Stanford, Cal among 5 Pac- 12 teams ranked

Going solely on the the Associated Press women’s basketball preseason poll Thursday, it’s going to be a heck of a battle for the Pac- 12 Conference title.

Stanford ( at No. 10) and Cal ( at No. 20) are two of the five ranked teams in the conference, which tied with the SEC for the most ranked teams in the poll.

UCLA ( No. 8), Oregon ( No. 11) and Oregon State ( No. 19) are the other three ranked Pac- 12 teams.

Oregon is ranked in the preseason for the first time since 2000. The Ducks, who made a run to the NCAA regional finals last season, return most of that team.

To the surprise of no one, UConn is No. 1, a unanimous choice among the 32 voters in the media poll and the 12th time in school history the Huskies have been No. 1 in the preseason poll, matching Tennessee for most.

UConn opens its season Nov. 12 against No. 10 Stanford in Columbus, Ohio, site of this season’s Final Four. UConn has won the national championship in seven of the years it was the preseason No. 1.

The Huskies, who saw their 111- game winning streak end in the Final Four last season, return four starters from that team and add a stellar freshman class and two solid transfers.

Texas is second, the Longhorns’ best ranking since the second poll of the 2004 season.

Dawn Staley’s national champion South Carolina team will begin defense of its title at No. 4.

In the USA Today coaches’ poll, also released Thursday, Stanford is No. 9 and Cal tied for 25th. UConn is No. 1.