8 minute read
Final Polls
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mel Greenberg began the Associated Press Women’s Basketball Top 20 poll at the start of the 1976-77 season.
What began as a nationwide panel of 34 coaches now numbers 44 and represents all geographical areas of the nation as well as every conference. In 1989-90 the poll increased from 20 to 25 teams. Below is a history and indepth look at Louisiana Tech’s prominence in the poll.
Advertisement
In the course of winning three national titles, advancing to eight championship games, earning 13 Final Four appearances and dominating the women’s game, Louisiana Tech has been a household name in women’s basketball ... just ask the AP Voters. Tech in the Top 25: 443 weeks Tech in the Top 5: 279 weeks Tech in the Top 10: 371 weeks Tech Debut in the poll: Feb. 15, 1978 at No. 20 Tech Debut in the Top 10: Jan. 16, 1979 at No. 8 Tech Debut at No. 1: Dec. 25, 1979 Longest Streak in Top 25: 220 weeks (Nov. 24, 1992 to present) Longest streak at No. 1: 36 weeks (Nov. 25, 1980 to March 27, 1982)
Total Weeks Ranked:
No. 1: 83 weeks No. 2: 56 weeks No. 3: 47 weeks No. 4: 63 weeks No. 5: 30 weeks No. 6: 28 weeks No. 7: 21 weeks No. 8: 27 weeks No. 9: 6 weeks No. 10: 10 weeks No. 11: 15 weeks No. 12: 12 weeks No. 13: 6 weeks
Final Polls
(Note: 1986 marked the first year for the USA Today poll).
1978-79 (34-4)
Associated Press
1. Old Dominion 2. LA TECH 3. Tennessee 4. Texas 5. S F Austin 6. UCLA 7. Rutgers 8. Maryland 9. Cheyney State 10. Wayland Bapt. 1979-80 (40-5)
Associated Press
1. Old Dominion 2. Tennessee 3. LA TECH 4. South Carolina 5. S F Austin 6. Maryland 7. Texas 8. Rutgers 9. Long Beach St 10. NC State 1980-81 (34-0)
Associated Press
1. LA TECH 2.Tennessee 3. Old Dominion 4. Southern Calif 5. Cheyney State 6. Long Beach St 7. UCLA 8. Maryland 9. Rutgers 10. Kansas
Final Four at Greensboro, N.C.
LA TECH Old Dominion Tennessee UCLA
Final Four at Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
LA TECH Old Dominion Tennessee South Carolina
Final Four at Eugene, Ore.
LA TECH Tennessee Old Dominion Southern Calif 1981-82 (35-1)
Associated Press
1. LA TECH 2. Cheyney State 3. Maryland 4. Tennessee 5. Texas 6. Southern Calif 7. Old Dominion 8. Rutgers 9. Long Beach St 10. Penn State
Final Four at Norfolk, Va.
LA TECH Cheyney State Maryland Tennessee 1982-83 (31-2)
Associated Press
1. Southern Calif. 2. LA TECH 3. Texas 4. Old Dominion 5. Cheyney State 6. Long Beach St 7. Maryland 8. Penn State 9. Georgia 10. Tennessee
Final Four at Norfolk, Va.
LA TECH Southern Calif Old Dominion Georgia 1983-84 (30-3)
Associated Press
1. Texas 2. LA TECH 3. Georgia 4. Old Dominion 5. Southern Calif 6. Long Beach St 7. Kansas State 8. LSU 9. Cheyney State 10. Mississippi
Final Four at Los Angeles, Calif.
LA TECH Southern Calif Cheyney State Tennessee No. 14: 10 weeks No. 15: 3 weeks No. 16: 3 weeks No. 17: 5 weeks No. 18: 2 weeks No. 19: 2 weeks No. 20: 5 weeks No. 21: 2 weeks No. 22: 1 week No. 23: 3 weeks No. 24: 3 weeks No. 25: 2 weeks
1984-85 (29-4)
Associated Press
1. Texas 2. Northeast La 3. Long Beach St 4. LA TECH 5. Old Dominion 6. Mississippi 7. Ohio State 8. Georgia 9. Penn State 10. Auburn
Final Four at Austin, Texas
Northeast La Old Dominion Georgia W Kentucky
1985-86 (27-5)
Associated Press
1. Texas 2. Georgia 3. So. Calif. 4. LA TECH 5. W. Kentucky 6. Virginia 7. Auburn 8. Long Beach St. 9. LSU 10. Rutgers
USA Today
1. Texas 2. So. Calif. 3. W. Kentucky 4. Georgia 5. Tennessee 6. Mississippi 7. LA TECH 8. LSU 9. Auburn 10. Rutgers
Final Four at Lexington, Ky.
