NCAAW: The real weaknesses revealed by all the big upsets

The formal arrival of conference play across the Power Four delivered a rude awakening to several top-ranked programs that had cruised through their non-conference schedules.

Formerly No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Maryland and No. 10 Iowa State all entered 2026 undefeated or with one loss, but by week’s end, each had suffered stunning defeats. While the final scores told one story, the film and analytics painted a much more revealing picture of what really went wrong.

A lack of a clear offensive hierarchy is a huge issue for LSU

Now-No. 12 LSU’s perfect season crumbled in spectacular fashion with back-to-back losses to now-No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Vanderbilt. Against Kentucky on New Year’s Day, the Tigers fell victim to one of basketball’s most fundamental battles: the glass. Kentucky grabbed 17 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second-chance points, while LSU managed a paltry four second-chance points.

For a team that struggled on the glass in non-conference play, LSU’s rebounding troubles shouldn’t have been surprising, but to be this bad is concerning. Kentucky’s frontcourt size and length completely overpowered the Tigers.

Three days later against Vanderbilt, it was more of the same, in addition to a complete absence of a scoring hierarchy. The play-type breakdown is damning: LSU managed just 0.51 points per possession on rim attacks, meaning their bread-and-butter play was completely neutralized by the Commodores. Flau’Jae Johnson failed to establish any offensive rhythm, going scoreless, and the team had no clear offensive hierarchy.

MiLaysia Fulwiley has struggled to start this season, and her skillset is redundant next to Flau’Jae and Mikaylah Williams. Turnovers also plagued the Tigers in their loss to Vanderbilt, a bigger reason for their second-straight defeat than Mikayla Blakes’s 32-point outburst for Vandy.

If LSU can’t improve on the margins, it makes it very tough to put them in conversations with No. 2 Texas and No. 3 South Carolina atop the SEC.

Washington’s defensive strategy exposed Michigan’s weaknesses

Now-No. 9 Michigan’s 64-52 loss to No. 23 Washington was bigger than it looked.

Washington’s suffocating defense forced Michigan’s two offensive leaders, Syla Swords and Olivia Olson, into poor shooting nights. Washington basically denied Swords the ball, preventing her from going to her left to shoot jumpers. Ultimately, a strategy that forced Swords to put the ball on the floor to score and Olson to settle for tough shots at the rim proved to be very effective.

It also will be interesting to see how Michigan responds to ball pressure on their guards. The Huskies pressured Mila Holloway and Brooke Quarles-Daniels and forced the team’s weaker ball handlers to bring the ball up, which then resulted in it taking them longer to get into their sets in the halfcourt.

Can Maryland score consistently in the halfcourt?

Now-No. 8 Maryland’s 73-70 loss to unranked Illinois was perhaps the most stunning upset of the week, not just because the Terps were undefeated, but because they had been virtually unbeatable in situations like this.

Before this game, Maryland was 78-1 over four seasons when leading after three quarters..

Maryland was over-reliant on rebound-and-scramble opportunities in the first three quarters. When Illinois tightened up defensively in the fourth quarter and limited those chaotic possessions, Maryland had no pivot. The Fighting Illini forced 18 turnovers and held Maryland to an astounding 8.3 percent from 3-point range. Maryland doesn’t have a great offensive centerpiece in the halfcourt. As good as Oluchi Okananwa is, she’s not a self-creator in the halfcourt.

Additionally, Illinois’ transition game and drive-and-kick plays were unlocked because Maryland was unable to effectively slow them down with their fullcourt press. As most other Big Ten opponents will be composed and skilled enough to break these traps, will Maryland be able perform effectively on offense without forcing turnovers?

Baylor laid bare Iowa State’s defensive dilemma

Now-No. 11 Iowa State’s 72-70 loss to No. 16 Baylor deserves mention as well.

This entire year, teams have struggled with guarding Audi Crooks and the Cyclone offense. She’s the most physically imposing player in women’s basketball and doubling her comes at the price of leaving one of their five 35-percent-or-better 3-point shooters open.

Baylor opted to play single coverage in the first half and Crooks torched them. But in the second half, they packed the paint while sending early and late doubles. Baylor also conceded wide open shots to Jada Williams the entire game. Williams took a whopping 28 shots, and Baylor lived her shotmaking since it meant fewer shot attempts for Audi. Crooks finished with only four points in the second half, but perhaps the biggest difference maker was the way Baylor attacked her on defense.

Baylor got to the rim at will and their pick-and-pop attack forced Audi to cover an immense amount of space to try to close out to shooters. As she was unable to do so, Baylor posted a ridiculous 1.71 point per play on pick-and-pop possessions, according to Hoop Explorer.

It’s actually surprising that more teams haven’t tried this approach already this season, but it’s something to look for as we get deeper into conference play. The Big 12 isn’t the strongest conference but TCU, Utah, and Texas Tech could be effective employing the same strategies.

Conference play reveals all

These upsets weren’t flukes. Neither do they warrant overreactions. They were revelations.

As conference play continues, the tape will keep revealing the strengths and weaknesses of each team and how styles make fights. Real basketball begins in January.