Minnesota is off to its best start in 17 games and earned its first ranking since 2019 on Monday, entering the Associated Press women’s basketball poll at No. 24.

The Golden Gophers have won 16 of their first 17 contests, including last month’s loss to Nebraska. They are ranked for the first time since December 30, 2019. Next up is a match at No. 8 Maryland on Tuesday.

UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame and the USC Trojans moved on, once again taking the top four spots in the AP Top 25. The Bruins received 29 of the 31 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Fighting Irish, who were missing All-America guard Hannah Hidalgo in their final game with a foot injury, received the other two top votes.

Undefeated LSU moved up one spot to fifth. The Tigers join the Bruins and No. 9 Ohio State as the only three undefeated teams in Division I women’s basketball.

UConn finished sixth, while Texas fell two spots to seventh after a 67-50 loss at South Carolina on Sunday.

TCU moved up one spot to 10th.

Exit

Iowa and Michigan dropped out of the poll this week. The two Big Ten schools suffered losses last week. The Wolverines have had a rough stretch in recent weeks with games against No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 USC and No. 9 Ohio State all being losses. Michigan beat Purdue on Saturday. Iowa lost to Illinois and Indiana last week.

Ranked cowgirls

No. 24 Oklahoma State entered the poll for the first time since 2018 after defeating then-No. 17 West Virginia on Saturday. The Cowgirls are 14-2 this season and travel to Houston and UCF this week before hosting the No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs on Jan. 22.

Rising Bears

California moved up six spots to No. 18 after beating No. 21 NC State and Florida State last week. The Bears are at their highest ranking since finishing 18th on December 31, 2018.

Breakdown of the conference

The SEC has seven teams ranked this week, with the Big Ten and ACC right behind with six each. The Big 12 has five and the Big East has one.

Games of the week

No. 23 Utah at No. 10 TCU, Friday. The Utes stumbled in their first game of the season as a ranked team, falling to then-No. 12 Kansas State. Now Utah faces another big task, against Sedona Prince and the Horned Frogs.

No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 2 South Carolina, Sunday. The Gamecocks continue their streak of facing five straight ranked opponents with a game at No. 19 Alabama on Thursday before hosting the Sooners this weekend.