Let’s be real for a second. In an era dominated by NET rankings, complex spreadsheets, and Quadrant 1 wins, there is still something incredibly visceral about Monday at noon. That’s when the AP poll womens basketball voters drop their latest list, and honestly, it’s the one time a week when every fan base finds a reason to be absolutely livid.
People say the polls don't matter anymore because the NCAA Selection Committee uses their own metrics to build the bracket in March. They're wrong. The AP Top 25 is the pulse of the sport. It’s the metric that dictates which games get the "Big Game" treatment on ESPN and which teams get the benefit of the doubt when they suffer a "good loss" on the road in the SEC or the Big Ten.
It’s about prestige. It’s about being able to tell a recruit, "We've been ranked for 50 straight weeks."
The Mechanics of the AP Poll Women's Basketball Rankings
So, how does this actually work? It isn't a computer. It’s a group of about 28 to 30 journalists from across the country—people who actually sit in the gyms, talk to the coaches, and see the tired legs during a three-game road trip. These voters rank their top 25 teams, and a first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place is worth 24, and so on.
The math is simple, but the psychology is messy.
Voters are human. They have biases. Not necessarily "I hate this school" biases, but more like "I watched this team play at 11:00 PM on a Tuesday and they looked sluggish" biases. That's what makes the AP poll womens basketball standings so different from the NET. The NET doesn't care if a star player was out with the flu; it just sees the final score. A human voter remembers that the star point guard was in a walking boot.
The Power of the "Number One" Spot
Being number one in the AP poll isn't just a vanity project. For programs like South Carolina, UConn, or Iowa during the Caitlin Clark era, that #1 next to the name on the scoreboard is a giant target.
Dawn Staley has famously used the poll as a motivational tool. If they're #1, it's "everyone is coming for us." If they're #2 behind a team they feel they've outplayed, it's "the world is disrespecting us." You can’t get that kind of psychological edge from an algorithm. The AP poll provides the narrative arc for the entire regular season.
Why the AP Poll Often Clashes with the NET
If you look at the AP poll womens basketball results and then immediately check the NCAA’s NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), you’re going to see some weird gaps. You might see a team ranked 12th by the writers but sitting at 28th in the NET.
Why the disconnect?
The NET loves efficiency. It loves margin of victory—up to a certain point—and it rewards teams for beating other "good" teams on the road, regardless of the "name" on the jersey. The AP voters, however, are suckers for a winning streak. If a team in a mid-major conference wins 15 games in a row, the AP voters will eventually move them into the top 20. The NET might keep them at 50 because their strength of schedule is garbage.
- Human Factor: Voters reward "who you are."
- Metric Factor: Computers reward "what you did."
This creates a fascinating tension when March Madness rolls around. Often, the "upsets" we see in the first round aren't really upsets at all; they're just instances where the computer knew a team was overrated by the human pollsters.
The "Blue Blood" Bias is Real (Sorta)
We have to talk about it. Does UConn get a "legacy bump" in the AP poll womens basketball? Does Stanford?
Sorta. But it’s not just favoritism. It’s a reflection of consistency. When Geno Auriemma’s squad loses a game, voters are slow to drop them ten spots because history tells us they’ll probably win the next ten. A team like Kansas State or Iowa State might jump into the top ten after a big win, but the moment they stumble, they drop like a stone.
It’s harder to earn trust than it is to keep it. This "sticky" nature of the poll is its biggest criticism, but also its biggest strength. It prevents the rankings from being a chaotic mess of "who won yesterday."
How to Actually Use the AP Poll for Betting and Brackets
If you're looking at the AP poll womens basketball to gain an edge, you have to look for the "Voter Lag."
This happens when a team is clearly trending downward—maybe their defense has fallen apart or a key bench player is injured—but they keep winning close games against bad opponents. The AP voters will usually keep them high because they haven't "lost" yet.
💡 You might also like: Why the New York Jets Football Stadium Situation Is Still So Messy
Smart fans look for these "Frauds":
- Teams with a high ranking but a low "Points Per Possession" on defense.
- Teams that rely entirely on one shooter who is currently in a slump.
- Teams that haven't played a true road game in over a month.
Conversely, look for the "Poll Climbers." These are teams that lost two games in November to top-5 opponents and fell out of the rankings entirely. Now, in January, they've won eight straight. The voters are usually two weeks late to the party on these teams. By the time they break back into the top 25, they’re often already a top-15 caliber squad.
The Impact of the Transfer Portal on Weekly Rankings
The AP poll womens basketball has become much more volatile lately because of the transfer portal. In the old days, you knew what a team was. Now? A team can look like a disaster in November while five transfers try to learn each other's names, and then by February, they're a juggernaut.
LSU is the perfect example of this. Kim Mulkey brings in a whole new roster, they drop an early game, the pollsters panic and drop them to 15th, and then they steamroll through the SEC. The poll struggles to keep up with the "chemistry curve."
Mid-Major Disrespect?
There is a perennial argument that the AP poll womens basketball ignores the "little guys." Whether it's Gonzaga, Princeton, or FGCU, these teams often have to do twice as much to get half the recognition.
Voters are spread thin. They can't watch every West Coast Conference game that tips off at midnight on the East Coast. This creates a "Power 5" (or Power 4 now) bubble. If you're a fan of a mid-major, your only path into the top 15 is to beat a ranked Big Ten or ACC team in the non-conference schedule. If you miss that chance in November, you're basically locked out until February, no matter how many games you win by 30.
Actionable Steps for Women's Hoops Fans
If you want to move beyond just glancing at the AP poll womens basketball and actually understand the landscape, do these three things:
Track the "Others Receiving Votes" (ORV)
The teams just outside the Top 25 are usually where the value is. These are the teams about to make a run. If a team has been in the ORV section for three weeks, they're seasoned and ready to upset a Top 15 team.
Compare the AP to the Coaches Poll
The WBCA Coaches Poll is often more conservative than the AP. If the writers (AP) have a team at #8 but the coaches have them at #14, it usually means the writers are enamored with a flashy star player, while the coaches see technical flaws in the team's system. Trust the coaches on defense; trust the writers on "it factor."
Ignore the Preseason Poll
The preseason AP poll womens basketball is based almost entirely on last year's finish and recruiting hype. It is historically inaccurate. Don't let a team's preseason "Top 5" status blind you to the fact that they've struggled in their first four games of the actual season.
The rankings will continue to shift every Monday. The drama isn't just about who is #1, but who is clinging to #25 by a thread. That's where the real stories are told.