The USA TODAY Sports/WBCA NCAA Division I Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll with teams’ RECORDS FROM LAST YEAR in parentheses, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, final ranking in last year’s final poll, and first-place votes received:
| Rank | School (record) | Points | Last year’s final rank | First-place votes |
| 1 | LSU (34-2) | 797 | 1 | 29 |
| 2 | Connecticut (31-6) | 727 | 9 | 3 |
| 3 | Iowa (31-7) | 713 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | South Carolina (36-1) | 671 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Virginia Tech (31-5) | 617 | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | Ohio State (28-8) | 598 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Utah (27-5) | 565 | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | UCLA (27-10) | 555 | 13 | 0 |
| 9 | Indiana (28-4) | 534 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Notre Dame (27-6) | 511 | 11 | 0 |
| 11 | Maryland (28-7) | 451 | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | Tennessee (25-12) | 431 | 20 | 0 |
| 13 | Stanford (29-6) | 427 | 10 | 0 |
| 14 | Texas (26-10) | 357 | 19 | 0 |
| 15 | Louisville (26-12) | 309 | 14 | 0 |
| 16 | Mississippi (25-9) | 304 | 22 | 0 |
| 17 | North Carolina (22-11) | 278 | 21 | 0 |
| 18 | Colorado (25-9) | 212 | 15 | 0 |
| 19 | Duke (26-7) | 152 | 16 | 0 |
| 20 | Baylor (20-13) | 151 | NR | 0 |
| 21 | Southern California (21-10) | 138 | NR | 0 |
| 22 | Florida State (23-10) | 128 | NR | 0 |
| 23 | Oklahoma (26-7) | 95 | 17 | 0 |
| 23 | Creighton (22-9) | 95 | NR | 0 |
| 25 | Miami (Fla.) (22-13) | 75 | 18 | 0 |
| 25 | Michigan (23-10) | 75 | 23 | 0 |
Dropped out: No. 12 Villanova (30-7); No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast (33-4); No. 25 Iowa State (22-10).
Others receiving votes: Mississippi State (22-11) 67; Villanova (30-7) 42; Gonzaga (28-5) 40; Washington State (23-11) 34; Arizona (22-10) 33; Florida Gulf Coast (33-4) 27; Iowa State (22-10) 26; Kansas (25-11) 22; Kansas State (19-17) 22; Marquette (21-11) 16; South Florida (27-7) 16; UNLV (31-3) 14; Nebraska (18-15) 12; Princeton (24-6) 11; North Carolina State (20-12) 10; Oregon (20-15) 9; Illinois (22-10) 8; Middle Tennessee (28-5) 6; Toledo (29-5) 6; South Dakota State (29-6) 5; Texas A&M (9-20) 4; Georgia (22-12) 3; Arkansas (24-13) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2023-24 season: Natasha Adair, Arizona State; Ganiyat Adeduntan, Colgate; Matt Bollant, Eastern Illinois; Jenn Brown, Queens; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Bill Carr, Santa Clara; Fred Castro, Eastern Michigan; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Dalila Eshe, Yale; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Kristin Gillespie, Illinois State; Ty Grace, Howard; Johnnie Harris, Auburn; Brian Holsinger, Montana; Anita Howard, Georgia Southern; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Kayla Karius, South Dakota; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Mike Lane, New Jersey Tech; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Lynn Milligan, Rider; Carlene Mitchell, Cal State Northridge; Kelly Morrone, Merrimack; Dan Nielson, Utah Valley; Shawn Poppie, Chattanooga; Margaret Richards, Alabama A&M; Alaura Sharp, Presbyterian; Jeff Walz, Louisville; Coquese Washington, Rutgers.