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South Carolina, UConn, Stanford females high preseason High 25

Dawn Staley and South Carolina are motivate in a well-recognized set: No. 1 in The Linked Press High 25 females’s basketball ballot.

Or now not it is the second consecutive season that the Gamecocks are the preseason favorite.

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“With who we brought motivate and who added for this season, we knew we would originate out amongst the hunted, and it’s something that our program is increasing older to,” acknowledged Staley, who goes into her 14th season as South Carolina coach. “Staring at note daily, I can watch that we now contain the items and the aggressive fire to attain all of our targets. We contain a few more weeks to position those items together exact into a cohesive, a success crew that can are residing up to this preseason rating.”

The Gamecocks acquired 14 of the 29 first-set votes from a nationwide media panel in Tuesday’s ballot. UConn used to be second, garnering 10 first-set ballots. Or now not it is the 15th consecutive season that the Huskies had been amongst the high five groups within the preseason.

Defending nationwide champion Stanford used to be third, getting the diversified five first-set votes. Maryland and North Carolina Impart rounded out the high five.

Or now not it is been a busy few days for Staley. The college announced a peculiar, seven-yr contract that can pay her $2.9 million this season and develop to $3.5 million within the closing season. She additionally believes the $22.4 million deal need to peaceable produce an impact on her sport and within the equality of what men and females’s coaches and athletes rating from their colleges.

HOOSIER HYSTERIA

Indiana is No. 8, the college’s very best rating ever in females’s basketball. There’s numerous enjoyment spherical Bloomington, with all five starters strolling again from a crew that went to the Elite Eight final yr and had its sixth straight 20-contain season.

“Or now not it is gigantic recognition for our program and a testomony to our crew and how they persevered to in discovering greater during with out a doubt one of many most intricate and tense seasons we had within the history of females’s basketball,” Indiana coach Teri Moren acknowledged. “We mediate we now contain powerful to uncover and are watching for what everyone knows will be a tense season in every non-conference as well to what we will watch within the Immense Ten.”

RISING WOLVERINES

Michigan additionally tied its most productive rating ever, coming in at No. 11. The Wolverines return three starters, along side Naz Hillmon, from the squad that misplaced to Baylor in time past law within the Candy 16 final season.

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico called the rating an honor and acknowledged her crew used to be entertaining to construct on the momentum from final spring.

“We were in a issue to net steps forward and develop as a program the past few seasons, doing issues that had by no methodology been carried out old to,” she acknowledged. “Exhibiting that consistency yr in and yr out is the signal of a gigantic program, now not honest a gigantic crew.”

HEARTLAND HOPES

There are excessive expectations in Iowa this yr: The Hawkeyes are No. 9 and Iowa Impart is No. 12.

Iowa, led by indispensable particular person guard Caitlin Clark, has its its very best preseason rating since the crew used to be sixth in 1996.

Iowa Impart coach Bill Fennelly has a bulk of his starting up five motivate, along side Ashley Joens and Lexi Donarski. Or now not it is the crew’s most productive rating within the preseason since 2001, when the Cyclones had been eighth.

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CONFERENCE WATCH

The Pac-12, Immense Ten and ACC every contain five ranked groups, tops within the nation:

Joining No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Indiana, No. 9 Iowa and No. 11 Michigan is No. 17 Ohio Impart for the Immense Ten.

In the Pac-12, No. 3 Stanford is joined by No. 10 Oregon, No. 14 Oregon Impart, No. 20 UCLA and No. 22 Arizona.

The ACC has No. 5 N.C. Impart, No. 6 Louisville, No. 16 Florida Impart, No. 17 Georgia Tech and No. 24 Virginia Tech.

The SEC has four groups with No. 13 Kentucky, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 23 Texas A&M becoming a member of high-ranked South Carolina. The Immense 12 additionally has four applications ranked, led by No. 7 Baylor with unusual head coach Nicki Collen. The Bears are joined by the Cyclones, No. 19 West Virginia and No. 25 Texas.

The solely non-Energy 5 crew within the ballotis No. 21 South Florida out of the American Athletic Convention.

TIP-INS

Georgia Tech is ranked for the third time ever within the preseason (2009, 2012). … Virginia Tech is within the preseason ballotfor solely the second time ever, becoming a member of the 1999 squad that used to be ranked 17th.

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