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Projected WBB AP Top 25 after UConn suffers opening week loss

Down go the Huskies. How does that impact the AP poll?

Iowa v Connecticut | Joe Buglewicz/GettyImages

The first week of the women's college basketball season is behind us and the surprises were...well, not "aplenty," but there were a few upsets. Or, uhh...actually, there was only one real upset among the ranked teams, as the only ranked team to lose to a team ranked lower than it was UConn. That's right: UConn, which lost to Michigan this week.

How will that game impact the first in-season AP poll? Here's how Monday's poll might look.

Projected AP Top 25 women's college basketball rankings

1. South Carolina
2. USC
3. Michigan
4. Duke
5. UConn
6. Texas
7. Louisville
8. Vanderbilt
9. LSU
10. UCLA
11. Notre Dame
12. Iowa
13. Kentucky
14. TCU
15. Washington
16. Minnesota
17. Ohio State
18. Ole Miss
19. Oklahoma
20. Oklahoma State
21. Maryland
22. Illinois
23. West Virginia
24. North Carolina
25. Nebraska

Down goes UConn

UConn Huskies guard Jovana Popovic | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Obviously, the big story of the week is UConn losing. The Huskies went 38-1 last season, not losing a single game until the Final Four. They've already equaled last season's loss total in the first week of the season.

The offense fell apart in the 77-66 loss to Michigan. Jovana Popovic and Sarah Strong combined for 38 points, making them the only UConn players to score in double figures. Popovic led the team in field goal attempts, shooting 66.7 percent on 15 attempts; despite that, the team as a whole shot 41.5 percent, and was just 8-for-31 from deep. The loss exposed a potential issue with depth on this roster, though on the bright side, Popovic's play in her first collegiate season is encouraging.

UConn managed to bounce back with a win over Iowa, but even that one felt closer than you usually expect a UConn regular-season game to be. There's a massive drop-off right now after the team's two best players, and Geno Auriemma will need to someone to step up soon, as four of the team's next five games are against ranked opponents.

North Caroina's no-good, very-bad week

North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

North Carolina was supposed to be an ACC contender. The Tar Heels still could be, but the first week of the season didn't engender any confidence in the team.

The season-opening loss to Oklahoma is forgivable. UNC is figuring out how to use freshman Kate Harpring -- though 26 shot attempts in her first game might not be the way to use her -- and was facing a really good Sooners offense. Still, losing to Oklahoma in a game where you held Aaliyah Chavez to four made shots? Shooting 33.7 percent against a Sooners defense that usually isn't particularly good? Bad signs.

A much worse sign? The loss to South Carolina. The loss itself can be forgiven -- there's a world where we feel okay about an 0-2 UNC team if it's competitive against the best team in college basketball -- but the Tar Heels were just awful on Sunday, losing to the Gamecocks by 45 points. North Carolina scored just 39 points in the loss, with Reniya Kelly held scoreless. Harpring shot 18.8 percent. Something feels broken here, thought it could be as simple as Harpring needing a few easy games to get into a rhythm, which North Carolina Central and Penn are up next, so she might get that chance.

Long week for the Blue Devils

Duke Blue Devils forward Toby Fournier | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Duke is 2-0, but it's not a very convincing 2-0. Toby Fournier missed the season opener against Green Bay, and the result was a win that was much closer than you want to see from a team ranked in the top five, beating Green Bay 76-60. 

The team followed that up Sunday with a 22-point win against Florida Atlantic, though the Owls lost the second and third quarters by just four points. This was with Fournier back. The Blue Devils offense just seems to be stalling out, with the offense just 115th in the nation in points per game. The 3-point shooting hasn't been there, and the team has also struggled from the free-throw line. I'm not saying this is a UNC-level concern, but it's at least, like, a little bit of a concern.

Maybe the game against FAU was just weird, though. I mean, it wasn't even supposed to happen. Duke was set to face North Texas in San Antonio on Sunday, but the game was canceled in the days leading up to it and Duke added the Florida Atlantic game at the last second. That could have contributed to Duke's poor shooting inability to completely pull away until the final quarter. Duke has three more easy games in a row coming up, but a Columbia, UConn, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, UCLA, Texas and USC stretch to close out non-conference play is scary unless this team finds some additional shooting.

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