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I dont think its up for discussion who No. 1 is. Louisville, Stanford, N.C. State, Mississippi State and UCLA rounded out the first 10 teams, which were unchanged from the previous poll. Before this season, South Carolina had never finished the season higher than No. 3. The Gamecocks topped the Top 25 the final 10 weeks of a season cut short before the NCAA Tournament by concerns about spreading the coronavirus pandemic. The AP has always released The AP final poll of the season before the start of the tournament that settles the national championship. Staley said she wasnt sure if The Gamecocks might recognize this achievement next year with a banner or something else since there was no tournament. I want to highlight our year. Only fitting for our seniors, only fitting for our team we put together, she said. Fitting to recognize what was accomplished this year for us. The Ducks, led by star Sabrina Ionescu, were ranked No. 1 for four weeks during the season. Their previous best finish in the poll was sixth two seasons ago. Its really neat. Going into the tournament we had the strongest resume and were playing really, really well, Ducks coach Kelly Graves said. UConns final ranking was its lowest since the team finished eighth in the last poll of the 2005-06 season. UConn had been four or higher every season since. Northwestern, which shared the regular-season Big Ten title, was 11th. Its the best finish for the Wildcats ever, topping their 13th-place ranking in 1990. Its only the sixth time in school history the team was ranked in the final poll. Its been a wild ride, Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said. Weve had so many people enjoy watching the program this year and see it grow. Im sad we didnt get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, but we have a great young group. CONFERENCE DOMINANCE The Pac-12 has been the top conference in the poll all season and finished with three teams in the first 10 and six in the Top 25. I feel like we have been doing that for a while now. I think back to four years ago, I think the conference statistically might have been a little stronger throughout that year, 2017.