Season starts in just 5 days so curious what everyone is looking forward to and optimistic about their teams? Before the reality hits in the coming weeks of course!

As a UConn fan I am excited to see how this group grows and gets better, I actually think its a pretty well balanced roster in terms of skill sets and I really think Olivia gives UConn a low post back to the basket weapon they've been missing since Steph Dolson graduated. Its also been really exciting watching Sarah adjust to be THE player both in terms of her leadership and her aggressiveness on the court. Its been a very welcome change seeing our best players take 15-20 shots a game in the preseason even when she hasn't been hitting. Actually its refreshing she's shooting that much BECAUSE she hasn't been hitting at her normal rate.

Anyways definitely expect us to lose 2-4 games in the OOC schedule, especially as we get healthy and work through growing pains, but it will be nice to watch them grow and adjust throughout the season. Feels like the pressure is off a bit this year compared to the last few seasons with no Paige or Azzi so will be nice to be a little under the radar with the star power as USC and the incredible roster SC has.

What are you excited about seeing from your team this season?

South Carolina plays 15 preseason Top 25 teams, the most by a distance. UCLA is next with 13. West Virginia and TCU play only 4, and No. 2 UConn has 16 games against teams outside last season’s top 75.

A10
1. Saint Joseph’s (14) 196
2. Davidson 181
3. George Washington 141
4. George Mason 138
5. Dayton 127
6. Saint Louis 123
7. VCU 106
8. Richmond 101
9. Rhode Island 97
10. La Salle 78
11. St. Bonaventure 59
12. Duquesne 51
13. Fordham 40
14. Loyola Chicago 32

ACC
1. Duke (49) 1649
2. Louisville (22) 1580
3. North Carolina (1) 1462
4. Notre Dame (4) 1450
5. NC State 1337
6. Virginia 1085
7. Syracuse 1009
8. Virginia Tech 1003
9. Clemson 988
10. California 786
11. Miami 689
12. Georgia Tech 684
13. Stanford 674
14. Florida State 603
15. SMU 373
16. Wake Forest 296
17. Pitt 236
18. Boston College 170

America East
1. Binghamton (6) 60
2. UMBC (2) 57
3. Vermont (1) 48
4. Maine 41
5. Bryant 40
6. NJIT 29
7. UAlbany 25
8. New Hampshire 16
9. UMass Lowell 8

American
1. Rice (10) 142
2. UTSA (2) 125
3. South Florida (1) 121
4. Tulsa 117
5. Temple 96
6. UNT 87
7. East Carolina 82
8. Florida Atlantic 60
9. Memphis 54
10. Charlotte 44
11. Tulane 41
12. UAB 26
13. Wichita State 19

ASUN
No 2026-27 media/coaches poll

B10
No 2026-27 media/coaches poll

B12
1. Oklahoma State (7) 215
2. TCU (6) 212
3. Baylor (2) 199
4. West Virginia (1) 186
5. Kansas 160
6. Arizona State 143
7. BYU 137
8. Colorado 126
9. K-State 121
10. Texas Tech 103
11. Iowa State 78
12. Utah 77
13. Arizona 55
14. Cincinnati 43
15. Houston 38
16. UCF 27

Big East
1. UConn (10) 100
2. Villanova (1) 90
3. Creighton 78
4. St. John’s 68
5. Seton Hall 67
6. Marquette 60
7. Providence 38
8. Georgetown 36
9. Xavier 29
10. Butler 21
11. DePaul 18

Big Sky Coaches Poll
1. Montana State (9) 99
2. Idaho (2) 90
3. Northern Colorado 76
4. Eastern Washington 71
5. Southern Utah 67
6. Montana 54
7. Idaho State 49
8. Weber State 32
9. Portland State 30
10. Northern Arizona 27
11. Utah Tech 10

Big Sky Media Poll
1. Montana State (23) 283
2. Idaho (3) 254
3. Northern Colorado 214
4. Eastern Washington 197
5. Southern Utah 173
6. Idaho State 157
7. Montana 149
8. Northern Arizona 110
9. Weber State 70
10. Portland State 63
11. Utah Tech 46

Big South
T1. High Point (4) 75
T1. Radford (4) 75
3. Longwood 63
4. Gardner-Webb 43
T5. UNC Asheville (1) 41
T5. Winthrop 41
7. USC Upstate 36
8. Presbyterian College 18
9. Charleston Southern 13

