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ESPN Senior Writer- Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women's college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women's basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
Feast Week is a wrap. Three top-five teams clashed in Las Vegas. Audi Crooks dropped a school-record 47 points.
One month into the 2025-26 women's college basketball season, we've already seen big-time matchups and outstanding individual performances. But things can change a lot during conference play, which for some leagues will begin this month.
Before then, we look at what we've learned so far on the road to Phoenix.
Last season's Final Four teams -- UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA -- all have shown they are the favorites to get back to the final weekend of the season. The Longhorns' back-to-back victories against the Bruins and Gamecocks in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas last week was the most impressive accomplishment by a team at this point.
But defending national champion UConn is still holding on to the top spot in the rankings and could be working on another perfect season. Here's what else we know -- so far.
Sarah Strong is even better than we thought -- and the player of the year front-runner
Entering the season as the favorite to win national player of the year sets a high bar, especially for a 19-year-old sophomore. Yet, Strong already seems to have burst through that ceiling. The distance between Strong and the next closest contenders -- Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, Texas' Madison Booker and UCLA's Lauren Betts -- seems to have grown.
The core numbers are great -- 18.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 57.1% shooting from the field. But Strong also leads the Huskies in steals (3.4), blocks (2.3) and is shooting 88.9% from the free throw line, which is what sets her apart.
As great as those statistics are, Strong won't lead the country in any particular category. She's too unselfish, her teammates are too good, and UConn has and will win in too many blowouts for Strong to play the minutes to accumulate numbers. That doesn't diminish her impact. The thoroughness of her game enhances it.
Strong is a big reason -- maybe the biggest -- why the Huskies win so decisively. Her 29-point, 13-rebound, 7-assist performance carried them to a 32-point win over Ohio State and rates as one of the best individual all-around games of the season.
Coach Geno Auriemma trusts the offense to run through her, which says plenty, and Strong doesn't appear to have a weakness. That she is already being discussed as being on her way to joining the long list of all-time UConn greats also speaks volumes. -- Creme
Texas is the biggest threat to UConn's repeat hopes
The Players Era Championship in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving was a Final Four-caliber event -- and the Longhorns beat previously unbeaten UCLA and South Carolina. Texas is now -- at least -- the clear No. 2 team behind the Huskies. Based on the quality of those wins, an argument could be made for the Longhorns as the nation's best team. Ten voters in the AP poll felt that way this week.
And Texas might be capable of even more.
The core has been excellent in the first month. Rori Harmon, who struggled at times last season after coming back from a knee injury, appears to be back to her All-America level. She dominated the Bruins guards and then hit the winner shot against South Carolina. Madison Booker remains a national player of the year contender, and Jordan Lee is much improved as a sophomore.
But Texas won in Las Vegas using only seven players. Injuries kept star freshman Aaliyah Crump and sophomore speedster Bryanna Preston on the sideline, and transfer Ashton Judd, a career 38.9% 3-point shooter in three years at Missouri, has yet to play. UConn has plenty of depth this season. The Longhorns should have some soon.
Defense is the constant in Austin. Harmon might be the best two-way guard in the country. Just keep an eye on the 3-point shooting. Judd should help and Lee looks much more confident on the perimeter, but the Longhorns were last in the country in 3-point rate a season ago and remain at No. 363 eight games into 2025-26. Of course, that was also good enough to get Texas to the Final Four. -- Creme
Michigan Wolverines vs. Detroit Mercy Titans: Game Highlights
Michigan and LSU are Final Four contenders
For the Wolverines, this assessment is based on how well they have played against good teams. For the Tigers, it's about how much talent they have shown despite not playing any team close to their level yet.
Michigan won 93-54 over Notre Dame on Nov. 15 in Detroit and is the only team so far to limit Notre Dame's Hidalgo, who shot 4-of-21 from the field for 12 points. Then the Wolverines gave No. 1 UConn its only challenge so far, falling 72-69 on Nov. 21 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Michigan's stellar sophomore class -- led by Olivia Olson, Syla Swords, Mila Holloway and Te'Yala Delfosse -- could take this team a long way in March.
The same could be said for the outstanding guards at LSU, led by Flau'jae Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley, ZaKiyah Johnson and Mikaylah Williams. The Tigers have set an NCAA record starting the season with eight consecutive games scoring 100 or more points. They are averaging 112 points with seven players averaging in double-figure scoring.
LSU ranks No. 290 in strength of schedule, so that must be taken into consideration. But we're still seeing a team that can pile up points, and with this many skilled perimeter players, LSU seems to be built for NCAA tournament success. -- Voepel
Washington State Cougars vs. LSU Tigers: Game Highlights
The ACC is having a down season
The first NET ratings of the season came out Monday. The ACC has only three teams -- North Carolina, Louisville and Stanford -- in the top 30. On the same date a year ago, that number was seven. The NET ranks the ACC as the country's fourth-best league, and the conference is much closer to fifth place (Big East) than it is to third place (Big 12). November was not kind to the conference.
NC State and Duke, picked as the ACC favorites in the preseason, are a combined 8-8, and each has suffered shocking losses -- NC State at home to Rhode Island; Duke at South Florida -- and sound defeats -- the Wolfpack lost by 10 in Raleigh to TCU; UCLA beat the Blue Devils by 30 in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving.
It doesn't end there. Virginia lost to UMBC; Stanford fell to Florida Gulf Coast; Virginia Tech was upset by James Madison; Notre Dame lost by 39 against Michigan; Pittsburgh was stunned by Division III Scranton.
The ACC has sent eight teams to the NCAA tournament each of the past three years. Right now, only four are sure things. Certainly, more than four will be in the field come March, but only one or two ACC teams in the top 16 looks like a possibility.
The Tar Heels have been good, with only one loss (to No. 4 UCLA), and they picked up three solid wins in Cancun over the weekend. NC State beat Tennessee in the season opener, and Notre Dame's win over USC was important. But after that, the big wins are hard to find. Louisville, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Miami have all had opportunities for résumé-building wins -- and came up short in all of them.
With much of the nonconference season gone, the chances to reverse important metrics like the NET and strength of schedule get more difficult. With so few ACC teams near the top of the NET, the wins against each other once conference play begins will have less value because of the rough November. -- Creme
Iowa State Cyclones vs. Marquette Golden Eagles: Game Highlights
TCU and Iowa State have separated themselves among Big 12 teams
Five teams are unbeaten in the conference; No. 8 TCU and No. 10 Iowa State stand out. The Horned Frogs, last season's Big 12 regular-season and tournament champions, have the most impressive victories: at NC State and vs. Richmond in the Cancun Challenge.
Transfers Olivia Miles (18.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG and 7.1 APG) and Marta Suarez (19.6 PPG, 23-of-53 from beyond the arc) are powering TCU. Donovyn Hunter, who joined TCU last season after playing her freshman year at Oregon State, is also excelling (13.9 PPG, 22-of-50 beyond the arc).
Iowa State's best victory was Sunday: 106-95 over Indiana in the Coconut Hoops Blue Heron Division championship game in Fort Myers, Florida. Junior center Audi Crooks scored a career-high 47 points, having set the school record previously this season with 43 vs. Valparaiso on Nov. 12. The Cyclones' biggest nonconference matchup is coming Dec. 10, when they host No. 12 Iowa.
The Big 12's other ranked teams -- No. 14 Baylor, No. 24 Oklahoma State and No. 25 West Virginia -- each have one loss and will be factors in the conference race. Texas Tech, Arizona State and Arizona are the other unbeatens, and we will get a better feel for them when the conference season begins. -- Voepel