Two weeks into the college basketball season, the expected best teams in the nation are backing up the claim. No. 1 Connecticut (4-0) appears poised for an undefeated season, a feat it hasn’t reached since 2014. The fresh set of All-American starters for No. 2 South Carolina (4-0) are settling in nicely, earning “The Real SC” title in a win over Southern Cal. And No. 3 UCLA (5-0) swiftly dismantled two Associated Press top-15 squads already.
The more intriguing quandaries lie further down in the rankings. They’re the squads building toward chaos. Michigan, which ranked mid-10s in the first two weeks of the AP poll, may be a prime noisemaker. The Wolverines returned three starters and 67% of their scoring from a 2024-25 roster that finished fifth in the deep Big Ten. Their backcourt, while young, is one of the most talented in the nation and showing it early.
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Sophomore guard Syla Swords, named preseason All-Big Ten after a second-team regular season honor, gained valuable experience with Team Canada at the U19 World Cup. Sophomore guard Olivia Olson, the reigning conference Freshman of the Year, broke out as Michigan’s leading scorer. And sophomore Mila Holloway has nearly doubled her scoring production early in the season.
That trio combined for 43 points in a leave-no-doubt 93-54 win over then-No. 18 Notre Dame (3-1), cementing for now the preseason claim the Wolverines will challenge the Big Ten’s preeminent squads. It was the worst loss for Notre Dame in more than two decades. The “Shamrock Challenge” competitors last met in the second round of the NCAA tournament when a far-different looking Irish roster advanced, 76-55. Olson and Swords combined for 37, but Holloway was limited and the starting forwards combined for five points.
Yet another sophomore, guard Te’Yala Delfosse, could break out to further boost an impressive 2024 recruiting class by Kim Barnes Arico. Delfosse is still coming off the bench, as she did for 24 games a year ago, for more time and surged per-40 production. Though it’s a minuscule sample size, she’s shooting 60% from beyond the arc through three games.
“Delfosse is really doing a great job in the preseason,” Barnes Arico said in October during Michigan media day. “I know we saw that from her a little bit last year. She was a spark for us at times. I think freshman year is very challenging for anyone, so I think she’ll be a little bit more consistent this season.”
Michigan guard Olivia Olson is leading the Wolverines with 18.7 points per game this season. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
The frontcourt, which moves forward without veterans Greta Kampschroeder and Jordan Hobbs, can make or break Michigan (3-0). Ashley Sofilkanich, a 6-foot-3 junior from Bucknell who led the Patriot league in scoring (19.7); Alyssa Crockett, a 6-2 senior who never cracked nine minutes per game; and Kendall Dudley, a sophomore transfer from UCLA, are playing the most minutes at the position while Barnes Arico leans small.
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Upending Notre Dame, while impressive, doesn’t mean quite as much this November as it would have a season ago. The Fighting Irish lean too heavily on Hannah Hidalgo, a recipe that won’t always produce the results it did against Akron last week. Michigan will experience more size in UCLA and 6-foot-7 All-American Lauren Betts, stiffer defenses from teams like Vanderbilt, and squads more cohesive than Notre Dame within the Big Ten.
The next test for Michigan (after facing Binghamton on Tuesday) is UConn, a squad that bulked up in size this offseason, in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Friday (8 p.m. ET, Fox).
“Well, based on the little bit I’ve seen of Michigan, they will be, for sure, the best team we play this year,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said on Sunday following a 100-68 home win over Ohio State, Michigan’s Big Ten rival. “By a long shot, at this time in the season. They’re talented, they’re smart, they’re well-balanced, they play exceptionally well together [and] they’re really well coached.”
UConn’s non-conference schedule includes USC, Iowa and Tennessee. Whether 12-time NCAA champion Auriemma is merely motivating his squad early in the year by making such a bold claim is beside the point. Anyone facing Michigan this season will have it tough.
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“They’re not going to be an easy team to play against,” Auriemma said. “At all.”
Game of the Week: Iowa (4-0) vs Baylor (4-0)
Another team will drop from the undefeated rankings at the final buzzer of the WBCA Showcase, played Thursday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Hawkeyes point guard Chazadi Wright, a sophomore transfer from Georgia Tech, leads a balanced offensive attack that includes sophomore guard Ava Heiden and senior forward Hannah Stuelke. Baylor is seeking its second win over an AP-ranked squad after defeating Duke in a low-scoring affair on opening day. Transfer Taliah Scott is averaging 24.5 points per game, top-10 in Division I and the most of any transfer in the class.
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There are a slew of ranked matchups this weekend. Make a Friday night of it with USC (2-1) at Notre Dame (6 p.m ET, ESPN) followed by Michigan-UConn.
Players of the Week: Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Audi Crooks, Iowa State
Hidalgo took over in a packed stat line of 44 points, 16 steals, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. The Notre Dame guard was efficient (64%) in her attempts, and went 3-of-6 from the perimeter in a 85-58 win over Akron. The scoring total is the most of a player this season, and the most by a single player in Notre Dame history. The steals broke the program record, which she held, and the NCAA single-game record last tied in 2008 at 14.
The same day, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks exploded for 43 in a tight 20 minutes of game action during a 97-50 blowout of Valparaiso. The 6-3 junior center was 18 of 23, continuing an efficient start to the season (76.1%).
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Yahoo Sports’ AP Top 25 ballot
1. UConn
2. South Carolina
3. Texas
4. UCLA
5. LSU
6. Michigan
7. Maryland
8. Baylor
9. Tennessee
10. USC
11. TCU
12. Oklahoma
13. North Carolina
14. Iowa
15. NC State
16. Ole Miss
17. Louisville
18. Iowa State
19. Oklahoma State
20. West Virginia
21. Notre Dame
22. Kentucky
23. Duke
24. Michigan State
25. Vanderbilt
Official AP Top 25
1. UConn
2. South Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Texas
5. LSU
6. Michigan
7. Baylor
8. Oklahoma
9. Maryland
10. TCU
11. USC
12. Iowa State
13. Ole Miss
14. North Carolina
15. Tennesee
16. NC State
17. Vanderbilt
18. Oklahoma State
19. Iowa
20. Kentucky
21. Louisville
22. Michigan State
23. West Virginia
24. Notre Dame
25. Washington
