Huskers Produce First Top 10 Finishes

Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team finished the season among the top 10 in both major national polls, coming in at No. 4 in the final Associated Press rankings and No. 7 in the final coaches poll.

The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 was released on Wednesday with Nebraska coming in at No. 7 in the final ranking, which included the results from the NCAA Tournament. The AP does not conduct a poll following the tournament, and the Huskers finished at No. 4 in the final regular-season poll before advancing to their first-ever NCAA Sweet 16.

The 2009-10 campaign marks the first time in school history that Nebraska has finished a season ranked in the top 25 in either major national poll.

Nebraska, which captured the Big 12 Conference regular-season title and finished with a 32-2 overall record, notched a 9-2 mark against teams that ended the year in the final ESPN/USA Today poll. The Huskers went 16-0 in regular-season league play against a Big 12 lineup that featured six teams in the final top 25.

Nebraska's regular-season victories included a Big 12 title-clinching road win at final No. 3 Oklahoma, and a road win at final No. 4 Baylor, as both the Sooners and Lady Bears advanced to the NCAA Women's Final Four.

The Huskers also produced a pair of wins over No. 13 Iowa State, and a regular-season win against No. 14 Texas A&M, before falling to the Big 12 Tournament champion Aggies in the conference semifinals in Kansas City. NU's only other loss came in the NCAA regional semifinals in Kansas City to final No. 9 Kentucky.

NU added wins over No. 22 Oklahoma State, No. 23 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament second round, and wins over No. 25 Texas and No. 25 LSU. The Huskers added wins against UALR and at Vermont, which both earned votes in the final poll after advancing to the NCAA second round.

ESPN/USA Today Coaches Final Top 25 (April 7, 2010)

Rank-Team (Record) (1st) - Total Votes
1-Connecticut (39-0) (31) - 775
2-Stanford (36-2) - 744
3-Oklahoma (27-11) - 678
4-Baylor (27-10) - 676
5-Xavier (30-4) - 652
6-Duke (30-6) - 591
7-Nebraska (32-2) - 550
8-Tennessee (32-3) - 538
T9-Kentucky (28-8) - 537
T9-Florida State (29-6) - 537
11-Notre Dame (29-6) - 500
12-Gonzaga (29-5) - 397
13-Iowa State (25-8) - 357
14-Texas A&M (26-8) - 336
15-Ohio State (31-5) - 306
16-West Virginia (29-6) - 287
17-Georgetown (26-7) - 218
18-St. John's (25-7) - 215
19-Georgia (25-9) - 202
20-San Diego State (23-11) - 174
21-Mississippi State (21-13) - 170
22-Oklahoma State (24-11) - 121
23-UCLA (25-9) - 106
24-Vanderbilt (23-11) - 74
25-Texas (22-11) - 53
25-LSU (21-10) - 53
Note: Other NU opponents receiving votes
31-UALR (27-7) - 15
34-Vermont (27-7) - 5 
Nebraska 2009-10 opponents in bold.

Associated Press Final Top 25 (March 15, 2010)

Rank-Team (Record) (1st) - Total Votes
1-Connecticut (33-0) (40) - 1,000
2-Stanford (31-1) - 960
3-Tennessee (30-2) - 911
4-Nebraska (30-1) - 880
5-Xavier (27-3) - 807
6-Duke (27-5) - 775
7-Notre Dame (27-5) - 755
8-Ohio State (30-4) - 728
9-Texas A&M (25-7) - 704
10-West Virginia (28-5) - 639
11-Florida State (26-5) - 605
12-Oklahoma (23-10) - 565
13-Georgetown (25-6) - 466
14-Baylor (23-9) - 393
15-St. John's (24-6) - 383
16-Iowa State (23-7) - 381
17-Texas (22-10) - 369
18-Gonzaga (27-4) - 339
19-Kentucky (25-7) - 328
20-Oklahoma State (23-10) - 266
21-LSU (20-9) - 143
22-UCLA (24-8) - 126
23-Georgia (23-8) - 109
24-Michigan State (22-9) - 82
25-Hartford (27-4) - 60
Note: Other NU opponents receiving votes
31-UALR (26-6) 7
T41-Vermont (26-6) 2
Nebraska 2009-10 opponents in bold.