Guru’s AP WBB Poll Report - Part 2: Summarizing the 2019-20 Season

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The Guru is a little later with this as originally promised, but now you can fill more time managing your quarantine.

And so, with season number 44, overall week number 788 concluded,  its time to run out the credits to the actors and actresses in the 20-week episode of the Associated Press Women’s Basketball Poll.

Of course, what’s different in the end unlike any previous season is that because of the cancellations caused by the coronavirus there is no national tournament crowning a champion played out once the final voting of the nationwide media panel was completed.

 There’s lots to discuss, here, however, with South Carolina’s first-ever finish at the final poll.

That gives coach Dawn Staley a unique distinction, joining Baylor coach Kim Mulkey as the only two to be No. 1 on final AP women’s polls as a player and a coach. 

Mulkey was on a Louisiana Tech team finishing No. 1 as a player besides coaching Baylor While Staley finished on a No. 1 ranked Virginia team in a final poll in her playing career.

While there were upsets galore, in the end sixteen teams in the preseason poll went wire-to-wire.

Seven teams that started season in the preseason poll were not there at the finish and a few drifted back in and out.

Notre Dame ends a 12-year Final Poll streak, including 10 straight in the Top10 and eight straight in the Top 5, including a string of five straight No. 2 rankings along the way.

The complete group and their preseason ranking were Texas 15, Notre Dame 16, Michigan State 17, Miami 18, Syracuse 21, Minnesota 23, and Michigan 25.

The Irish loss to Tennessee that got them booted also got the Lady Vols back in the fold for 13 weeks but now have a four-year missing streak in the final poll that followed a 40-year streak covering the first four decades.

The seven teams not ranked at the outset that made it to the end game were Northwestern, finishing 11^th, Arizona at 12^th, their best and first in several decades; Gonzaga at 13^th, South Dakota at 17^th, Iowa  at 21^th, Princeton at 22, and Missouri State at 23.

  In all, 37 made appearances from one to all 20 weeks and here is the roll call in descending order from total weekly appearances to a scant amount at the finish. (P-Preseason Poll, F-Final Poll)

PF-Baylor 20 

PF-Connecticut 20

PF-DePaul 20

PF-Florida State 20

PF-Indiana 20

PF-Kentucky 20

PF-Louisville 20

PF-Maryland 20

PF-Mississippi State 20

PF-North Caro. State 20

PF-Oregon 20

PF-Oregon State 20

PF-South Carolina 20

PF-Stanford 20

PF-Texas A&M 20

PF-UCLA 20

PF-Arkansas 19

F-Gonzaga 18

Missouri State 15

Tennessee 13

South Dakota 12

Iowa 10

Northwestern 9

West Virginia 9

Miami 8

Michigan 8

Michigan State 7

Princeton 6

Syracuse 4

Texas 4

South Florida 3

Minnesota 2

Notre Dame 2

LSU 1

TCU 1

Current Consecutive Final Poll Appearances to Date (Total No. 1s, Top 5s, Top 10s within the streak)

Connecticut 27 ’94-’20 (15-1s, 14-5s ‘07-’20, 26 10s, ’95-’20)

Stanford 19 ’02--‘20 (1-1s, 9-5s, 15-10s)

Baylor 17 ’04-’20 (3-1s, 12-5s, 13-10s)

Maryland 10 ’11-’20 (5-5s. 5-10s)

Louisville 9 ’12-’20 (3-5, 6-10s)

South Carolina 9 ’12-’20 (1-1s, 4-5s, 6-10s)

Florida State 6 ’15-‘20 (2-10s)

Mississippi State 6 ’15-’20 (2-5s, 4-10s)

Oregon State 6 ’15-’20 (3-10s)

UCLA 5 ’16-’20 (2-10s)

North Caro. St. 4 ’17-’20 (2-10s)

Oregon 3 ’18-’20 (1-5, 3-10s)

Texas A&M 3 ’18-’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Arizona State 2 ’19-’20 (0-5s. 0-10s)