Texas Southern Calif. W. Kentucky Tennessee 1986-87 (30-3)
Associated Press
1. Texas 2. Auburn 3. LA TECH 4. Long Beach St. 5. Rutgers 6. Georgia 7. Tennessee 8. Mississippi 9. Iowa 10. Ohio State
USA Today
1. Tennessee 2. LA TECH 3. Texas 4. Long Beach St. 5. Rutgers 6. Auburn 7. Iowa 8. Ohio State 9. Georgia
Final Four at Austin, Texas
LA TECH Texas Long Beach St. Tennessee 1987-88 (32-2)
Associated Press
1. Tennessee 2. Iowa 3. Auburn 4. Texas 5. LA TECH 6. Ohio State 7. Long Beach St. 8. Rutgers 9. Maryland 10. Virginia
USA Today
1. LA TECH 2. Auburn 3. Tennessee 4. Long Beach St. 5. Texas 6. Iowa 7. Virginia 8. Maryland 9. Ohio State 10. Georgia
Final Four at Tacoma, Wash.
LA TECH Tennessee Auburn Long Beach St. 1988-89 (32-4)
Associated Press
1. Tennessee 2. Auburn 3. LA TECH 4. Stanford 5. Maryland 6. Texas 7. Long Beach St. 8. Iowa 9. Colorado 10. Georgia
USA Today
1. Tennessee 2. Auburn 3. Maryland 4. LA TECH 5. Stanford 6. Texas 7. Long Beach St. 8. Mississippi 9. Ohio State 10. NC State
Final Four at Tacoma, Wash.
LA TECH Tennessee Auburn Maryland 1989-90 (32-1)
Associated Press
1. LA TECH 2. Stanford 3. Washington 4. Tennessee 5. Nevada-Las Vegas 6. S. F. Austin 7. Georgia 8. Texas 9. Auburn 10. Iowa
USA Today
1. Stanford 2. Auburn 3. Virginia 4. LA TECH 5. Tennessee 6. Texas 7. Washington 8. Arkansas 9. S. F. Austin 10. NC State
Final Four at Knoxville, Tenn.
LA TECH Stanford Virginia Auburn 1992-93 (26-6)
Associated Press
1. Vanderbilt 2. Tennessee 3. Ohio State 4. Iowa 5. Texas Tech 6. Stanford 7. Auburn 8. Penn State 9. Virginia 10. Colorado
USA Today
1. Texas Tech 2. Ohio State 3. Iowa 4. Vanderbilt 5. Tennessee 6. Virginia 7. Stanford 8. LA TECH 9. Colorado 10. Auburn
Final Four at Atlanta, Ga.
Texas Tech Ohio State Iowa Vanderbilt 1993-94 (31-4)
Associated Press
1. Tennessee 2. Penn State 3. Connecticut 4. North Carolina 5. Colorado 6. LA TECH 7. USC 8. Purdue 9. Texas Tech 10. Virginia
USA Today
1. North Carolina 2. LA TECH 3. Purdue 4. Alabama 5. Tennessee 6. Penn State 7. Connecticut 8. Stanford 9. So. California 10. Colorado
Final Four at Richmond, Va.
LA TECH North Carolina Purdue Alabama
1994-95 (28-5)
Associated Press
1. Connecticut 2. Colorado 3. Tennessee 4. Stanford 5. Texas Tech 6. Vanderbilt 7. Penn State 8. LA TECH 9. W. Kentucky 10. Virginia
USA Today
1. Connecticut 2. Tennessee 3. Stanford 4. Georgia 5. Colorado 6. Virginia 7. Texas Tech 8. Vanderbilt 9. Purdue 10. LA TECH
Final Four at Minneapolis, Minn.
