The Associated Press releases its updated women’s college basketball rankings every Monday at a 11 a.m.
It’s not a secret so as the time approached, it was expected Ole Miss to move up from its No. 18 ranking. So, when the rankings came out and Ole Miss had moved up just two spots, this writer and others covering the Rebels expressed some dismay.
We weren’t the only ones.
Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin took to social media Monday to vent her frustrations and even responded to a reply saying rankings don’t matter.
This is a joke! And if the voters not going to do their jobs we don’t need a AP POLL! Had we lost two games in a row we’d be fighting to stay in or we’d be out! https://t.co/7oGRafewzN
— Coach Yo (@YolettMcCuin) January 12, 2026
I agree but it’s not fair to my kids. Just do right! I can’t get behind people that don’t do their jobs. The bias is unfair! And this is no shot at anyone BUT to the voters that didn’t do their jobs! This week we lost to Texas by 3 on the road. Beat #5 Oklahoma on the road and… https://t.co/Lo7rIUoKnT
— Coach Yo (@YolettMcCuin) January 12, 2026
On Tuesday, she had a lot more to say.
“I don’t believe that they take it seriously,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I don’t believe that they look at it. I went through, and I looked at the votes. Some people didn’t even move certain teams.
“Michigan barely lost to UConn and (the voters) treated them as if they were the No. 16 in the country right away, okay? LSU had a great win the other day against Texas at home. They moved them up six spots, okay? We go on the road. We lose to Texas by three points. We go on the road to Oklahoma, who’s No. 5. We won. Then we come home against a Mississippi State team that is rivalry, and we do something we hadn’t done since 1991, beat them by 25 points, and you move us up two spots. Where’s the consistency?”
Inconsistent voting
There is none.
Another example of the inconsistency is Ohio State moving up five spots to No. 14 for beating No. 8 Maryland by four points. The Buckeyes, though, are two spots behind Maryland this week in the rankings.
Then there’s what the voters did with Oklahoma, who lost at home to Ole Miss and on the road to Kentucky. The Sooners dropped eight spots to No. 13, two spots ahead of a team they just lost to.
“(The Sooners) were undefeated at home, and they’re so good. People were saying that they were a Final Four team,” McPhee-McCuin said. “We went in there, and we beat them. And it wasn’t a lucky shot like it was when we lost to Kansas State.”
What if…
What if Ole Miss had lost to Oklahoma or hadn’t dominated Mississippi State? Would the Rebels move down only two spots? Not likely. After beating then-undefeated Georgia and losing to then-No. 2 Texas by three points, Ole Miss dropped three spots in the poll.
Even winning games isn’t enough to prevent the Rebels from falling the poll. Right before the Christmas break, Ole Miss recorded wins against Mississippi Valley State and Old Dominion by a combined 97 points.
The Rebels dropped one spot the day before losing to Michigan State. But in the AP Poll the week before, Ole Miss beat Wofford and South Carolina State by a combined 93 points and moved up three spots.
But, wait, there’s more. Remember the week Ole Miss had a huge comeback win against then-No. 18 Notre Dame and then lost to Kansas State by one point? The Rebels dropped four spots in the following AP poll.
So, you can bet if Ole Miss lost to Oklahoma it’d be in danger of falling out of the top 25.
“Had we lost to Oklahoma and Mississippi State, we’d be fighting for our lives and they can’t tell me that that’s not the case,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Last year, we beat Kentucky here. We went on the road, and we beat LSU. And you don’t let us host, and you say that this other team had a better record, and they didn’t. Okay, you want to penalize us.”
How much a head-to-head win matters is inconsistent, too. Maryland lost to Ohio State, but remained ahead of the Buckeyes. However, Michigan State is ranked ahead of Ole Miss.
“Michigan State lost to Wisconsin. We beat Wisconsin. Michigan State beats us,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Make it make sense.”
Unfortunately, we can’t and it’s highly unlikely an AP votes can either.
