South Carolina is back on top, claiming the No. 1 spot in Monday’s AP preseason Top 25 — and giving coach Dawn Staley her fifth preseason No. 1 in seven years.
UConn sits second, extending its preseason Top 10 streak to 32 years, while JuJu Watkins’s return from a 2025 ACL tear boosted USC to third.
“I tend to not look at the number, but our players do,” Staley said. “If we stand there at No. 1 at the end of our non-conference season, that’s something to be truly to be proud of.”
The Big Ten set a preseason record with nine ranked teams, followed by the SEC (7), ACC (5), Big 12 (3), and Big East (1).
No. 4 Duke earned its highest preseason nod since 2013, while No. 5 Michigan received a program-best preseason ranking.
Reigning NCAA champion UCLA opens 11th after losing much of its title-winning squad to the WNBA, while Minnesota landed 17th — its first preseason pick since 2019 — despite losing leading scorer Tori McKinney to a season-ending knee injury.
The 2026/27 NCAA season starts November 1st, with the first regular-season AP Poll dropping November 9th.
