The Big Ten matched The Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball record with nine ranked teams as Nebraska entered at No. 24 on Monday.
The conference set the mark last year on Dec. 2 and this week has three teams in the top 10 alone.
UConn still is No. 1, receiving 23 first-place votes from a national media panel. Texas garnered the other nine votes to remain second.
The top 10 was unchanged this week. South Carolina and UCLA stayed third and fourth with LSU and Michigan next. Maryland was seventh after rallying to beat Minnesota in double overtime Sunday.
TCU, Oklahoma and Iowa State rounded out the first 10. The Cyclones play in-state rival No. 11 Iowa on Wednesday.
Other Big Ten teams in the poll include No. 16 USC, No. 20 Washington, No. 21 Ohio State and No. 25 Michigan State. The Cornhuskers are ranked for the second consecutive season after starting 9-0.
“I’ve been honored to be a part of this league for the last 13 seasons, working on year 14, where I’ve watched the league just get better and better,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “And then when you have that type of improvement, and then add the four West Coast teams that are tremendous as well, I just think it added another top four teams to an already great league.”
The 18th-ranked Lady Vols appeared in the poll for the 800th time in the 50-year history of the rankings. Tennessee had a stretch of being in the Top 25 for 565 straight weeks, a record later surpassed by UConn.
The Big Ten took over the top spot with nine teams while the Southeastern Conference was next with eight. The Big 12 has four and the Atlantic Coast Conference has three. The Big East has one.
The ACChad a rough week, going 3-13 against the SEC in the conference challenge. The ACC saw its run of having at least one top 10 team in every poll end earlier this season after 453 consecutive weeks.
No. 1 UConn at No. 16 Southern California, Saturday. The Huskies head across the country for one of the few ranked games left on their schedule. The two teams have met a few times over the last couple of seasons, including in the NCAA Tournament regional final in 2024 and 2025. UConn won both of those matchups while the Trojans were victorious in Connecticut during a regular-season game.
No. 2 Texas vs No. 13 Baylor, Sunday. The two former Big 12 rivals will tip-off in the Sprouts Farmers Market espnW Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas. The game will be played at the site of one of the two regionals for the NCAA Tournament.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51), Oregon forward Ehis Etute, second from left, Oregon guard Ari Long (14) and Oregon forward Angela Dugalić (32) reach for the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The apparent leader of a failed coup in Benin remained on the run and the fate of hostages remained unclear on Monday, a day after a group of soldiers attempted to overthrow the government of the West African nation.
The soldiers, calling themselves the Committee for Refoundation, stormed the national television station on Sunday morning. Led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, eight soldiers appeared in a broadcast announcing the removal of President Patrice Talon, dissolution of the government and suspension of state institutions.
Before the coup, Tigri was a member of Talon's protection detail. As an artillery officer, he commanded a National Guard battalion between 2023 and 2025.
By Sunday afternoon, the coup was foiled by Benin's military, supported by Nigerian air and ground forces, which launched attacks against fleeing mutineers. At least a dozen soldiers were arrested, while others remained at large. Tigri's whereabouts weren't known.
Calm returned to Cotonou, Benin’s administrative center, with soldiers on the streets.
Talon described the coup late Sunday as a “senseless adventure,” and said the situation was under control. He vowed to punish mutineers and ensure the safety of hostages, including some believed to be senior military officers. He didn't disclose their identities, and it wasn't clear how many were held.
The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said Sunday that it had deployed a standby force to Benin to help preserve democracy. The troops included personnel from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. The size of the force was unclear.
A Nigerian government spokesperson said in a statement that Talon had requested Nigeria’s help. It wasn't clear how many personnel or how much equipment had been deployed.
Nigeria and the ECOWAS regional bloc hadn't intervened in a member state since 2017, when it sent troops to Gambia to force then President Yahya Jammeh to vacate power following his election loss.
The bloc, led by Nigeria, tried to intervene in Niger after the country's 2023 coup. At that time, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu led the bloc. His threat to intervene if the junta didn't restore the ousted democratic government resulted in a standoff between the bloc and three junta-led countries, and they later left the bloc.
Analysts say Nigeria has a strategic interest in defending its borders, especially now, while it experiences a severe security crisis.
“The coup in Benin is one too many. Nigeria cannot afford to be encircled by hostile governments,” Oluwole Ojewale, a senior security researcher at Dakar-based Institute for Security Studies, told The Associated Press.
The attempted coup is the latest in a spate of coups that have rocked West Africa since 2020. Soldiers seized power last month in Guinea-Bissau after a disputed election result, following Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Guinea and Gabon among the countries that have experienced similar takeovers in the past five years.
Analysts say ECOWAS lacks consistency in its response. In Gabon and Guinea-Bissau, the bloc was less assertive, and it has watched some other leaders stay in office via constitutional changes.
“You can make the argument that Tinubu needed to show some strength in preserving democracy, but this now speaks to ECOWAS' double standard ... It would appear that there are certain presidents who are part of the club, and when they behave anyhow, nobody says anything,” said Cheta Nwanze, a partner at the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence geopolitical consultancy firm.
Despite a history of coups following its independence from France in 1960, Benin has enjoyed relative calm in the past two decades. The country is set to elect a new president in April, because Talon is set to leave office after a decade in power.
Soldiers ride in a military vehicle along a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo)
Soldiers ride in a military vehicle along a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
People on motorcycles pass by soldiers guarding a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
People gather near a roadway amid an attempted coup in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
FILE - Benin's President Patrice Talon attends a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