DePaul 2 ’19-20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Gonzaga 2 ’19-’20 (0-5s 0-10s)

Iowa 2 ’19-’20 (0-5s, 1-10s)

Kentucky 2 ’19-’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Arizona 1 ’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Arkansas 1 ’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Indiana 1 ’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Missouri State 1’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Northwestern 1 ’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

Princeton 1 ’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

South Dakota 1 ’20 (0-5s, 0-10s)

No. 1 Current Consecutive Final Polls Finish

South Carolina 1

Top 5 Current Consecutive Final Polls Finish

Connecticut 14 ’07-‘20

Baylor 10 ’11-‘20

Maryland 1 ‘20

Oregon 1 ‘20

South Carolina 1 ‘20

Top 10 Current Consecutive Final Polls Finish

Connecticut 26 ’95-‘20

Baylor 10 ’11-20

Mississippi State 4 ’17-‘20

Louisville 3 ’18-20

Oregon 3 ’18-20

Maryland 2 ’19-‘20

North Carolina state 2 ’19-20

Stanford 2 ’19-20

South Carolina 1 ‘20

UCLA 1 ‘20

No. 1 Appearances During the 2019-20 Season

Oregon 4

Connecticut 3

Stanford 3

*-South Carolina 10

*-Current

Top 5 Appearances During the 2019-20 Season

Oregon 19

Connecticut 18

South Carolina 17

Baylor 14

Stanford 13

Louisville 8

Oregon St. 6

Maryland 3

North Carolina State 1

Texas A&M 1

Top Ten Appearances During the 2019-20 Season

Baylor 20

Connecticut 20

Louisville 20

Oregon 20

South Carolina 20

Stanford 20

Mississippi State 15

North Carolina State 15

UCLA 15

Oregon State 14

Maryland 11

Florida State 5

Texas A&M 

Total AP Final Women’s Poll No. 1 Appearances (15 Teams - 44 Years)

Connecticut	15
La. Tech	5
Tennessee	5
Texas	4
Baylor	3
Duke	2
ODU	2
Delta St.	1
North Caro.	1
Penn St.	1
Purdue	1
South Caro.	1
Stanford	1
Vanderbilt	1
Virginia	1

 

Total AP Final Women’s Poll Top 5 Appearances (47 Teams – 44 Years)

Tennessee	27
Connecticut	24
La. Tech	17
Stanford	16
Baylor	12
Maryland	10
Notre Dame	10
Texas	10
Old Dominion	9
Duke	7
Georgia	6
North Caro.	6
South Carolina	5
Southern Cal	4
Auburn	3
Cheyney	3
Louisville	3
LSU	3
Penn St.	3
Purdue	3
S. F. Austin	3
Colorado	2
Iowa	2
L. Beach St.	2
Mississippi St.	2
Ohio St.	2
Oklahoma	2
Texas Tech	2
Vanderbilt	2
Virginia	2
Xavier	2
C.S.-Fullerton	1
Delta St.	1
Immaculata	1
La.-Monroe	1
Mississippi U.	1
Montclair St.	1
Nebraska	1
North Caro. St.	1
Oregon	1
Rutgers	1
St. Joseph's	1
UCLA	1
UNLV	1
Washington	1
Way. Baptist	1
Western Ky.	1

 

Total AP Final Women’s Poll Top 10 Appearances (74 Teams – 44 Years)

