South Carolina will open the women’s basketball season where it has so often lived lately: at No. 1.
The Gamecocks claimed the top spot in the AP preseason poll released Tuesday, earning 23 first-place votes from a 31-member national media panel. It marks the fifth time in seven years that South Carolina starts the season atop the rankings after reaching the NCAA national semifinals last year.
Connecticut checked in at No. 2 with six first-place votes, while USC grabbed the other two and landed at No. 3. Duke sits fourth, and Michigan rounds out the top five.
Iowa begins the season at No. 10. The Hawkeyes went 27-7 a year ago and finished second in the Big Ten in both the regular season and the conference tournament before getting upset by Virginia in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Their schedule doesn’t ease in. Iowa opens Nov. 2 at home against Towson, then heads to UConn six days later before taking on No. 8 Vanderbilt on Nov. 15 in Sioux City.
UConn’s place near the top is no surprise; the Huskies have been ranked in the top 10 of every preseason poll since 1994. This year’s vote count gave them six first-place ballots.
USC’s rise comes with expectations attached. The Trojans finished 18-14 last season, but they return JuJu Watkins after she missed last year while recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Duke’s No. 4 ranking is its best in the preseason poll since 2013. Michigan’s No. 5 spot is its highest preseason ranking ever in the AP Top 25.
The Big Ten placed nine teams in the top 25, with USC, Michigan and Iowa joined by defending NCAA champion UCLA at No. 11, Washington at No.
16, Minnesota at No. 17, Ohio State at No.
18, Maryland at No. 20 and Illinois at No. 23.
The Big 12 is represented by TCU at No. 15, Oklahoma State at No. 22 and West Virginia at No. 24.
The first regular-season poll comes out Nov. 9.
- South Carolina (23 first-place votes)
- Connecticut (6 first-place votes)
- USC (2 first-place votes)
- Duke
- Michigan
- Texas
- Louisville
- Vanderbilt
- LSU
- Iowa
- UCLA
- North Carolina
- Notre Dame
- Kentucky
- TCU
- Washington
- Minnesota
- Ohio State
- Ole Miss
- Maryland
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- Illinois
- West Virginia
- North Carolina State
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Iowa Just Reopened A Quarterback Debate Fans Dreaded
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Offensive coordinator Tim Lester said both quarterbacks are healthy, but the coaching staff has not confirmed who will start. For a team still trying to find stability on offense, that leaves Iowa in a familiar waiting game, with the depth chart offering little clarity and the decision now looming over the next stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]