third if Louisville is ranked come Monday which it should be).

A TaNiya Latson-less Florida State had won two straight games against lesser opponents, but behind a huge third-quarter outpouring and a massive showing from Sydney Bowles (32 points, six assists), the Seminoles upset No.

20 Georgia Tech on the road.

With that, theres some good movement for certain ACC teams in this weeks power rankings as we enter this final stretch.

Almost famous: Florida State, Illinois, Creighton Dropped out: Cal, Georgia Tech Since were entering the final week of the regular season, it seems like a good time to check in on conference races and player of the year honors.

ACC Team race: With NC States win over Notre Dame this weekend, the Wolfpack are officially a game back and now hold the tiebreaker over the Irish.

That puts the pressure on Notre Dame, especially considering its final week at home against Florida State and surging Louisville is no walk in the park.

Meanwhile, NC State gets the two worst ACC teams (SMU and Wake Forest) to close out its season.

Notre Dames margin for error is nada if it wants to claim its second regular-season conference title in three seasons.

Player race: Notre Dames Hannah Hidalgo didnt come out on top Sunday, but you cant ignore the 5-foot-6 star who is the engine of the Irishs offense and defense.

Shes averaging 25 points, four assists and four steals a game, and shes shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.

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From that same game on Sunday, NC States Aziaha James showed why she has been the definition of steady for the Wolfpack as theyve climbed into the top 10.

Shes putting up career bests in nearly every statistical category and the senior guard has created some cant-miss highlights.

Aziaha James, wow pic.twitter.com/XXR0NAdMf9 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 23, 2025 Though the Seminoles havent been consistently ranked, Latson has kept FSU relevant and on the fringe of being ranked (if not inside the Top 25) all season.

Latson leads the nation with 26 points per game in a highly efficient nature, averaging 1.13 points per scoring attempt.

Those numbers put her among the nations top 15 percent of players while also averaging the second-most shots per game among Division I players).

Advertisement Big 12 Team race: With a significant win over West Virginia on Sunday, TCU remained equal with Baylor at 14-2 in the conference race.

This sets up a potential conference title game preview in the regular-season finale between the Horned Frogs and Bears when they meet Sunday in Waco.

A few scenarios are possible, but for the sake of space (and the hope of consequential hoops on the last day of the regular season), lets say that TCU and Baylor enter Sundays game at 15-2 (meaning the Bears take care of business at Kansas State on Monday), then the winner of next Sundays TCU-Baylor game would be crowned regular-season champ.

Player race: Kansas State has two players who should be mentioned in this conversation: Ayoka Lee and Serena Sundell.

Lee has missed 10 games for the Wildcats this season and played fewer minutes in games than most others in POY conversations.

That could hurt her chances, but you must discuss the 6-6 centers efficiency as she averages nearly a point a minute and a rebound every three minutes shes on the floor.

Sundell leads all power conference players with 7.3 assists per game and set Kansas States record for assists in a single game (15) on Sunday.

In Lees absence, she has been Kansas States steadying force, a hallmark of her career.

She has started each of the 132 games she has played for the Wildcats.

Serena Sundell reflecting on her four years at #KState Senior guard leads the nation in assists and is as durable as it gets starting all 132 games shes played Ive had an absolute blast my four years here.

I wouldnt change it for the world @serena_sundell pic.twitter.com/SyzdhyP3h1 Noah Sacco (@NoahSaccoTV) February 23, 2025 In West Virginias system, JJ Quinerly is a perfect fit.

The senior averages 19 points, three assists, three rebounds and three steals a game (and thats not counting the number of plays she blows up for opponents with her defensive activity).

Her defensive rating puts her among the top one percent nationally, and she does it without fouling (averaging just 2.5 per game).

Advertisement At her third school, Hailey Van Lith also found a perfect fit in TCUs offense, returning to being a pick-and-roll guard and enjoying the most efficient shooting of her career (averaging 44 percent from the floor).

Her six assists a game rank among the nations top 25 players.

Big Ten Team race: With the Bruins eking out a win Sunday in Iowa City (not an easy task for L.A.

teams just ask USC were also looking at a potential Big Ten regular-season title game preview being UCLA and USC if things shake out just right.

If the Bruins close out their Midwest trip by beating Wisconsin and the Trojans take care of business at home against Illinois, then UCLA and USC would enter the last day of the season at 15-1 with the winner of the cross-city challenge named the Big Ten champions in its first year in the league.

Player race: This race is also dominated by two L.A.

players: UCLAs Lauren Betts and USCs JuJu Watkins.

Betts has been what the Bruins have needed this season an efficient scorer, an excellent passing big, an elite rim protector and a glass cleaner.

Just by being on the court, she makes every UCLA player better and more dangerous because of her unique skills.

Need an example? Shes the only player in the country averaging three blocks and three assists a game.

The beauty of Watkins game is that USC hasnt needed her to do as much this season, but the Trojans can flex their JuJu muscle when needed (like in the recent UCLA matchup) and the sophomore can go off for a 38-point night.

Shes a smooth three-level scorer with energy who makes her one of the countrys most productive defenders (2.2 steals and 1.9 blocks per game).

SEC Team race: If Texas (at Georgia, at Mississippi State, against Florida) and South Carolina (at Ole Miss, against Kentucky) win out, theyll share the SEC title.

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My two cents: I dont care if you must have 12 different subsections for clarifying, get rid of shared titles.

Incentivize scoring margins and performances against other top-conference teams or whatever else you need to do for champs to be champs.

Advertisement Things could get a bit messier if Texas and South Carolina stumble (the Gamecocks certainly have the tougher final stretch), and in that case, LSU certainly has an outside chance.

If the Longhorns and Gamecocks both lost two apiece while the Tigers won out, LSU would be crowned SEC champs, but even if the Longhorns and Gamecocks lose one apiece, LSU still lags because of the head-to-head results.

Madison Booker with the and-1, fake out, and the hook em horns pic.twitter.com/meaE1uPppv Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) February 9, 2025 Player race: This conference will be the toughest to decide as it boasts several quality options with valid arguments to win.

LSU can put forth Aneesah Morrow and Flaujae Johnson.

Morrow has been a double-double machine, averaging 18 points and 14 rebounds a game.

Only twice this season has she been held to single-digit rebounds, and because of how hard she attacks the glass, Morrow gets to the free-throw line (and opponents into foul trouble) better than almost anyone else in the country.

Johnson is a Swiss Army knife for the Tigers shes a scorer, distributor, defender and playmaker.

Shes also one of just nine power conference players averaging 15-plus points, five-plus rebounds and two-plus assists per game this season.

But this isnt a Tigers-only race.

Texas sophomore Madison Booker has thrived in her move back into her natural position for the Longhorns (after taking over the point guard role as a freshman), and her 3-point shooting percentage has improved to 44 percent this season, making her that much more impossible to stop.

Kentuckys Georgia Amoores move to the SEC from the ACC (at Virginia Tech) alongside coach Kenny Brooks has proved beneficial.

Amoore averages seven assists a game and has helped the Wildcats make one of the biggest jumps among power conference teams year-over-year.

(Photo of Madison Booker: Andy Lyons / Getty Images).

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