Irish Smiling: Notre Dame No. 1 in Preseason AP Women’s Poll
(AP)--Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame are ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll for the first time in 15 years.
The Irish garnered 14 first place votes on Tuesday from a 33-member national media panel to earn the top ranking in the preseason poll. Notre Dame last held the No. 1 ranking on March 5, 2001. McGraw returns most of the core back from a team that went 33-2 last season.
Baylor was a close second, four points behind the Irish. The Lady Bears had 12 first place votes.
UConn, which has won 75 consecutive games and four straight national championships, was third. South Carolina and Louisville round out the top five teams.
National runner-up Syracuse was 14th while Final Four participants Washington and Oregon State were 17th and 25th.
The Associated Press
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' preseason 2016-17 women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2015-16 final records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last year's final ranking
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Notre Dame (14) | 33-2 | 793 | 2 |
| 2. Baylor (12) | 36-2 | 789 | 4 |
| 3. UConn (6) | 38-0 | 743 | 1 |
| 4. South Carolina (1) | 33-2 | 719 | 3 |
| 5. Louisville | 26-8 | 718 | 8 |
| 6. Maryland | 31-4 | 635 | 5 |
| 7. Ohio St. | 26-8 | 632 | 9 |
| 8. Texas | 31-5 | 604 | 7 |
| 9. UCLA | 26-9 | 557 | 10 |
| 10. Mississippi St. | 28-8 | 516 | 15 |
| 11. Stanford | 27-8 | 471 | 13 |
| 12. Florida St. | 25-8 | 437 | 17 |
| 13. Tennessee | 22-14 | 415 | - |
| 14. Miami | 24-9 | 328 | 19 |
| 14. Syracuse | 30-8 | 328 | 14 |
| 16. Oklahoma | 22-11 | 285 | 24 |
| 17. Washington | 26-11 | 259 | - |
| 18. Arizona St. | 26-7 | 244 | 11 |
| 19. Kentucky | 25-8 | 228 | 12 |
| 20. Florida | 22-9 | 181 | 25 |
| 21. DePaul | 27-9 | 160 | 20 |
| 22. West Virginia | 25-10 | 154 | 23 |
| 23. Indiana | 21-12 | 108 | - |
| 24. Missouri | 22-10 | 98 | - |
| 25. Oregon St. | 32-5 | 95 | 6 |
Others receiving votes: Michigan St. 78, Auburn 43, Texas A&M 20, Duke 16, Colorado St. 10, California 9, Creighton 9, South Florida 8, BYU 6, Temple 6, South Dakota St. 5, Belmont 4, UTEP 3, Boise St. 2, Green Bay 2, NC State 2, Chattanooga 2, Iowa St. 1, Saint Louis 1, Oregon 1.
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