The Associated Press Top 25 preseason women’s basketball poll was released Tuesday, and UConn found itself in a familiar position.
No. 1.
The defending national champion Huskies captured 27 of 31 first-place votes. South Carolina, defeated by UConn in the title game in April, got the other four votes and took the No. 2 spot.
This is the first time since the 2017-18 season that UConn has been No. 1, but it now has held that ranking 13 times since 1995. Remarkably, it’s also the 32nd consecutive season that the Huskies have been in the Top 10 in the preseason poll.
Rounding out the top five were No. 3 UCLA, followed by Texas and LSU.
Finishing the top 10 were Oklahoma, Duke, Tennessee, North Carolina State and Maryland.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, starting his 41st season as UConn’s head coach, said it isn’t where you start the year. It’s where you finish it.
"I'm happy for them,” Auriemma told The Associated Press. “We talk a lot about how we're not out here to prove that we're defending national champions or we're preseason number one in the country, and we have to beat everybody by 40. We don't want to get caught in that trap. You tend to finish the year where you're predicted. So I like being in this position."
UConn has won eight national championships out of the past 12 times it has opened the season at No. 1. Auriemma told the AP the requirement for his new team to go all the way.
"It's got to come with great leadership and it's got to come with a little bit of luck and people rising to the occasion," he said. "Those four times that we didn't win, we didn't get lucky or we didn't stay healthy."
UConn is the only Big East school to make an appearance in the group of 25.
The Southeastern Conference has eight teams, the Big Ten has six, the Atlantic Coast Conference has five and the Big 12 has four. The Atlantic-10 also has just one.
UConn opens the season Nov. 4 against No. 20 Louisville.
The Associated Press Top 25
- UConn
- South Carolina
- UCLA
- Texas
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Duke
- Tennessee
- North Carolina State
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Michigan
- Iowa State
- Notre Dame
- Baylor
- TCU
- Southern California
- Vanderbilt
- Louisville
- Iowa
- Oklahoma State
- Michigan State
- Kentucky, Richmond (tie)
Related UConn Stories
GOOD START: UConn impresses in exhibition game against Boston College. READ HERE
UCONN MEN ALSO RANKED HIGH: Coach Dan Hurley's team is the top five of The Associated Press Top 25 preseason men's poll. READ HERE
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