How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: South Carolina continues record-breaking dominance

For the 15th consecutive week, South Carolina is No. 1 on my ballot.

This isn't a surprise, but it's something we should take a moment to appreciate. In my three years of voting in the AP Top 25, I can count on one hand how many weeks the Gamecocks have not been in the top spot on my ballot.

On Sunday, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley's statue, which will stand across from the South Carolina State House where a Confederate flag once stood, was unveiled during College GameDay. The bronze statue shows Staley on a ladder. She's wearing her national championship hat and raising a freshly cut net.

Then her Gamecocks beat Georgia, which set the record for consecutive regular-season SEC wins at 43. Consider, for a moment, how far that stretches. South Carolina hasn't lost an SEC matchup since the first night of conference play in the 2021-22 season. It was a one-point overtime loss on the road to Missouri on Dec. 30, 2021.

The Gamecocks haven't dropped an SEC regular-season game since. It's a feat that feels almost impossible in a league like the SEC, and it's even more impressive that South Carolina broke it this season with a young team with a new starting lineup.

There wasn't much movement on my ballot this week with a somewhat calmer week across the country. My top five remained the same, with Stanford, NC State, Ohio State and Texas following South Carolina.

USC jumped two spots to No. 6 after a big win over Oregon State to sweep the Beavers this season. The Trojans dropped some games in a tough conference slate, but they rebounded to stay at the top of the Pac-12. JuJu Watkins had her freshman game, going 6-for-32, and the USC still got a win on the road. It was only Watkins' fourth game of the season shooting below 35% while shouldering a massive load offensively for USC – she averages 22.8 field goals per game. JuJu will be alright, and so will the Trojans.

Oregon State was without sophomore star Raegan Beers against USC, but it beat No. 9 UCLA after Beers took an elbow in the face in the first quarter and only played seven minutes the game before. The Beavers continue to notch big wins in conference play and are up to No. 7. UCLA falls to No. 9.

Colorado lost by one point on the road against Utah, dropping it two spots to No. 8 on my ballot. The Buffs are in a three-way tie for second in the Pac-12 with USC and Oregon State, so I didn't knock them much for the narrow loss. Utah rose from No. 21 to No. 17 with the crucial win.

Other than the Pac-12 chaos, the only big mover of the week was Kansas State. The Wildcats had the biggest drop on my ballot from No. 12 to No. 15. They got star center Ayoka Lee back from injury for their matchup with Iowa State, but ended up losing in double-overtime to the young Cyclones on the road. Then Lee was out for the matchup against UCF due to an injury to her other ankle.

WEEK 14: How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: You should be paying attention to Oregon State

It was a matchup Kansas State should have won against a 10-loss Iowa State. The Cyclones are a solid team, and even found their way into the rankings earlier this season. But with 20 points, six rebounds and seven blocks from Lee, the Wildcats should have come out on top – and now they're going to be without her again.

Cora Hall's AP Top 25 ballot for Week 15

1. South Carolina

2. Stanford

3. NC State

4. Ohio State

5. Texas

6. USC

7. Oregon State

8. Colorado

9. UCLA

10. Iowa

11. Virginia Tech

12. LSU

13. UConn

14. Notre Dame

15. Kansas State

16. Syracuse

17. Utah

18. Gonzaga

19. Indiana

20. Oklahoma

21. Louisville

22. Baylor

23. West Virginia

24. Princeton

25. Tennessee

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols writer Cora Hall's AP Top 25: South Carolina owns top spot