Who are the 12 undefeated women's college basketball teams, and who can remain unbeaten?
SOURCE:The Athletic|BY:Sabreena Merchant
Sabreena Merchant breaks down the unbeatens and their key stats. Can anyone take down UConn, Texas, LSU or TCU?
The holiday break made this a particularly light week in college basketball, with only two days of games between Division I opponents. In light of the lack of major changes, we’re going to eschew power rankings this week and instead focus on 12 teams that have finished the first eight weeks of the season unscathed.
Here is one stat about each of the remaining undefeated teams, in order of Net Rating. See you in 2026 with a return to the traditional format.
UConn (13-0), No. 1 Net Rating
The Huskies always boast an impressive collection of individual talent, but the beauty of UConn is how well the players work together. In the history of the Her Hoop Stats database, which dates back to the 2009-10 season, the Huskies have been top-five in assists per game in all but two seasons. They’re back atop the charts in 2025-26, averaging 24.3 assists per game, which would be a program record. It’s currently the second-highest average in Division I history behind Villanova’s 24.7 assists per game in 1986-87. Moving the ball tends to equate with success at UConn; the first time it averaged at least 20 assists was in 1995, the year of the Huskies’ national title. The next time was in 2000, when the program won its second national championship. Unlike the other statistics that will populate this list, UConn’s marks have a decent chance of holding up because the Huskies have already played the most challenging stretch of their schedule.
Texas (15-0), No. 3
A two-fer for Texas, the winningest team in the NCAA at 15-0. First, despite Jordan Lee’s ascension as a sophomore — she leads the Longhorns in minutes and is making 38.8 percent of her 5.7 3-point attempts per game — the Longhorns have the nation’s lowest 3-point attempt rate. For the second consecutive season! Coach Vic Schaefer has a style, and that’s the way Texas plays. Their lack of long-distance success hasn’t mattered for a variety of reasons; chief among them, they own the possession game. Texas attempts 19.9 more field goals per game than its opponents. That is the largest margin in the NCAA over the last 15 years.
LSU (14-0), No. 5
Like their SEC compatriots, the Tigers have boasted a field-goal attempt advantage (17.6 per game) through the nonconference schedule. But LSU also has an efficiency advantage. It’s shooting 23.4 percent better than opponents. Six rotation players are shooting at least 60 percent on 2-pointers. One of the exceptions, Flau’jae Johnson, is simply making more than 50 percent of her 3-pointers to compensate. The efficiency margin is schedule-aided; only one Tigers’ opponent has topped shooting 40 percent from the field, but that’s the only opponent in the top 90 of the Net Ratings (Duke).
TCU (13-0), No. 9
Seventeen players have posted a triple-double this season. TCU has the only player with multiple triple-doubles in Olivia Miles, who is the active NCAA leader with nine. The Horned Frogs are also the only team with two players to achieve that feat; for good measure, Miles and Marta Suárez did so in the same game. That is the second time teammates have each recorded a triple-double. Miles and Suárez are also one of four pairs of teammates to both average at least 18 points per game, joining UConn’s Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong, Fairfield’s Meghan Andersen and Kaety L’Amoreaux, and Penn State’s Gracie Merkle and Kiyomi McMiller.
Brenda Frese knows how to coach offense. Since 2012, the Terrapins have finished in the top 20 of offensive rating in all but two seasons — and in one of those seasons, they ended 21st. Defense has been a different story. Maryland hasn’t even been in the top 150 in defensive rating since 2020. So far, these Terrapins have bucked the trend. Per CBB Analytics, Maryland ranks sixth in defensive rating, allowing 72.5 points per 100 possessions. The Terrapins’ pressure has forced turnovers on more than a quarter of opposing possessions, they control the defensive glass, and they score a lot, which allows them to set their defense. A minor concern is that Maryland’s worst defensive performance by far came in its lone Big Ten game of the season against Minnesota.
