USC women ranked No. 4 in nation in AP preseason poll

Coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks will start the season ranked No. 4 in the nation.

The Gamecocks earned that spot in The Associated Press women’s basketball preseason poll on Tuesday, including receiving one first place votes from a 33-member national media panel.

Coach Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame were No. 1 in the poll.

McGraw returns most of the core back from a team that went 33-2 last season.

She was happy for the compliment, but found the ranking a little high considering her team was coming off one of its most disappointing seasons in a few years, not reaching the Final Four for the first time in six years.

“I’d rather we earned it,” McGraw said. “We’re coming off the worst season we’ve had in six years, it seems odd that we’re preseason No. 1. You should have to earn it.”

McGraw has had a bunch of very good teams over the last 15 seasons that never reached the top spot. There always seemed to be someone just a little bit better.

“Other teams have had good teams too. Connecticut has had some pretty good teams in there,” McGraw said. “There was a year when yeah maybe, Stanford beat Connecticut, but then South Carolina went to No. 1.”

Baylor was a close second, four points behind the Irish. The Lady Bears garnered 12 first place votes.

“Being preseason No. 2 in the country brings great recognition to our school and our program,” Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey said. “We welcome it. We have a schedule, nonconference and conference, that will be most challenging early in the season. It’s one that I think will help us late in the season.”

UConn, which has won 75 consecutive games and four straight national championships, was third. The Huskies had been the No. 1 team for the last 24 weeks.

“I don’t think we should be No. 1,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “I don’t think we should be anywhere near the teams that almost went to the Final Four and have everybody back and have all that experience and all that talent. We’ve been in those situations before and we’re not there now. So, wherever they put us, I’m OK.”

Louisville rounds out the top five teams. Maryland, Ohio State, Texas, UCLA and Mississippi State are next.

Tennessee, which saw its run of 565 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 end last season, is back in at No. 13. The Lady Vols have been in every one of the preseason polls except for the first one. They are one of four teams to not be ranked in the final poll, who are in the Top 25 now.

National runner-up Syracuse was 14th while Final Four participants Washington and Oregon State were 17th and 25th.

The Southeastern Conference leads the way with six teams in the top 25. The Pac-12 and ACC each have five. UConn and 21st ranked DePaul are the only two schools from non-power five conferences to be ranked.

The first regular-season poll will be Monday, Nov. 14 with two big games that night. Baylor hosts UCLA while UConn visits Florida State.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 10:05 AM with the headline "USC women ranked No. 4 in nation in AP preseason poll."