South Carolina, UConn top AP women's preseason basketball poll

South Carolina begins the season where it left off last year: No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll.

The Gamecocks received 27 of the top 30 votes in the preseason rankings from a national media panel on Tuesday. South Carolina returns four starters from last year's national championship team that went undefeated and capped its historic season in the title game against Caitlin Clark and Iowa.

UConn is No. 2, followed by USC, Texas and UCLA in the top five.

South Carolina has been ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll four times in the last five years. Last season, the Gamecocks started the preseason ranked sixth before moving up to No. 1 for the rest of the year.

“We knew we had a goal to achieve as defending champions this season, and these preseason rankings just confirm that,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley told the AP. “We are excited about the recognition, but I know our coaching staff and team are more focused on what we see in the gym every day. And that means every player works extremely hard to get better individually and as a team.”

UConn received two first-place votes. The Huskies have been ranked in the top 10 in the preseason poll for 31 consecutive years. Geno Auriemma's team struggled with serious injury issues last season, but the Huskies appear mostly healthy heading into this season.

Third-ranked USC is led by phenomenal sophomore guard JuJu Watkins, and the team has added two talented transfers in Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen. The Trojans, who received the other first-place pick, have their highest preseason ranking since the 1982 and 1983 teams were No. 1 in the inaugural poll in both years.

Texas welcomes back Rori Harmon, who was sidelined most of last season with an ACL injury. She and Madison Booker give the Longhorns a solid one-two punch on offense. UCLA added its own solid transfer group to a strong team with Charlisse Leger-Walker and Timea Gardiner joining Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice.

Notre Dame, LSU, Iowa State, NC State and Oklahoma rounded out the top 10 teams in the poll. It's the second time in three seasons the Cyclones have started this well in the preseason poll. The Sooners haven't been ranked this high in the season's opening poll since 2010, when they were also ranked 10th.

WELCOME BACK

No. 24 Alabama appears in the rankings for the first time since the last poll in 1999. The Crimson Tide has not been ranked in the preseason poll since 1998 (No. 9). The team appeared in consecutive NCAA Tournaments behind stars Sarah Ashlee Barker and Aaliyah Nye.

“We’re very grateful for the mention, but we want to take it one day at a time,” Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. “We’re excited about the group this season and the way we finished last season.”

END OF AN ERA

Stanford is not ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1999. Hall of Fame Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer retired in April and was replaced by longtime assistant Kate Paye. It was the second-longest active preseason streak behind only UConn.

SUPERIORITY IN CONFERENCES

With new conference additions Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC has seven teams in the top 25. They are joined by South Carolina, LSU, No. 20 Ole Miss, No. 22 Kentucky and Alabama. The ACC and Big Ten each have six teams ranked, although Iowa — the national runner-up the last two years — is unranked as the Hawkeyes prepare for a season without Clark, now in the WNBA. The Big 12 has four teams in the top 25, while the Big East has two in UConn and Creighton.