If Kansas can argue that it should be awarded a men's college basketball national championship based on the polls, the South Carolina women's team also certainly has a case.
The Gamecocks finished the season ranked No. 1 in the final women's AP Top 25 poll released Tuesday to put a cap on a 32-1 season that ended with a 26-game winning streak and an SEC Tournament championship. This is South Carolina's 10th straight week atop the AP poll.
South Carolina received 26 votes for No. 1, while Oregon received the other four. Baylor, Maryland and Connecticut rounded out the top five in the poll. The Gamecocks also finished No. 1 in the final USA Today Women's Coaches Poll released Monday.
"Earning the final No. 1 ranking in both of these polls does what our team wanted," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said, "it leaves no question of what they achieved, it solidifies their place in history and shows the world that 'what is delayed is not denied.'"
The final poll was also noteworthy because it cemented UConn's lowest final ranking since it finished eighth at the end of the 2005-06 season. The Huskies lost 70-52 at South Carolina in February.
If the Gamecocks had won the NCAA Tournament, they would have finished 38-1, surpassing the 33-4 record they posted when they won the national championship in 2017.
Here is the final 2019-20 women's basketball AP Top 25:
AP Women's Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (26) | 32-1 | 746 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon (4) | 31-2 | 724 | 2 |
| 3 | Baylor | 28-2 | 676 | 3 |
| 4 | Maryland | 28-4 | 724 | 4 |
| 5 | UConn | 29-3 | 642 | 5 |
| 6 | Louisville | 28-4 | 588 | 6 |
| 7 | Stanford | 27-6 | 560 | 7 |
| 8 | NC State | 28-4 | 543 | 8 |
| 9 | Mississippi State | 27-6 | 505 | 9 |
| 10 | UCLA | 26-5 | 501 | 10 |
| 11 | Northwestern | 26-4 | 394 | 12 |
| 12 | Arizona | 24-7 | 385 | 13 |
| 13 | Gonzaga | 28-3 | 359 | 11 |
| 14 | Oregon State | 23-9 | 321 | 14 |
| 15 | DePaul | 28-5 | 298 | 15 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 22-8 | 283 | 16 |
| 17 | South Dakota | 30-2 | 259 | 17 |
| 18 | Texas A&M | 22-8 | 246 | 19 |
| 19 | Florida State | 24-8 | 239 | 18 |
| 20 | Indiana | 24-8 | 194 | 20 |
| 21 | Iowa | 23-7 | 174 | 21 |
| 22 | Princeton | 26-1 | 163 | 22 |
| 23 | Missouri State | 26-4 | 121 | 23 |
| 24 | Arkansas | 24-8 | 97 | 24 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 20-11 | 31 | 25 |
Others receiving votes: TCU 11, Ohio State 10, Boston College 6, Marquette 5, Rutgers 4, Florida Gulf Coast 3, Texas 2, Boise State 2, Iowa State 2, Duke 1, Central Michigan 1.
