The Michigan Wolverines women’s basketball team started their 2026-27 season on a tone nobody expected. In their season opener, Barnes Arico’s team defeated Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies in a historic win. Days later, another history followed them when the Associated Press released its Top 25 women’s basketball poll on Monday.

Michigan was ranked No. 5 in the preseason ranking, but after beating UConn in the season opener and Wright State in the second game, they moved up to 2nd place in AP’s latest poll. This is the Wolverines’ highest ranking ever, beating their previous highest when they were ranked 4th on Feb. 7, 2022. 

Under Arico, Michigan has shown a habit of beating top-ranked teams in the last few years. According to ESPN, in the last five years, the Wolverines have beaten top-five teams on three different occasions, UConn being their highest-ranked victim. But she has remained humble.

“To be in position today to beat Connecticut and be the No. 2 ranked team in the country, it’s just a credit to our players and credit to our staff,” Barnes Arico said following Michigan’s 77-66 win over Auriemma’s UConn. “To have an opportunity to be in the top five and beat the best program of all time this week was really special.”

In 2022, Michigan shocked 5th-ranked Indiana, and in the previous year, they topped another 5th-ranked team, Baylor. But Arico has proved to be Auriemma’s upsetter. In her team’s season-opener, her team snapped UConn’s 39-game winning streak. 14 years ago, she was head coach of St. John’s, which snapped UConn’s 99-game winning streak in 2012. The 109-52 win over Wright State marked the sixth time the Wolverines had scored at least 100 points against an opponent since the start of last season. It is the highest among Big Ten teams.

While UConn and Michigan dominate the conversation in the latest ranking, Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks have maintained their top spot. En route to their 2-0 record, they have beaten Maryland and North Carolina. South Carolina’s 45-point win against the Tar Heels is the largest win margin recorded by the Gamecocks against a Top 25 opponent. Of a 33-member national media panel, the Gamecocks received 32 first-place ballots. 

The USC Trojans were ranked third in preseason rankings, and they have maintained their position, supported by JuJu Watkins’ return. The Trojans have arguably the best depth of any team this season, and so far, they look like the team to beat, especially after Watkins’ latest game. 

In an 118-40 win over Utah State, Watkins recorded 32 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. She became the first player in a quarter century to record a game with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 steals. She had missed the entirety of last season with an ACL injury. USC’s season-opener against UNLV marked the first time Watkins played regular-season basketball since her scary injury in March 2025. She scored 21 points in the Trojans’ season opener.

The Huskies sliding to No. 4 is certainly not the end of their story, but their loss to Michigan was telling about their chemistry. After the game, Auriemma didn’t hold back his words, ripping his players for not responding to Michigan’s challenge.

“It’s not about the loss. It’s just disappointing to see how some of our players reacted when it was time to step up and make plays,” Auriemma said in his postgame press conference. “In the first quarter, we had 21 points, so did that zone [defense Michigan was playing] bother us? No. In the third quarter, we had 24 points. Did the zone bother us? No, so now how do you explain the second quarter and the fourth quarter?”

But the Huskies responded in the next game. They took down Iowa 91-79 to improve their record to 2-1 behind historic performance from Sarah Strong. She finished the game with 39 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.

Strong shot 15-of-26 from the field and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. She is the first player in Huskies history since 1999-2000 to score at least 35 points and 10 rebounds against a top-10 AP-ranked opponent.

Duke, Texas, Louisville, Vanderbilt and LSU took ‌fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth places, respectively. Defending champions UCLA and Iowa Hawkeyes were tied for 10th place.