UCLA and South Carolina headline AP Top 25 women’s poll and are top seeds in NCAA Tournament

UCLA remained No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 on Monday one day after the Bruins earned the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

The Bruins head into March Madness with two losses, both coming to Southern Cal during the regular season. UCLA received 19 first place votes from the 32-member national media panel. South Carolina, the defending national champion, garnered eight first-place ballots as was No. 2.

UConn was third after winning the Big East Tournament championship over Creighton in the only game with ranked teams last week.

USC and Texas rounded out the top five and are also No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament that starts later this week.

TCU, Duke, Notre Dame and N.C. State were next. LSU was 10th.

The only change in the poll from last week was Creighton dropping one spot to 23rd, switching places with Florida State. There will be a final poll the day after the national championship game that will be played in Tampa, Florida, on April 6.

The Southeastern Conference has eight ranked teams. The ACC and Big 12 each have five while the Big Ten has four. The Big East has two and the Summit League one.

NCAA Tournament action starts Wednesday with play-in games.