Women’s College Basketball: What We’ve Learned a Month Into the Season

Feast Week is a wrap. Three top-five teams clashed in Las Vegas. Audi Crooks dropped a school-record 47 points.

One month into the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season,we’ve already seen big-time matchups adn outstanding individual performances. But things can change a lot during conference play, which for some leagues will begin this month.

Before then, we look at what we’ve learned so far on the road to Phoenix.

Last season’s Final Four teams — UConn, South Carolina, texas and UCLA — all have shown they are the favorites to get back to the final weekend of the season. The Longhorns’ back-to-back victories against the Bruins and Gamecocks in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas last week was the most impressive accomplishment by a team at this point.

But defending national champion uconn is still holding on to the top spot in the rankings and could be working on another perfect season. here’s what else we know — so far.

Sarah Strong is even better than we thought — and the player of the year front-runner

Entering the season as the favorite to win national player of the year sets a high bar, especially for a 19-year-old sophomore. Yet, Strong already seems to have burst through that ceiling. The distance between Strong and the next closest contenders — Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Texas’ Madison Booker and UCLA’s Lauren Betts — seems to have grown.

The core numbers are great — 18.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 57.1% shooting from the field. But Strong also leads the Huskies in steals (3.4), blocks (2.3) and is shooting 88.9% from the free throw line, which is what sets her apart.

## Michigan and LSU are Final Four contenders

Madison Booker remains a national player of the year contender, and Jordan lee is much improved as a sophomore.

But Texas won in Las Vegas using only seven players. Injuries kept star freshman Aaliyah Crump and sophomore speedster Bryanna Preston on the sideline, and transfer ashton judd, a career 38.9% 3-point shooter in three years at missouri, has yet to play. UConn has plenty of depth this season. The Longhorns should have some soon.

Defense is the constant in Austin. Harmon might be the best two-way guard in the country. Just keep an eye on the 3-point shooting. Judd should help and Lee looks much more confident on the perimeter, but the Longhorns were last in the country in 3-point rate a season ago and remain at No. 363 eight games into 2025-26. Of course,that was also good enough to get Texas to the Final Four. — Creme

## Michigan and LSU are Final Four contenders

For the Wolverines, this assessment is based on how well they have played against good teams.For the tigers, it’s about how much talent they have shown despite not playing any team close to their level yet.

Michigan won 93-54 over Notre Dame on Nov. 15 in Detroit and is th

college Basketball’s Early Season Chaos

It’s been a wild start to the college basketball season. Upsets are happening everywhere. Top teams are falling, and the ACC is struggling.

NC state and Duke, preseason ACC favorites, are a combined 8-8. Both have suffered shocking losses – NC State at home to rhode Island, Duke at South Florida – and tough defeats. The Wolfpack lost by 10 to TCU in Raleigh, and UCLA beat the blue Devils by 30 in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving.

It doesn’t stop there. Virginia lost to UMBC; Stanford fell to Florida Gulf Coast; Virginia Tech was upset by James Madison; Notre Dame lost by 39 to Michigan; pittsburgh was stunned by Division III Scranton. These aren’t just close games; they’re blowouts.

The ACC has sent eight teams to the NCAA tournament for the past three years. Now, only four look like locks. More than four will likely make it, but only one or two ACC teams in the top 16 seems realistic right now.

North Carolina has been solid, wiht only one loss (to No. 4 UCLA). They grabbed three good wins in Cancun. NC State beat Tennessee, and Notre Dame’s win over USC was important. But beyond that, big wins are scarce. Louisville, georgia Tech, Florida State, and Miami all had chances to boost their résumés – and failed.

With much of the nonconference season still ahead,teams have time to recover. But these early results are a wake-up call. It’s going to be a long season for many ACC programs.