Earlier this week, my colleague Isabel Gonzalez checked out some of the largest surprises at this level in the women’s college basketball season. Now it is my flip to take a stab at the largest disappointments — which, let’s face it, is not fairly as enjoyable! However, it is vital to take inventory of the place we’re in comparison with the place we thought we would be.
The excellent news for all of these figures on our listing? There’s nonetheless a month of the common season left, and, as historical past has taught us, March is full of insanity. This is way from the ultimate phrase on these seasons.
Without additional caveats, listed below are my largest disappointments of the season.
The ACC
I imply, actually, the place else is there to start out? I had so many ACC groups on my lengthy listing of disappointments that I made a decision the complete convention simply wanted to be placed on blast.
At the starting of the season, there have been two ACC groups in the prime 10 and 5 whole in the AP prime 25: Duke at No. 7, NC State at No. 9, North Carolina at No. 11, Notre Dame at No. 15 and Louisville at No. 20, with Stanford additionally receiving votes. By Week 3, there have been zero groups in the prime 10 and by Week 5, solely three ACC groups have been left in the rankings. Louisville climbed into the prime 10 by Week 9, however solely two ACC groups have been ranked in the prime 25 since then. (As a comparability, this week the SEC had a report 10 groups in the ballot, the Big Ten had seven and the Big 12 had 4.) It’s been bleak, associates. Right now, CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel solely initiatives that one ACC workforce — sure, Louisville — will get a coveted top-four seed.
Louisville is the solely workforce that may actually be mentioned to have surpassed expectations; everybody else has both held courtroom or been a dud.
The three largest disappointments in the convention come from my house state of North Carolina. Last season, Duke, North Carolina and NC State all hosted video games in the first spherical of the NCAA Tournament and superior to the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, Duke and North Carolina confronted off in the Sweet 16 — in a sport that we don’t communicate of — and Duke was the lone workforce to make it to the Elite Eight. But nonetheless: It was a fairly good 12 months and in the preseason ballot, all three have been in the prime 11.
However, preseason convention favorites Duke began the season 3-6. Now, head coach Kara Lawson scheduled a very tough nonconference schedule, so 4 of these losses got here to No. 16 Baylor, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 LSU. But there have been nonetheless some extraordinarily low factors — a highway loss to South Florida and an embarrassing efficiency at West Virginia, when the Blue Devils misplaced regardless of seven Mountaineers getting ejected earlier than halftime, leaving West Virginia with solely 5 obtainable gamers the complete second half.
NC State additionally had an identical story — partly as a result of of a tricky nonconference schedule, and partly as a result of of underperformance, the Wolfpack obtained off to a 5-4 begin that included a humiliating house loss in opposition to Rhode Island. North Carolina did not stumble out of the gates as a lot — it began the season 10-2, with the solely losses benign to No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Texas — however has sputtered since. Home time beyond regulation losses to Louisville and Stanford and a humbling displaying on the highway in opposition to Notre Dame have put the Tar Heels on the outdoors of the prime 25 trying in.
But this is not a one-state drawback, both. Stanford and Cal have failed to enhance their prospects considerably throughout their second 12 months in the ACC, Clemson is feisty however inconsistent, Florida State is in free-fall in the post-Ta’Niya Latson period and Notre Dame is a catastrophe that not even Hannah Hidalgo can clear up. And the drawback compounds itself; since so few groups have been ranked as soon as convention play started, Quad 1 wins have grow to be onerous to rack up. Overall, a convention that was as soon as a proud women’s basketball haven is now being left in the mud by the SEC and Big Ten.
If you want some hope, although, it isn’t as onerous to return by because it was a pair of weeks in the past. Duke has achieved an awesome job steadying itself after the rocky begin and is at present on an 11-game successful streak and ranked in the prime 20 — Groel has it as a No. 5 seed in the newest CBS projections, that means it might probably host in first spherical. NC State and North Carolina each acquired votes in the newest AP ballot, too, and there are 11 ACC groups in the prime 50 in NET. The convention might be represented in the NCAA Tournament, but it surely’s unlikely it will likely be a drive.
Iowa State in convention play
Just one month in the past, at the finish of 2025, the Iowa State Cyclones have been 14-0 and Audi Crooks seemed like the greatest participant in the nation. While sure, their nonconference schedule was hardly a assassin’s row, they did decide up a really spectacular 74-69 win over then-No. 11 Iowa in December and their No. 2 standing in the Big 12 preseason media ballot seemed prefer it may need been conservative.
But then the calendar switched to 2026 and every thing modified. In January, the Cyclones went on a five-game convention shedding streak, falling to No. 22 Baylor and unranked Cincinnati, West Virginia, Colorado and Oklahoma State in fast succession. The Cyclones went from being ranked No. 10 in the AP ballot to being unranked in the span of three weeks. While Crooks nonetheless put up spectacular offensive numbers in most video games, her defensive liabilities have been uncovered and exploited, and the relaxation of the workforce seemed misplaced.
Now, accidents are an enormous half of this tough patch. Junior ahead Addy Brown has been out since the second sport in January with a lower-body damage and there’s no timetable for her return and Arianna Jackson missed a pair of weeks with a knee damage. The Cyclones have gained three video games in a row this week, so issues are headed again in the proper course. But that five-game shedding streak will hang-out them when it comes time for seedings in March and what as soon as seemed appreciated a season to recollect has actually misplaced its shine.
Indiana
There have been just a few Big Ten groups I contemplated highlighting right here, most notably USC, a workforce that has gone 1-6 in January and is thirteenth in the Big Ten standings a month into convention play. But with JuJu Watkins out, this was all the time going to be a tough season for the Trojans.
I went with Indiana, a workforce coming off six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and that has three Sweet 16 and one Elite Eight appearances since 2021.
The Hoosiers are nonetheless winless in Big Ten play. That’s 0-9. They are on an eight-game shedding streak and this week, they misplaced to Purdue for the first time since 2016. The vivid spot is Shay Ciezki, who leads the Big Ten with 23.6 factors per sport, however that is it. Expectations weren’t excessive this season after shedding 4 of 5 starters, however that is an embarrassing season for a proud program.
The constructive? The Hoosiers have an awesome recruiting class subsequent 12 months, Teri Moren is a wonderful coach and issues actually cannot get a lot worse from right here.