Tennessee	35
Connecticut	27
Louisiana Tech	23
Stanford	23
Maryland	19
Duke	18
Texas	15
Baylor	14
Notre Dame	13
Georgia	12
Penn St.	12
Rutgers	12
Ohio St.	11
Old Dominion	11
Long Beach St.	10
Auburn	9
LSU	9
Iowa	8
Louisville	7
North Caro.	7
North Caro. St.	7
Purdue	7
South Carolina	7
Texas Tech	7
UCLA	7
Virginia	7
Southern Cal	6
Cheyney	5
Oklahoma	5
Steph. F. Austin	5
Texas A&M	5
Vanderbilt	5
Colorado	4
Mississippi St.	4
Mississippi U.	4
Iowa St.	3
Kansas St.	3
Oregon	3
Oregon St.	3
Wayland Baptist	3
Western Ky.	3
Alabama	2
Arizona St.	2
California	2
Delta St.	2
Florida St.	2
Kentucky	2
Miami	2
Montclair St.	2
West Virginia	2
Xavier	2
Arizona	1
Arkansas	1
Cal-St. Fullerton	1
Clemson	1
Colorado St.	1
Delaware	1
DePaul	1
Florida	1
Houston	1
Immaculata	1
Kansas	1
La.-Monroe	1
Michigan St.	1
Missouri St.	1
Nebraska	1
Queens	1
St. Joseph's	1
Tennessee Tech	1
UC Santa Barb.	1
UNLV	1
Valdosta St.	1
Washington	1
Wis.-Green Bay	1

To Total Final Poll Appearances (143 Teams – 44 Years)

Tennessee	40
Stanford	30
Connecticut	28
Texas	28
Maryland	26
Georgia	25
Louisiana Tech	25
North Caro. St.	25
Penn St.	23
Duke	22
Ohio St.	22
LSU	21
North Caro.	21
Baylor	20
Purdue	19
Iowa	18
Notre Dame	18
Old Dominion	18
Rutgers	17
Vanderbilt	17
Virginia	17
South Carolina	16
UCLA	16
Texas A&M	15
Texas Tech	15
Auburn	14
Long Beach St.	14
Mississippi U.	14
Iowa St.	13
Kentucky	13
Louisville	13
Oklahoma	13
Steph. F. Austin	13
Kansas St.	12
Southern Cal	12
Colorado	11
Arizona St.	10
Florida St.	10
Michigan St.	10
Oregon St.	10
Florida	9
Kansas	9
Western Ky.	9
Alabama	8
Clemson	8
Oregon	8
Washington	8
DePaul	7
Geo. Wash.	7
Miami	7
Wis.-Green Bay	7
Cheyney	6
Minnesota	6
Mississippi St.	6
Missouri	6
Northwestern	6
West Virginia	6
Arkansas	5
Boston College	5
California	5
Gonzaga	5
Nebraska	5
Oklahoma St.	5
UNLV	5
Xavier	5
Arizona	4
Bowling Green	4
Florida Intl.	4
St. Joseph's	4
Syracuse	4
UC Santa Barb.	4
Villanova	4
Colorado St.	3
Drake	3
Georgetown	3
Hawaii	3
James Madison	3
Marquette	3
Missouri St.	3
Montclair St.	3
Princeton	3
South Florida	3
Tulane	3
Utah	3
Wayland Baptist	3
BYU	2
Chattanooga	2
Delaware	2
Delta St.	2
Georgia Tech	2
Houston	2
Illinois	2
La Salle	2
La.-Monroe	2
Marist	2
Memphis	2
Mercer	2
Middle Tenn.	2
Montana	2
Northern Ill.	2
Providence	2
San Diego St.	2
Southern Conn.	2
Southern Ill.	2
Southern Miss.	2
TCU	2
Temple	2
Tenn. Tech	2
Valdosta St.	2
Vermont	2
Virginia Tech	2
Wisconsin	2
Belmont	1
Boise St.	1
Cal-St. Fullerton	1
Central Mo.	1
Cincinnati	1
Creighton	1
Dayton	1
Fla. Gulf Coast	1
Fordham	1
Hartford	1
Illinois St.	1
Immaculata	1
Indiana	1
Jackson St.	1
Lamar	1
Michigan	1
Mississippi Coll.	1
New Mexico	1
New Mexico St.	1
Pittsburgh	1
Queens	1
Rice	1
San Francisco	1
Seton Hall	1
South Dakota	1
South Dak. St.	1
Southeast La.	1
St. Bonaventure	1
St. John's	1
Toledo	1
UTEP	1

 

There will be a part three with overall 44 year history.