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The Louisville women’s basketball team is up to No. 2 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, setting up a showdown between the nation’s top two teams Thursday night in South Bend.
Connecticut, previously ranked No. 1, lost on the road to Baylor last week, snapping the program’s 126-game regular season winning streak. The Huskies’ loss allowed the Cards to slide up to No. 2 and Notre Dame to jump to No. 1. That means the nation’s top two teams will meet Thursday night in a 7 p.m. game that will be carried by ESPN.
The Fighting Irish and the Cardinals are developing quite the rivalry. A season ago, Louisville smashed Notre Dame 100-67 in the regular season and then toppled them again (74-72) in the ACC tournament championship. A third meeting nearly happened in the national title game, but U of L was dealt a heartbreaking overtime loss to Mississippi State, the team Notre Dame wound up beating at the buzzer to earn Muffet McGraw her second national championship.
Thursday night should be a blast.
Here’s the first full poll of 2019:
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | FIRST PLACE | BALLOTS | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame | 715 | 12 | 30 | 2 |
| 2 | Louisville | 708 | 10 | 30 | 3 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 701 | 3 | 30 | 1 |
| 4 | Baylor | 687 | 5 | 30 | 8 |
| 5 | Oregon | 616 | 0 | 30 | 5 |
| 6 | Stanford | 609 | 0 | 30 | 6 |
| 7 | Mississippi State | 575 | 0 | 30 | 7 |
| 8 | North Carolina State | 536 | 0 | 30 | 9 |
| 9 | Maryland | 500 | 0 | 30 | 4 |
| 10 | Oregon State | 487 | 0 | 30 | 11 |
| 11 | Texas | 443 | 0 | 30 | 13 |
| 12 | Syracuse | 411 | 0 | 30 | 14 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 394 | 0 | 30 | 10 |
| 14 | Gonzaga | 318 | 0 | 30 | 17 |
| 15 | Marquette | 282 | 0 | 30 | 20 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 268 | 0 | 29 | 16 |
| 17 | Iowa | 253 | 0 | 27 | 19 |
| 18 | Minnesota | 186 | 0 | 28 | 12 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 167 | 0 | 26 | 22 |
| 20 | Iowa State | 163 | 0 | 30 | 25 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 162 | 0 | 24 | 23 |
| 22 | Florida State | 118 | 0 | 21 | NR |
| 23 | Michigan State | 103 | 0 | 23 | 15 |
| 24 | California | 101 | 0 | 20 | 18 |
| 25 | Indiana | 74 | 0 | 15 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Miami 44, Rutgers 41, Missouri 39, DePaul 23, Texas A&M 8, South Dakota 5, Central Michigan 3, Utah 2, Butler 2, Drake 2, Ohio 2, Virginia Tech 1, UCF 1.