Cream of the Crop: Women's basketball update

As No. 3 Duke cruised to an easy victory against Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon, there was little change in the top of the standings in women's college basketball.

No. 1 Connecticut continues to steam-roll its competition and has yet to face as a close a matchup in terms of talent and skill as when the Huskies suited up in Cameron Indoor Stadium this past December. The elite top four or five programs remain perched—if not precariously—atop the standings, but there were some shakeups in the lower half of ranked teams.

All that is clear for Duke is the importance of this upcoming Sunday's matchup at Cameron Indoor against undefeated No. 2 Notre Dame. Beating the Fighting Irish would solidify Duke atop the ACC standings and put the Blue Devils in position to have an advantageous draw in the NCAA tournament.

The ACC has become the league with the greatest parity by far in which an unranked team has a higher chance of beating a highly-touted program in comparison to other conferences. No. 6 Maryland suffered its first defeat in 17 games against Virginia Thursday, finding itself in the position Duke was almost in with the close No. 24 Florida State contest. No. 9 Kentucky also caught the upset bug, losing to an unranked Alabama squad on a last-second layup.

Notre Dame handled No. 11 Tennessee earlier in the week avoiding the Fighting Irish's first loss by controlling the game from tip-off. No. 4 Stanford also continued its winning ways, unfazed by Pac-10 opponents like UCLA. One of the most compelling non-ACC games was Sunday's No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Vanderbilt contest in which the Gamecocks narrowly slid by the Commodores by a slim four-point margin. Looking forward, all eyes in the country—and especially in the ACC—will be pinned on Duke and Notre Dame on Superbowl Sunday as the game will have ramifications not only for the two other ACC squads in the top-10, but for the broader NCAA rankings.

Game to watch: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Duke. Sunday, 2:00 pm.

ACC game: No. 3 Duke vs. Miami. Thursday, 7:00 pm.
Duke needs to prove that they can easily beat an ACC opponent on the road.

Upset Alert: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Maryland. Monday, 7:00 pm.
Expect the Terrapins to be hungry for an upset.