Big West
1. UC San Diego (10) 120
2. UC Irvine (1) 108
3. UC Santa Barbara 94
4. California Baptist 93
5. Sacramento State (1) 88
6. Utah Valley 70
7. UC Riverside 59
8. CSUN 53
9. Cal Poly 35
T10. Cal State Bakersfield 25
T10. Long Beach State 25
12. Cal State Fullerton 22

CAA
1. Monmouth (12) 144
2. Elon 116
3. Drexel 109
4. William & Mary (1) 108
5. Towson 99
6. North Carolina A&T 89
7. Stony Brook 88
8. Charleston 71
9. Hofstra 56
10. Hampton 51
11. Northeastern 35
12. Campbell 30
13. UNCW 18

CUSA
1. Missouri State (8) 90
2. MTSU (1) 84
3. Liberty (1) 83
4. FIU 70
5. Sam Houston 60
6. WKU 42
7. Delaware 37
8. NM State 31
9. Jax State 29
10. Kennesaw State 24

Horizon
1. Green Bay 142
2. Youngstown State 132
3. RMU 112
4. Oakland 108
5. IU Indianapolis 86
6. Northern Kentucky 79
7. Cleveland State 68
8. NIU 54
9. Detroit Mercy 51
10. Milwaukee 40
11. Purdue Fort Wayne 34
12. Wright State 30

Ivy
1. Princeton (15) 161
2. Columbia (5) 149
3. Harvard (1) 131
4. Penn 104
5. Brown 74
6. Cornell 60
7. Yale 48
8. Dartmouth 29

MAC
1. Ball State (5) 111
2. Miami (4) 108
3. UMass (1) 103
4. Toledo (2) 98
5. Ohio 75
6. Eastern Michigan 61
7. Kent State 59
8. Bowling Green 50
9. Central Michigan 44
10. Western Michigan 37
11. Akron 27
12. Buffalo 19

MEAC
1. Howard (10) 86
2. Norfolk State 76
3. Maryland Eastern Shore (1) 56
4. Coppin State 47
5. Morgan State 40
6. North Carolina Central 36
7. Delaware State 34
8. South Carolina State 17

Metro
1. Fairfield (13) 169
2. Siena 141
3. Sacred Heart 134
4. Iona 127
5. Mount St. Mary's 108
6. Quinnipiac 103
7. Marist 87
8. Manhattan 83
9. Merrimack 80
10. Saint Peter's 50
11. Rider 43
12. Canisius 42
13. Niagara 16

Mountain West
1. UNLV (16) 193
2. Grand Canyon (5) 180
3. UC Davis 127
4. Hawaii 125
5. New Mexico (1) 123
6. Air Force 107
7. Wyoming 84
8. Nevada 83
9. UTEP 56
10. San Jose State 32

MVC (Only top 6 provided by conference)
1. Murray State (41) 477
2. Illinois State 396
3. Belmont (2) 375
4. Northern Iowa (1) 343
5. Drake 317
6. UIC 267

NEC
1. FDU (6)
2. Mercyhurst (1)
3. Stonehill (2)
4. Le Moyne
5. LIU
6. Wagner
7. Chicago State
8. New Haven
9. CCSU

OVC
1. Southern Indiana (8) 122
2. SIUE (4) 113
3. Western Illinois (1) 85
4. UT Martin 78
5. Lindenwood 68
6. Southeast Missouri 62
7. Eastern Illinois 50
8. Morehead State 41
9. Tennessee State 29

Pac-12
No 2026-27 media/coaches poll

Patriot
1. Navy (9) 81
2. Army West Point 71
3. Lehigh (1) 67
4. Holy Cross 53
5. Lafayette 52
6. Bucknell 37
7. Boston University 26
8. Colgate 22
9. Loyola Maryland 21
10. American 20

SEC Coaches Poll
1. South Carolina 239
2. Texas 215
T3. LSU 204
T3. Vanderbilt 204
5. Kentucky 182
6. Oklahoma 163
7. Ole Miss 157
8. Tennessee 124
9. Mississippi State 120
10. Texas A&M 93
11. Florida 85
12. Missouri 78
T13. Alabama 55
T13. Georgia 55
15. Auburn 44
16. Arkansas 22

SEC Media Poll
1. South Carolina
2. Texas
3. LSU
4. Vanderbilt
5. Kentucky
6. Oklahoma
7. Ole Miss
8. Tennessee
9. Mississippi State
10. Alabama
11. Texas A&M
12. Florida
13. Georgia
14. Missouri
15. Auburn
16. Arkansas