Connecticut Stanford Tennessee Georgia 1995-96 (31-2)
Associated Press
1. LA TECH 2. Connecticut 3. Stanford 4. Tennessee 5. Georgia 6. Old Dominion 7. Iowa 8. Penn State 9. Texas Tech 10. Alabama
USA Today
1. Tennessee 2. Georgia 3. Connecticut 4. Stanford 5. LA TECH 6. Virginia 7. Vanderbilt 8. Auburn 9. Iowa 10. Old Dominion
Final Four at Charlotte, N.C.
Tennessee Georgia Connecticut Stanford 1996-97 (31-4)
Associated Press
1. Connecticut 2. Old Dominion 3. Stanford 4. North Carolina 5. LA TECH 6. Georgia 7. Florida 8. Alabama 9. LA State 10. Tennessee
USA Today
1. Tennessee 2. Old Dominion 3. Stanford 4. Connecticut 5. Notre Dame 6. Florida 7. Georgia 8. LA TECH 9. North Carolina 10. G. Washington
Final Four at Cincinnati, Ohio
Tennessee Old Dominion Notre Dame Stanford 1997-98 (31-4)
Associated Press
1. Tennessee 2. Old Dominion 3. Connecticut 4. LA TECH 5. Stanford 6. Texas Tech 7. North Carolina 8. Duke 9. Arizona 10. NC State
USA Today
1. Tennessee 2. LA TECH 3. North Carolina 4. NC State 5. Connecticut 6. Old Dominion 7. Arkansas 7. Duke 9. Arizona 10. Texas Tech
Final Four at Kansas City, Kan.
Tennessee LA TECH Arkansas NC State 1998-99 (30-3)
Associated Press
1. Purdue 2. Tennessee 3. LA TECH 4. Connecticut 5. Old Dominion 6. Texas Tech 7. Colorado State 8. Notre Dame 9. Rutgers 10. Clemson
USA Today
1. Purdue 2. Tennessee 3. LA TECH 4. Connecticut 5. Old Dominion 6. Texas Tech 7. Colorado State 8. Notre Dame 9. Rutgers 10. Clemson
Final Four at San Jose, Calif.
Purdue LATECH Duke Georgia 1999-2000 (31-3)
Associated Press
1. Connecticut 2. Tennessee 3. LA TECH 4. Georgia 5. Notre Dame 6. Penn State 7. Iowa State 8. Rutgers 9. UC-Santa Barbara 10. Duke
USA Today
1. Connecticut 2. Tennessee 3. Penn State 4. Rutgers 5. Georgia 6. LA TECH 7. Texas Tech 8. Louisiana State 9. Notre Dame 10. Iowa State
Final Four at Philadelphia, Penn.
Connecticut Tennessee Rutgers Penn State 2000-01 (31-5)
Associated Press
1. Connecticut 2. Notre Dame 3. Tennessee 4. Georgia 5. Duke 6. LA TECH 7. Oklahoma 8. Iowa State 9. Purdue 10. Vamderbilt
USA Today
1. Notre Dame 2. Purdue 3. Connecticut 4. SW Mo. St. 5. Tennessee 6. LA TECH 7. Vanderbilt 8. Duke 9. Xavier 10. Oklahoma
Final Four at Kansas City, Mo.
Notre Dame Purdue Connecticut SW Missouri Stat
2001-2002 (25-5)
Associated Press
1. Connecticut 2. Oklahoma 3. Duke 4. Vanderbilt 5. Stanford 6. Tennessee 7. Baylor 8. LA TECH 9. Purdue 10. Iowa State
USA Today
1. Connecticut 2. Oklahoma 3. Tennessee 4. Duke 5. Vanderbilt 6. South Carolina 7. Old Dominion 8. Stanford 9. Colorado 10. Kansas State
Final Four at San Antonio, Texas
Connecticut Oklahoma Tennessee Duke 2002-2003 (31-3)
Associated Press
1. Connecticut 2. Duke 3. LSU 4. Tennessee 5. Texas 6. LA TECH 7. Texas Tech 8. Kansas State 9. Stanford 10. Purdue
USA Today
1. Connecticut 2. Tennessee 3. Texas 4. Duke 5. LSU 6. Texas Tech 7. Purdue 8. Villanova 9. LA TECH 10. Kansas State
Final Four at Atlanta, Ga.
Connecticut LSU Tennessee Duke
