The UConn women’s basketball team will begin the 2025-26 season exactly where it finished last year, as the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
The Huskies received 27 of a possible 31 first-place votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll released Tuesday, with No. 2 South Carolina picking up the other four. This is the Huskies’ first preseason No. 1 ranking since 2017-18, when the team went undefeated in the regular season and held the top spot in the poll for the entire year before suffering its first loss at the Final Four to Notre Dame in overtime.
UConn’s schedule includes six teams ranked in the Top 25, but their only preseason top 10 opponent is No. 8 Tennessee, who it will host in Hartford on Feb. 1. The Huskies open the season with a ranked game against No. 20 Louisville on Nov. 4 in the Armed Forces Classic on the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. They will also face No. 13 Michigan, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 18 USC and No. 21 Iowa during non-conference play. Ohio State was the second team out of the poll receiving 46 votes, so it’s also possible that their game in Hartford on Nov. 16 could become a ranked matchup.
All four teams from last year’s Final Four are back with high expectations this season as the top four in the preseason poll. The Gamecocks came in behind UConn following an 82-59 loss in the national championship game, and the Huskies also beat No. 3 UCLA in Tampa, Florida en route to the their title. No. 4 Texas, which lost its semifinal to South Carolina, rounds out the group.
What we learned about UConn women’s basketball in exhibition victory vs. Boston College
AP Top 25 women’s basketball preseason poll
UConn
South Carolina
UCLA
Texas
LSU
Oklahoma
Duke
Tennessee
NC State
Maryland
North Carolina
Ole Miss
Michigan
Iowa State
Notre Dame
Baylor
TCU
USC
Vanderbilt
Louisville
Iowa
Oklahoma State
Michigan State
Kentucky
Richmond
How UConn reporter Emily Adams voted in AP Top 25
UConn
South Carolina
Texas
UCLA
LSU
Tennessee
Oklahoma
Duke
Ole Miss
NC State
Maryland
Iowa State
North Carolina
Michigan
USC
Notre Dame
Baylor
TCU
Michigan State
Louisville
Ohio State
Iowa
Oklahoma State
Richmond
Vanderbilt

