UCONN WOMEN ARE NO. 1 —AGAIN!
Huskies aim for 5th championship in a row as they top USA TODAY’s preseason coaches poll.
In the inexact science that is college sports polling, there is one theory that a team is No. 1 until someone else proves otherwise.
Most of the voters in the USA TODAY Sports WBCA women’s basketball coaches poll appear to subscribe to that theory. They chose four-time defending NCAA champion Connecticut as the top-ranked team in the preseason poll. The Huskies went wire-to-wire at the top a season ago en route to a 38-0 record and the program’s 11th NCAA title.
But this time it wasn’t unanimous. UConn got 18 of 32 firstplace votes, but coach Geno Auriemma had to say goodbye to arguably the greatest senior class of his accomplished tenure. That group included four-time Final Four MVP Breanna Stewart as well as All-Americans Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson. There are still plenty of experienced Huskies returning, including junior guard Kia Nurse and sophomore wing Katie Lou Samuelson.
But the panel also identified several candidates with the potential to end UConn’s four-year championship streak.
Heading that list is No. 2 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish received eight No. 1 votes and are 16 poll points behind the Huskies.
Third-ranked South Carolina was picked first on three ballots, No. 4 Baylor got two firsts, and the last first-place vote went to Texas, which opens in a tie for No. 6 with Ohio State. Maryland rounds out the top five.