The Washington Huskies are ranked 17th in the Associated Press preseason women’s college basketball poll released Tuesday.
The Huskies are coming off the first Final Four appearance in program history.
Notre Dame earned the top spot in the poll, receiving 14 first-place votes from a 33-member national media panel. Notre Dame last held the No. 1 ranking on March 5, 2001. Fighting Irish coach Muffet McGraw returns most of the core from a team that went 33-2 last season.
She was happy for the compliment, but found the ranking a little high considering her team didn’t reach the Final Four last season for the first time in six years.
“I’d rather we earned it,” McGraw said. “We’re coming off the worst season we’ve had in six years, it seems odd that we’re preseason No. 1. You should have to earn it.”
Baylor was a close second, four points behind the Irish. The Lady Bears garnered 12 first-place votes.
UConn, which has won 75 consecutive games and four straight national championships, was third. The Huskies had been the No. 1 team for the previous 24 weeks.
South Carolina and Louisville round out the top five teams. Maryland, Ohio State, Texas, UCLA and Mississippi State are next.
Tennessee, which had its run of 565 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 end last season, is back in at No. 13. The Lady Vols have been in each preseason poll except the first one. They are one of four teams not ranked in the final poll that’s in the Top 25 now.
National runner-up Syracuse was 14th, and Final Four participants Washington and Oregon State were 17th and 25th.
The Southeastern Conference leads the way with six teams in the top 25. The Pac-12 and ACC each have five. UConn and 21st-ranked DePaul are the only two schools from non-power five conferences to be ranked.
The first regular-season poll comes out Nov. 14, with two big games that night. Baylor hosts UCLA, and UConn visits Florida State.
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