As the calendar changes to 2026, conference play gets into full swing this week. A handful of power four schools have had strong nonconference seasons and now will be their opportunity to show that they can play with the top teams in their league.
Alabama and Georgia both are undefeated heading into Southeastern Conference play, going a combined 20-0 at home. They are two of the dozen unbeaten teams left in women’s college basketball.
The Crimson Tide visit No. 3 South Carolina on New Years’ day while the Bulldogs play at 15th-ranked Ole Miss.
The Big 12 has four unbeaten teams remaining in No. 8 TCU, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 21 Texas Tech and Arizona State. The Lady Raiders are the only one of the four to play at home Wednesday when the Big 12 has a full slate of games.
Out of the dozen undefeated teams, No. 1 UConn has the best chance of any of them to still be without a loss heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have blown through their competition for the most part and only have two ranked games left on their schedule — at home against No. 18 Notre Dame later this month and 23rd-ranked Tennessee in February.
NET rating
With teams having most of last week off for the holidays, there wasn’t much change in the NET ratings Monday. UConn still holds the top spot with South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and LSU next. The Big Ten has six of the top 12 teams.
Princeton and Fairfield are the top mid-major teams coming in at 38 and 40 respectively.
The NET is just one tool the NCAA selection committee uses to figure out which teams make the NCAA Tournament and where they are seeded. It has predicted the winner pretty accurately since it first was used in 2021. Four of the five national champions were No. 1 in the NET on Selection Sunday.
Games of the week
No. 12 Kentucky at No. 5 LSU, Thursday. The first real test for the Tigers when they host the Wildcats in an SEC showdown. Kim Mulkey’s LSU team has looked dominant in the nonconference schedule facing non-power four teams for the most part.
No. 22 Baylor at No. 10 Iowa State, Sunday. Two of the preseason favorites in the Big 12 meet with the Bears looking for their first conference victory after dropping the opener.
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