USA TODAY SPORTS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL – 1/20/2026
The USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women’s basketball poll, with team’s RECORDS THROUGH MONDAY in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last week’s poll and first-place votes received. Rank School (record) Points Last week’s rank First-place votes
| Rank | School (record) | Points | Last week’s rank | First-place votes |
| 1 | Connecticut (10-0) | 775 | 1 | 31 |
| 2 | South Carolina (19-1) | 739 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | UCLA (17-1) | 714 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Vanderbilt (19-0) | 661 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Texas (19-2) | 659 | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | LSU (17-2) | 628 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Michigan (15-3) | 544 | 7 | 0 |
| 7 | Louisville (18-3) | 544 | 10 | 0 |
| 9 | TCU (18-2) | 500 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 | Iowa (16-2) | 493 | 13 | 0 |
| 11 | Ohio State (17-2) | 459 | 15 | 0 |
| 12 | Kentucky (17-3) | 442 | 9 | 0 |
| 13 | Maryland (17-3) | 385 | 11 | 0 |
| 14 | Baylor (17-3) | 356 | 17 | 0 |
| 15 | Michigan State (17-2) | 340 | 14 | 0 |
| 16 | Oklahoma (14-4) | 335 | 12 | 0 |
| 17 | Tennessee (13-3) | 306 | 20 | 0 |
| 18 | Mississippi (16-4) | 225 | 16 | 0 |
| 19 | Texas Tech (19-1) | 215 | 18 | 0 |
| 20 | Princeton (16-1) | 153 | 24 | 0 |
| 21 | North Carolina (15-5) | 128 | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | West Virginia (15-4) | 94 | 25 | 0 |
| 23 | Alabama (17-3) | 82 | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | Iowa State (14-5) | 58 | 19 | 0 |
| 25 | Washington (14-4) | 51 | NR | 0 |
Dropped out: : No. 22 Notre Dame (12-6).
Others receiving votes: Notre Dame (12-6) 45; Duke (13-6) 43; Oklahoma State (16-4) 26; Nebraska (14-4) 25; Illinois (15-4) 13; Georgia (16-3) 12; Arizona State (17-2) 8; Mississippi State (15-5) 6; Rhode Island (16-2) 4; Virginia (13-5) 4; Minnesota (12-6) 2; Southern California (11-7) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2025-26 season: Octavia Blue, Kennesaw State; Ashleen Bracey, Illinois-Chicago; Jen Brown, Queens; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Jeff Cammon, Saint Mary’s; Fred Chmiel, Bowling Green; Janell Crayton, Bethune-Cookman; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Carrie Eighmey, South Dakota; Dalila Eshe, Yale; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Ty Grace, Howard; Hana Haden, Georgia Southern; Corry Irvin, Chicago State; Renee Jimenez, UC-Santa Barbara; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Mike Lane, NJIT; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Kristen Mattio, Northern Colorado; Mike McGuire, Radford; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Dan Nielson, Utah Valley; Shawn Poppie, Clemson; Terry Primm, Siena; Samantha Quigley Smith, SIUE; Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt; Jonathan Tsipis, Western Carolina; Coquese Washington, Rutgers; Trevor Woodruff, Bucknell.