USA TODAY SPORTS PRESEASON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL – 10/20/2026
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 season’s final rank | First-place votes |
| 1 | South Carolina (36-4) | 792 | 2 | 26 |
| 2 | Connecticut (38-1) | 772 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Southern California (18-14) | 686 | NR | 0 |
| 4 | Duke (27-9) | 664 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Michigan (28-7) | 652 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Texas (35-4) | 632 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | Louisville (29-8) | 578 | 11 | 0 |
| 8 | LSU (29-6) | 572 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | Vanderbilt (29-5) | 521 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 | Iowa (27-7) | 476 | 12 | 0 |
| 11 | North Carolina (28-8) | 432 | 13 | 0 |
| 12 | UCLA (37-1) | 422 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | Notre Dame (25-11) | 403 | 14 | 0 |
| 14 | Kentucky (25-11) | 352 | 17 | 0 |
| 15 | Washington (22-11) | 319 | NR | 0 |
| 16 | TCU (32-6) | 270 | 9 | 0 |
| 17 | Maryland (24-9) | 267 | 19 | 0 |
| 18 | Minnesota (24-9) | 252 | 18 | 0 |
| 19 | Oklahoma State (24-10) | 239 | NR | 0 |
| 20 | Ohio State (27-8) | 233 | 15 | 0 |
| 21 | Oklahoma (26-8) | 211 | 10 | 0 |
| 22 | Illinois (22-12) | 163 | NR | 0 |
| 23 | Mississippi (24-12) | 95 | 22 | 0 |
| 24 | West Virginia (28-7) | 92 | 16 | 0 |
| 25 | North Carolina State (21-11) | 67 | NR | 0 |
Dropped out: No. 20 Michigan State (23-9); No. 21 Baylor (25-9); No. 23 Texas Tech (26-8); No. 24 Virginia (23-10); No. 25 Princeton (26-4).
Others receiving votes: Baylor (25-9) 44; Arizona State (24-11) 42; Nebraska (19-13) 40; Tennessee (16-14) 20; Michigan State (23-9) 18; Gonzaga (24-10) 15; South Dakota State (27-7) 11; Oregon (23-13) 9; Oregon State (23-12) 8; Rice (29-6) 5; Villanova (25-8) 5; Princeton (26-4) 4; Florida (18-15) 3; James Madison (26-9) 3; Texas Tech (26-8) 3; Clemson (21-12) 2; Fairfield (28-5); Kansas (22-14) 2; Virginia (22-12) 2.
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 2026-27 season: Kim Barnes Arico, Michigan; Ashleen Bracey, Illinois-Chicago; Jen Brown, Queens; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Jeff Cammon, Saint Mary’s; Fred Chmiel, Bowling Green; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Carrie Eighmey, South Dakota; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Juli Fulks, Marshall; Corry Irvin, Chicago State; Renee Jimenez, UC Santa Barbara; Chris Kielsmeier, Texas State; Mike Lane, NJIT; Monique LeBlanc, Brown; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Kristen Mattio, Northern Colorado; Mike McGuire, Radford; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Shawn Poppie, Clemson; Terry Primm, Siena; Samantha Quigley Smith, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt; Kyle Rechlicz, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Margaret Richards, Jackson State; Alexis Sherard, Liberty; Jonathan Tsipis, Western Carolina; Trevor Woodruff, Bucknell; Jermain Woods, Norfolk State; Shereke Wright, Texas-Arlington.