Nebraska (12-0), No. 11
Speaking of Big Ten offenses that could give the Terrapins difficulty, here comes Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are the country’s best 2-point shooting team, making 61.3 percent of their field-goal attempts inside the arc. They are particularly deadly inside the charge circle, converting 73.4 percent of those attempts. That’s like a full team of Audi Crookses. And it’s not as if Nebraska doesn’t get to the rim frequently. The Cornhuskers take 36.1 percent of their field goals in the restricted area. If defenses force them outside of the paint, they’re fantastic from the midrange, making 52.3 percent of those jumpers, more than 20 percent better than the national average. With Britt Prince, Amiah Hargrove and Petra Bozan each making at least 60 percent of their 2s, Nebraska poses a myriad of defensive challenges.
Vanderbilt (13-0), No. 14
The Commodores were decimated in the transfer portal last season, losing two of their three leading scorers in Khamil Pierre and Iyana Moore. They returned only one rotation player alongside freshman sensation Mikayla Blakes. Blakes has responded by doing a little bit more of everything. In fewer minutes, Blakes is averaging more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks while committing fewer turnovers and fouls. She’s also improved her field-goal percentage from 45.6 to 46.8 percent. Blakes is on pace for a near-unprecedented two-way season. The only other power conference player to average at least 20 points, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals in the last 15 years is Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, who incidentally, is on track to do so for the third time in 2025-26. That’s good company for Blakes.
Iowa State (13-0), No. 17
This statistic has come up before, but it’s so impressive it bears repeating: Crooks is the only women’s basketball player this century (college or pros) to average more points than minutes, currently 28.9 points in 26.1 minutes per game. Unsurprisingly, Crooks’ efficiency is also off the charts, as she is fifth in the country in field-goal percentage (72.3 percent). She is the second player since 2019 to average at least 20 points while making at least 70 percent of her shots, joining in-state rival Megan Gustafson, who won the Naismith Award when she did so in 2019. Crooks lags behind Gustafson in the rebounding department (5.9 to 13.3), and any path to national Player of the Year honors goes through UConn’s Strong, but this has been an All-American campaign regardless for the junior center.
Texas Tech (14-0), No. 22
The Big 12 doesn’t award a most improved player, but if it did, Jalynn Bristow would be an ideal candidate. No player in the conference has increased her scoring average from last season more than Bristow. The 6-foot-2 wing was barely an offensive factor in 2024-25, averaging 3.7 points per game for the Red Raiders. Now, she’s scoring 13.6. Bristow has also increased her block, steal and rebound rates for Texas Tech. In the transfer portal era, it wouldn’t be uncommon for Bristow to try to find a better fit elsewhere after she struggled as a sophomore. Under the same coach, in the same system, Bristow is a dramatically changed player who is attempting to end the Red Raiders’ decade-plus NCAA Tournament drought.
Alabama (14-0), No. 27
The Crimson Tide are the only undefeated team with a negative field-goal attempt margin, meaning they take fewer field goals per game than their opponents. Though many other teams optimize the number of possessions by attacking the offensive glass, forcing turnovers (often with a press) or pushing the tempo in transition, Alabama doesn’t really do any of this. The Crimson Tide are painfully slow, in the bottom fifth nationwide in pace, and average only 8.9 fast-break points. As a result, Alabama is incredibly reliant on its shooting efficiency. Its true shooting percentage is 57.6 percent, ranking in the 95th percentile, and its opposing true shooting percentage of 40.8 ranks in the 99th percentile. If Alabama finds itself in a shootout, it isn’t creating enough extra shots to generate an advantage.
Georgia (13-0), No. 39
The Bulldogs are a young team with sophomores as their three leading scorers (Georgia Tech transfer Dani Carnegie, Trinity Turner and Riley Theuerkauf). And they’re relatively inexperienced, because the nonconference schedule did very little to test Georgia. The Bulldogs’ current strength of schedule is 344th in Division I, and there are only 363 teams. Georgia gets one more cupcake against Charleston Southern before the SEC gauntlet opens against Ole Miss, with South Carolina and LSU coming soon after.
Arizona State (14-0), No. 42
The Sun Devils are tied for the best record in college basketball and the second-longest win streak in the country behind UConn, but that schedule includes zero Quad 1 wins. Arizona State has nine wins against Quad 4 opponents, which has padded its best start in program history. The Sun Devils will have plenty of opportunities to beef up their resume as they seek their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019; six Quad 1 games remain. However, all of them are on the road.
