🔗 Share this article

Defending titleholder the Huskies have once again started right at the point they finished—as the top squad across the country, according to the Associated Press preseason women's basketball rankings released on Tuesday.

Vote Distribution and Leading Contenders

UConn received 27 No. 1 votes from the 31-person national media panel. South Carolina, the previous season's finalists to the Huskies, were chosen in second place while secured the remaining 4 top ballots. This marks the 5th time in the last six years that coach Dawn Staley's South Carolina squad were selected in the first five in the pre-season poll. UCLA and The Longhorns were third and fourth place, while LSU completed the first five.

Oklahoma landed sixth, their top preseason position since they were fourth back in 2008. The Blue Devils, The Lady Vols, The Wolfpack, and Maryland rounded out the first ten.

The Huskies' Key Players and Record Pre-season Position

Guided by standout sophomore Strong and super senior Azzi Fudd, coach Geno Auriemma's UConn squad is placed No. 1 during the pre-season for the 13th time since the mid-1990s and first since 2017.

We hope it is a little bit of a confidence builder and not, a major pressure,” Auriemma said. “I’m happy for them. Our discussions often about the fact that we’re not out here to demonstrate whether we’re reigning title winners or if we’re pre-season No. 1 in the country, but that we must defeat everybody by a huge margin. We don’t want to get caught into that mindset. You tend to finish the season at the position you’re projected. So I like being in this position.”

Title Track Record and Outlook

Eight out of the twelve previous times UConn have been picked first, they claimed the title. Auriemma believes his team holds a good shot this year.

“It’s got to arrive with strong leadership and it has needs to come by some luck and people stepping up for big moments,” he said. “Those four times that we failed to win, we did not get lucky or we didn’t stay healthy.”

Ranking Background and League Representation

First four teams have been picked in the same order as last season’s final poll. It’s the initial instance over the 50-year history of the women’s rankings where the top four programs from the final poll appear the same in that season's pre-season top 25 the following year; last year was only the second season that the AP issued a top 25 after the title match. For more than 40 years, the final poll came out before the beginning of the NCAA Tournament.

The SEC boasts eight programs among the ranked teams, featuring 5 within the first ten. The B1G is next having 6 schools in the poll. The Atlantic Coast Conference includes five and the Big 12 four. The Atlantic-10 and Big East each have one.

Notable Up-and-coming Teams

• The Wolverines have been ranked 13th in the preseason rankings, their highest position during an inaugural poll after 2021 (No. 11). The Wolverines fielded 3 first-year players the previous season and went 23-11, securing a national tournament contest. Big things are anticipated from that trio of Syla Swords, Holloway, and Olson.
• No. 19 Vanderbilt, led by second-year Blakes, have been ranked in the pre-season for the first time since 2012. The standout recorded one of the finest freshman seasons in school history as she posted twenty-three point three points per game and scoring more than fifty twice. Under coach Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt earned a ranking last year after a long absence since nearly a decade ago as they entered the rankings briefly.
• No. 24 Richmond have the program's first placed ranking ever. Hopes are high for Richmond, which won the program's first NCAA Tournament match last season. The Spiders represent the first program from the A-10 to earn a ranked ranking in ten years (George Washington, 2015).

Richmond return veteran key players Doogan and Ullstrom from last season’s squad that finished 28-7. Richmond additionally added newcomer Simon via Saint Louis.

It speaks volumes about where our team is currently,” Richmond head coach Aaron Roussell said. It wasn't ever considered an objective, we just wanted to continue putting this program on the map. We talk on that topic frequently.”