SoCon
1. Furman (3) 56
2. Wofford (2) 54
3. Samford (2) 50
4. ETSU (1) 44
5. Chattanooga (1) 40
6. Tennessee Tech 28
7. Mercer 27
8. UNCG 17
9. Western Carolina 8

Southland
1. Lamar (6) 116
2. SFA (5) 113
3. UTRGV (1) 98
4. UIW 79
5. McNeese (1) 71
6. East Texas A&M 68
7. Northwestern State 54
8. HCU 52
9. A&M-Corpus Christi 48
10. Southeastern 40
11. Nicholls 34
12. LSU New Orleans 19

Summit
1. North Dakota State (24) 456
2. South Dakota State (8) 429
3. South Dakota 359
4. St. Thomas 283
5. Oral Roberts 253
6. Kansas City 212
7. Omaha 151
8. North Dakota 121

Sun Belt
1. James Madison (11) 189
2. Troy 166
3. Arkansas State (1) 165
4. Marshall (1) 151
5. Louisiana Tech (1) 148
6. Old Dominion 106
T7. Coastal Carolina 99
T7. Southern Miss 99
9. App State 79
10. ULM 77
11. Georgia Southern 62
12. South Alabama 61
13. Louisiana 42
14. Georgia State 26

SWAC (discrepancy on some pages whether it’s 123 and 128 for Jackson St)
1. Southern (10) 234
2. Alabama A&M (8) 229
3. Alabama State 195
4. Alcorn State 183
5. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3) 169
6. Grambling State (1) 162
7. Florida A&M 128
8. Jackson State 123 --- or T7 128
9. Bethune-Cookman 97
10. Texas Southern 94
11. Mississippi Valley State 65
12. Prairie View A&M 31

UAC
No 2026-27 media/coaches poll

WCC
1. Santa Clara (4) 74
2. Portland (4) 71
3. LMU (2) 63
4. Pepperdine 59
5. San Francisco 58
6. San Diego 35
7. Pacific 34
8. Seattle U 24
9. Saint Mary's 22
10. Denver 10

Skylar Diggins has been hired as special advisor to Niele Ivey & will help mentor players off the court!

Listened to Notre Dame’s 125-59 exhibition win over Truman State.

Hannah was Hannah with 33 points and 7 steals! Redshirt freshman Leah Macy nearly had a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists after not playing for almost two years. Freshmen impressed with Jenica Lewis 21 points and 6 3's, Jacy Abii added 20 points, 6 rebounds, and Amari Byles with 11 pts. Transfer Madison St. Rose 14 pts. Many other contributors!

A lot to like for fans. Next up: Villanova in Rome! 🇮🇹☘️

Edit: correctedly identified Freshmen!

🔥 DUKE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IS LOADING UP! But can the Blue Devils make a championship run in 2026–27? #dukewbb #davissportsreport

bootleg game thread
broadcasted on B1G+

Got to attend this. UNC really missed Toomey on the boards. Harpring looks like she will easily be the best freshman Banghart has had.

Dawn gets another birdie!

Been covering Jordyn since since she was in 8th grade and thought the sub might appreciate a more in-depth article on the newest Gamecock commit.

The open circle is each team's preseason rank, and the filled dot is where it finished in last season's final poll, released after the title game.

Biggest slide: UCLA won the title and finished No. 1. It opens at No. 11. Virginia fell about as far, from No. 19 to out of the poll.

Biggest climb: USC goes from unranked to No. 3. Washington jumps from No. 25 to 16.

New to the poll: USC, Oklahoma State, Illinois and NC State.

Dropped out: Virginia, Michigan State, Baylor and Alabama.

Who's ranked too high, or too low?

The game is at 7pm CT.

Edit: The game is on SECN+.

For the better part of two decades, Illinois women's basketball was basically a doormat in the Big Ten. Outside of some really successful years under Theresa Grentz in the late 1990s, the program spent much of the 2000s and 2010s struggling to stay competitive, let alone earn national recognition. By the time Shauna Green arrived in 2022, Illinois hadn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2003 and was coming off a miserable 7–20 season with just one conference victory. What she's accomplished since then is pretty remarkable. Illinois has put together four consecutive winning seasons, made three NCAA Tournament appearances, won the 2024 WBIT championship, and become a nationally ranked program again. Now they're entering the 2026–27 season ranked No. 23 in the country. For a program that spent so many years near the bottom of the Big Ten, that's an enormous achievement. Green hasn't just made Illinois respectable again; she's completely changed the expectations surrounding women's basketball in Champaign Illinois.