Upsets upend NCAA conference titans

Absolute scenes.

Upsets upend NCAA conference titans

Only four DI teams remain unbeaten this season, after a wild week of early NCAA conference play handed seven programs their first defeats of the 2025/26 season.

• Now-No. 12 LSU dropped games against SEC rising stars No. 10 Louisville and No. 5 Vanderbilt late last week, with No. 8 Maryland, No. 13 TCU, and No. 11 Iowa State also falling for the first time this year.

• “We’re not tough enough,” Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey said after Sunday’s 65-61 loss to the Commodores. “And toughness is, you either have it or you don’t.”

Big picture: LSU’s struggles highlight key differences in scheduling approaches, with the inevitable SEC competition leaving few places to hide despite the Tigers’ non-conference success.

• “If we hadn’t played that [non-conference] schedule, we might would be sitting here with a lot of losses,” Mulkey told reporters.

Mass destruction: Other conferences also showed their depth, as unranked Utah defeated TCU in Big 12 play while the Big Ten saw unranked Illinois take down Maryland and No. 23 Washington beat No. 9 Michigan.

Diving deeper into this week’s AP Poll shakeup

The week’s upsets sent Monday’s AP Poll reeling, with four Top 10 teams skidding down the table after conference defeats — while others broke through.

• No. 12 LSU saw the biggest drop, falling seven spots after consecutive losses to No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Vanderbilt.

• The Wildcats and the Commodores saw the opposite effect, jumping five spots each after ranked victories, with No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 10 Louisville making similar advances. (See full rankings)

Big picture: The week’s biggest winner, however, sits just outside the Top 10, as No. 15 Michigan State leapt nine spots after statement wins over unranked Indiana and Illinois, followed closely by No. 16 Baylor (+6) and No. 17 Texas Tech (+4).

• Struggling Notre Dame fell out of the Top 25 entirely after losses to unranked Georgia Tech and Duke, snapping an 85-week AP Poll appearance streak — the third-longest in women’s basketball history.

• The Top 4 remained unchanged, after perfect results from No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 South Carolina, and No. 4 UCLA — who dominated No. 21 USC 80-46 on Saturday.

Up next: Conference play continues tonight, with USC taking on unranked Oregon tonight at 10 PM ET, live on Fox Sports.

Unrivaled president says ‘door is open’ to WNBA partnership

Unrivaled leadership is back in the hot seat, telling reporters at yesterday’s Season 2 tip-off that the offseason league is open to whatever the future might bring — even if it’s partnering with the WNBA.

• “We’re not in constant dialogue about that,” Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said from Miami. “But as I’ve made very clear, we are open to growing the ecosystem, whichever way that looks like.”

• “Nothing is on the table or off the table,” he continued. “I’m not going to speculate what could happen down the road, but everyone knows our door is always open.” (Read more)

Big picture: As reported prior to the 3×3 upstart’s inaugural 2025 season, Unrivaled co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier approached the WNBA about a potential equity stake, with league leadership turning it down citing a possible rules violation.

• Questions have since come up about Unrivaled becoming a prioritization issue for players under the WNBA’s still-developing CBA, but Bazzell underlined the league’s benefits as being supplemental, not in direct conflict.

• “As long as you can look at the space through an innovative lens, anything is doable,” he said. “Anything is possible.”

Gauff ruffles feathers as United Cup heats up

Tennis’s biggest stars have hit highs and lows down under, seeing mixed results at this weekend’s United Cup as the annual Australian Open tune-up winds down.

• World No. 4 Coco Gauff and the reigning champion US are through to the quarterfinals, joined by top WTA competitors No. 2 Iga Świątek (Poland), and No. 11 Belinda Bencic (Switzerland).

Sounding off: Gauff has had a particularly up-and-down tournament, suffering her first-ever United Cup singles defeat on Monday against Spain’s No. 42 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro after her press conference comments caused a stir.

• “I feel like [the US is] definitely, in tennis, the worst,” she told reporters. “I’ve always said I wish our country in other places would show up throughout the world as we see smaller countries support.”

• After taking some heat, the 21-year-old later clarified her position on social media, writing “Trust me I understand the financial aspect of things and know tennis is not accessible for everyone, it was more of a comment for those who are already attending and how I wish they were as passionate as those from other countries.” (See full post)

Tune in: Gauff will look to return to form against Greece’s Maria Sakkari tonight at 6 PM ET, live on the Tennis Channel.

USA Hockey drops 2026 Winter Olympics roster

USA Hockey is sending a refreshed lineup to Milan, with last week’s 23-player Olympic roster tapping both newcomers and seasoned veterans looking to avenge 2022’s silver medal finish.

• US hockey legend Hilary Knight has been selected to her fifth Winter Games, joining fellow mainstays Kendall Coyne Schofield and Lee Stecklein as just 11 players return from the team’s Beijing campaign.

• After falling just short of gold with an experienced group in Beijing, the roster heading to Milan features seven college players in addition to 16 PWHL professionals.

Fresh faces: The rest of the team focuses on young talent, including defender Laila Edwards, who will make history as USA Hockey’s first-ever Black woman Olympian.

• “It still hasn’t really kicked in yet. Getting that call is like a dream come true,” Edwards said.

• After falling just short of gold in Beijing, the 2026 roster features seven college players plus 16 PWHL players, balancing youth with experience.

Stay tuned: The US opens their Olympic campaign against Czechia on February 9th.

Quote of the day

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier
addressing the ongoing WNBA CBA negotiations from Unrivaled’s Season 2 tip-off on Monday.