Ballot breakdown: AP top 25 women’s basketball poll (Dec. 8) | Sports

Illini beat writer and Associated Press Top 25 voter JOE VOZZELLI JR. weighs in on the latest AP Top 25 poll:

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25

‌The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 6, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

TEAM Record Pts Prev.

1. Stanford (24) 3-0 740 2

2. Louisville (2) 4-0 689 5

3. Connecticut (2) 0-0 675 3

4. N.C. State (2) 4-0 670 8

5. South Carolina 4-1 647 1

6. Arizona 3-0 605 7

7. Baylor 2-1 552 4

8. Oregon 4-0 525 10

9. Kentucky 4-0 504 11

10. Texas A&M 4-0 463 12

11. UCLA 2-1 452 9

12. Mississippi State 2-1 413 6

13. Arkansas 5-1 409 16

14. Maryland 3-1 342 14

15. Indiana 2-1 304 13

15. Oregon State 3-0 304 17

17. Northwestern 0-0 271 15

18. Ohio State 3-0 191 19

19. Michigan 3-0 170 24

20. Syracuse 3-0 169 22

21. Missouri State 2-1 162 21

22. South Dakota State 3-0 104 —

23. Texas 3-1 69 25

24. DePaul 1-2 63 20

25. Gonzaga 1-2 62 18

Others receiving votes: South Florida 59, Iowa State 54, North Carolina 38, Arizona State 12, Notre Dame 8, West Virginia 6, Wake Forest 5, Boston College 4, Ohio 4, Georgia 3, Virginia Tech 2.

JOE VOZZELLI JR.’S TOP 25

The Top 25 teams in News-Gazette Illinois women’s basketball beat writer and Associated Press Top 25 voter Joe Vozzelli Jr.’s latest poll, along with where he ranked teams in last week’s poll:

TEAM PREV.

1. Stanford 2

2. Louisville 4

3. North Carolina State 6

4. South Carolina 1

5. Connecticut 5

6. Arizona 8

7. Oregon 10

8. Kentucky 11

9. Baylor 3

10. Mississippi State 7

11. Texas A&M 12

12. UCLA 9

13. Arkansas 14

14. Oregon State 18

15. Indiana 15

16. Maryland 13

17. Northwestern 16

18. Ohio State 17

19. Michigan 20

20. Syracuse 23

21. Missouri State 19

22. Texas 25

23. Iowa State 24

24. South Dakota State NR

25. North Carolina ­NR

➜ Who’s up: North Carolina State. A win against the top-ranked team in the country on its home floor is by far the most impressive victory of the young season as the Wolf Pack snapped South Carolina’s 29-game winning streak with a 54-46 triumph this past Thursday night in Columbia, S.C.

➜ Who’s down: Mississippi State. Many wondered how the Bulldogs would cope after longtime coach Vic Schaefer abruptly left the program to take the Texas job. Mississippi State was hardly tested against Jackson State and New Orleans, but a 21-turnover game in a overtime loss to unranked South Florida is at least somewhat concerning.

➜ Who to watch: Tennessee at Texas, 4 p.m. Sunday (ESPN). Longhorns forward Charli Collier is averaging a double-double of 26.3 points and 12 rebounds, and could be the top pick in next year’s WNBA draft.