USA TODAY SPORTS PRESEASON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL – 10/24/2024
The USA TODAY Sports preseason Top 25 women’s basketball poll, with team’s RECORDS FROM LAST YEAR in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last year’s final poll and first-place votes received.
Rank | School (record) | Points | Last year’s final ranking | First-Place Votes |
| 1 | South Carolina (38-0) | 770 | 1 | 27 |
| 2 | Connecticut (33-6) | 734 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Southern California (29-6) | 716 | 6 | 1 |
| 4 | Texas (33-5) | 670 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Notre Dame (28-7) | 629 | 11 | 0 |
| 6 | UCLA (27-7) | 612 | 9 | 0 |
| 7 | LSU (31-6) | 567 | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | North Carolina State (31-7) | 533 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | Iowa State (21-12) | 487 | NR | 0 |
| 10 | Oklahoma (23-10) | 457 | 20 | 0 |
| 11 | Duke (22-12) | 449 | 21 | 0 |
| 12 | Baylor (26-8) | 434 | 15 | 0 |
| 13 | Kansas State (26-8) | 407 | 18 | 0 |
| 14 | Ohio State (26-6) | 405 | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | West Virginia (25-8) | 285 | 25 | 0 |
| 16 | North Carolina (20-13) | 263 | NR | 0 |
| 17 | Louisville (24-10) | 261 | NR | 0 |
| 18 | Maryland (19-14) | 254 | NR | 0 |
| 19 | Florida State (23-11) | 177 | NR | 0 |
| 20 | Creighton (26-6) | 150 | 19 | 0 |
| 21 | Mississippi (24-9) | 135 | NR | 0 |
| 22 | Kentucky (12-20) | 106 | NR | 0 |
| 23 | Nebraska (23-12) | 92 | NR | 0 |
| 24 | Indiana (26-6) | 75 | 12 | 0 |
| 25 | Alabama (24-10) | 57 | NR | 0 |
Dropped out: No. 2 Iowa (34-5); No. 8 Stanford (30-6); No. 10 Oregon State (27-8); No. 13 Gonzaga (32-4); No. 16 Colorado (24-10); No. 17 Virginia Tech (25-8); No. 22 Utah (23-11); No. 23 Syracuse (24-8); No. 24 UNLV (30-3).
Others receiving votes: Gonzaga (32-4) 49; TCU (21-12) 37; Stanford (30-6) 32; Tennessee (20-13) 32; Iowa (34-5) 28; Utah (23-11) 25; South Dakota State (27-6) 22; Oregon State (27-8) 21; Princeton (25-5) 18; Colorado (24-10) 15; Virginia Tech (25-8) 10; Illinois (19-15) 9; Middle Tennessee (30-5) 8; Fairfield (31-2) 7; California (19-15) 6; Richmond (29-6) 6; Auburn (20-12) 5; Florida Gulf Coast (29-5) 4; Miami (Fla.) (19-12) 4; UNLV (30-3) 4; South Florida (19-14) 3; George Mason (23-8) 2; Cleveland State (29-6) 1; Michigan (20-14) 1; Saint Joseph’s (28-6) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2024-25 season: Ashleen Bracey, Illinois-Chicago; Jen Brown, Queens University; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Fred Chmiel, Bowling Green; Janell Crayton Del Rosario, Bethune-Cookman; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Carrie Eighmey, South Dakota; Dalila Eshe, Yale; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Cindy Fisher, San Diego; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Ty Grace, Howard; Hana Haden, Georgia Southern; Johnnie Harris, Auburn; Brian Holsinger, Montana; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Renee Jimenez, UC Santa Barbara; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Mike Lane, NJIT; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Mike McGuire, Radford; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Lynn Milligan, Rider; Dan Nielson, Utah Valley; Shawn Poppie, Clemson; Samantha Quigley Smith, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Missy Traversi, Army; Jonathan Tsipis, Western Carolina; Way Veney, Central Connecticut State; Coquese Washington, Rutgers.