As we approach the January halfway point, conference play is in full swing and the regular season races in each conference are starting to take shape. This also led to a shakeup in the AP Poll Top 25 in women’s college basketball.

Last week featured several matchups between teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll. This also means that there would always be upheaval at the top of the poll. It also provides an opportunity for new teams to potentially get promoted, as there seem to be more than a few completely deserving teams this season.

With that in mind, here’s how this week’s AP Top 25 poll plays out for women’s college basketball:

The UCLA Bruins continued to win with an 83-49 win over Purdue last week and are now in Big Ten play. This game was highlighted by Lauren Bettswho was at the top of the points standings with 17 points. She was one of four Bruins to score in double figures.

Unfortunately, UCLA has been affected by the fires in Los Angeles. Northwestern postponed its road trip against UCLA and USC because of safety concerns. Now the Bruins must focus on the court during a time of uncertainty and understandable fear. UCLA’s next scheduled game is a home game against Penn State on Jan. 15.

Last week, South Carolina hosted Texas’ two SEC teams, the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns. It was two more double-digit wins, making for an impressive week, especially given where Texas ranked in the AP poll earlier in the week.

South Carolina’s schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. That’s one of the challenges of playing in the SEC. Their next four games are against teams ranked in the AP Poll, starting next week with Alabama and Oklahoma.

Notre Dame got off to a fast start in ACC play and that continued last week with big wins over Wake Forest and Clemson. That’s nine straight wins since the Irish lost two straight games in late November. It also helped boost their ranking in the AP poll.

The Irish will return to action on Thursday with a touch test. Notre Dame will host a ranked Georgia Tech team that hopes to pull off an upset win there. After that, the Irish will be back in action on Sunday against SMU and will look to avoid disappointment.

Similar to UCLA, the USC Trojans are also struggling with the effects of the fires in Los Angeles. This obviously had an emotional impact on the players and staff, particularly those whose homes were threatened. Still, USC picked up two more wins last week, including against AP Top 10 Maryland.

Next week the impact of the fires will continue. Northwestern won’t be making its trip to California because of the fires, and perhaps that’s an understandable decision. However, USC’s only option is a road trip to Indiana next week.

LSU remains undefeated after moving deeper into SEC play. Last week, that manifested itself in a thrilling win over Tennessee. With a score of 89:87, this was probably the first big test of the season. Additionally, three Tigers scored at least 20 points in the win Aneesah Morrow He had the star performance, scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds.

SEC play continues next week for LSU with games against Vanderbilt and Florida. In this game against the Gators, the Tigers will go on the road. Still, there is an expectation that LSU will continue its unbeaten streak.

Since returning to the Big East, UConn has been the dominant force in the conference. This will continue this season too. Last week the Huskies defeated Xavier and Georgetown. Neither was close, but the win against Xavier was huge: UConn won 81-27 in a conference game.

Next week, UConn will play two more Big East games. These will come against St. John’s and Seton Hall and at this point in the season it will be interesting to see how dominant UConn can continue to be.

Texas lost its second game of the season against South Carolina by 17 points on Sunday. It was the Longhorns’ first loss since they lost an overtime game to Notre Dame in early December. Meanwhile, Texas had won nine games, including games against multi-seeded teams.

Texas will have just one game next week and before the next AP poll is released. That will be a road trip to Auburn on Thursday. This should also give the Longhorns enough time to recover from a tough loss.

The Maryland Terrapins suffered their first loss of the season last week. Still, they managed to maintain their spot in the AP poll. That’s probably partly because the loss came in a close game against USC and Maryland bounced back with a big win over Wisconsin later in the week.

Maryland will only have one game next week, with the Terrapins playing Minnesota on Tuesday. This is their only game before the next AP poll drops and should give the Terrapins some rest.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are virtually undefeated in mid-January. Last week, Ohio State continued its dominant performance in Big Ten play, beating a good Michigan team on the road before returning home to beat Oregon.

Big Ten play continues next week for the Buckeyes. First, Ohio State has a road trip to Wisconsin coming up. Then, this weekend, Ohio State faces another road trip against Penn State. They are expected to be able to complete this route well.

TCU is off to an incredibly fast start in Big 12 play. TCU is now 5-0 in conference play, 17-1 overall and is in a good position to compete with Kansas State for the regular season conference title. That included wins over Kansas and Texas Tech last week.

Next week TCU will host UCF. After that, it will be a tricky matchup against a Utah team that has been ranked in the AP poll at times throughout the season. A win there could help propel the Horned Frogs forward.

Rest of the AP Top 25 poll

11. Kansas State
12. Kentucky
13. Oklahoma
14. North Carolina
15. Tennessee
16. duke
17. Georgia Tech
18. California
19. Alabama
20. West Virginia
21. NC State
22. Michigan State
23. Utah
T-24. Minnesota
T-24. Oklahoma State