How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: Good vs. bad losses in conference play
The theme of my AP Top 25 ballot this week is good vs. bad losses.
Once conference play starts, no one is safe. Every conference has had its fair share of chaos, and South Carolina the only team to stay undefeated overall, though Kansas State, UConn and Gonzaga haven't lost in conference play yet.
Significant wins matter, but the quality of a team's losses do, too.
Colorado dropped its first Pac-12 matchup to UCLA last week. I toyed with leaving the Bruins at No. 2 after the loss to USC given the strength of their overall resume, and they proved that I should have this week. UCLA is back to No. 2, because one loss to your conference rival who you beat first isn't a bad loss at all. The Buffs are at No. 3, with their only two losses to top-five teams and a win over USC last week.
With multiple top-10 teams losing last week, I decided not to drop NC State from No. 5. A loss on the road to a tough Miami team isn't a bad loss, especially when the Wolfpack were missing 6-foot-5 center River Baldwin, who returned from injury in their win over Duke.
USC dropped from No. 4 to No. 7 after two ranked losses this week. The losses to Utah and Colorado were both on the road – and to two of the best Pac-12 teams. We knew the last season of Pac-12 women's basketball was going to be incredible, and I decided not to punish USC too much for losing on the road in the best conference in the country.
Now, for the biggest upset of the week: Ohio State taking down Iowa in overtime. The Hawkeyes led by 12 points at the beginning of the fourth before the Buckeyes stormed back, led by Cotie McMahon's 33 points and 12 rebounds. OSU really doesn't have a bad loss besides Michigan – its only other losses are to UCLA and USC – so it jumped to No. 11.
The loss on its face isn't terrible for Iowa, which dropped three spots. It was on the road to a top Big Ten team. But it wasn't great considering Caitlin Clark put up 45 points and the Hawkeyes still lost. The Buckeyes decided to stop Iowa's other players and they were able to limit them enough to overcome Clark's big game.
The drop was also influenced by Texas and UConn's dominance in recent wins – and neither team has a bad loss either.
North Carolina and Utah rose in my rankings after significant conference wins. They both carry five losses right now, but they each only have one truly bad loss. UNC jumped the most to No. 13 because it sits atop the ACC with wins over both teams it's tied for first with. Utah rises two spots to No. 14 and LSU is right behind at No. 15. The Tigers' loss on the road to Auburn isn't a terrible loss, and they're blowing out other SEC teams.
Syracuse is back on my ballot after a one-week hiatus. The Orange are tied for first in the ACC, and their only loss besides UNC is to Maryland early in the season. But with a big win over Florida State this week, Syracuse is at No. 18.
Oregon State jumped to No. 20 after a 4-3 start in Pac-12 play. The Beavers don't have a single bad loss, only dropping games to USC, UCLA and Stanford.
Cora Hall's AP Top 25 ballot for Week 11
South Carolina
UCLA
Colorado
Stanford
NC State
Kansas State
USC
Texas
UConn
Iowa
Ohio State
Baylor
North Carolina
Utah
LSU
Gonzaga
Louisville
Syracuse
Notre Dame
Oregon State
Virginia Tech
Florida State
Indiana
Iowa State
West Virginia
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How bad losses influenced Lady Vols writer Cora Hall's AP Top 25
