Stanford women's basketball out of the top 25 after loss to Indiana

An upset loss means that the Stanford Cardinal are back to being on the outside looking in, but if there is anything that this program has taught us it's to never count them out.

Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) jumps on a loose ball during the Indiana versus Stanford women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Entering the season unranked for the first time in over two decades, a hot start to the season for the Stanford Cardinal saw them return to the polls, coming in at No. 24 in last week’s AP rankings release. For now however, their return to being a ranked program is short-lived after a loss to Indiana on Sunday, the Cardinal are out of the Top 25 after the newest poll was released.

Beating Le Moyne, Washington State and Gonzaga to start the year, the Cardinal catapulted into the rankings ahead of their tilt against UC Davis, which they won 69-56 to remain undefeated going into their big game against the Indiana Hoosiers. However, an upset by unranked Indiana, which included outscoring Stanford 18-9 in the second quarter and taking a 42-31 lead into halftime led to the massive reshuffle in the latest rankings.

NC State (2-2), Nebraska (4-0), Illinois (3-0), Oregon (4-0), Alabama (6-0) and Louisville (2-2) make up the new Nos. 20-25, with Illinois rising one spot and Oregon rising two. NC State and Louisville both experienced the biggest dropoff, falling seven spots. The top 12 teams, which are made up of South Carolina, UConn, USC, Texas, UCLA, Notre Dame, LSU, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Maryland and Ohio State (in that order) remain unchanged.

While falling out, the Cardinal did receive nine votes among the AP voters to remain in the rankings. Other teams to have received votes include Iowa (88), Michigan (38), Michigan State (15), Vanderbilt (14), Florida State (5), Miami (FL) (4) and Tennessee (3) among others.

The rest of the non-conference slate for the Cardinal is generally pretty favorable, with matchups against teams such as Morgan State, Cal Poly, UC San Diego and UTSA but the matchup that is most likely to be circled is its game against LSU on Dec. 5. The No. 7 Tigers have started their season off 4-0, most recently beating Murray State by a score of 74-60.

Once the non-conference games end, the challenge will really pick up for the Cardinal. Currently, five programs in the ACC are ranked, with Notre Dame, Duke and North Carolina all considered potential contenders to win the national championship. This year, the Cardinal will face all three of those teams, but will face Duke and Notre Dame on the road in environments that are notorious for how difficult they are for opponents. While Stanford may not be favored in those games, picking up a win in one, or even two, of those games would be massive statements for the program moving forward.

Getting back into the rankings will be no easy task for the Cardinal, especially this season where they are in a loaded conference, but if the Cardinal are able to put the Indiana loss behind them and prove once again that they can compete with these top teams, getting back to the glory days will surely be in the cards.

The Cardinal will host Morgan State on Friday at Maples.