LSU, UConn, UCLA headline preseason Top 25

LSU had never ended a season on top of women’s college basketball before winning its first national title in Dallas last April. The Tigers have also never started a season No. 1 — until now.

The Tigers open in the top spot in ESPN’s 2023-24 preseason women’s college basketball rankings.

LSU is expected to be even better this season and seeks to become the sport’s first repeat champion since UConn capped a four-peat in 2016. Coach Kim Mulkey added the top two transfers in Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow and the No. 1 recruiting class, not to mention gets back Final Four Most Outstanding Player Angel Reese. The depth of talent might be the most Mulkey has ever had. Finding out how all the pieces fit on the march to Cleveland — which will host the Final Four on April 5 and 7 — will be one of the season’s great storylines.

The same is true of every move for Caitlin Clark at Iowa, the NCAA runner-up. One of the game’s most electrifying players, Clark will be trying to return the Hawkeyes to the Final Four without some of the teammates who played a big role in Iowa’s 2023 run. First, the Hawkeyes must navigate a highly competitive Big Ten, which has four teams among the top 13.

Due to realignment, the Pac-12 might not exist next year, but the conference could go out on a high note. Six Pac-12 teams are in the top 25, led by UCLA and Utah in the top five. The ACC and SEC each have five in the rankings.

UConn sets up to be LSU’s greatest threat and is the only team that can match the Tigers’ talent. The return of Paige Bueckers, the 2020-21 national player of the year who sat out last season with a torn ACL, and her pairing with Azzi Fudd and Nika Muhl in the Huskies’ backcourt will be another of 2023-24’s most compelling narratives.

The wait is nearly over. The season tips Nov. 6. Here is our final top 25 team ranking before the games begin.

Mulkey won the national championship, grabbed the two best players from the transfer portal, secured the No. 1 high school recruiting class and became the highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball with a new 10-year, $36 million contract. Mulkey’s 2024 could be even better. Even if the Tigers were just returning Reese, SEC Freshman of the Year Flau’jae Johnson, Kateri Poole and Sa’Myah Smith, they would be a Final Four contender. Add in the transfer portal additions, who are both potential All-Americans, and the Tigers are the clear choice for preseason No. 1. Mulkey will also have talented freshmen Mikaylah Williams, the No. 2 recruit in the country, and 6-foot-5 Aalyah Del Rosario to incorporate into a rotation that might be deeper than a season ago. Preseason AP rank: 1

The roster in Storrs might be just as good as LSU’s. Bueckers, Fudd and Aaliyah Edwards make up three of the top 10 or 15 players in the country. Muhl set the single-season school record for assists last season. Aubrey Griffin and Caroline Ducharme, both high school All-Americans, have been highly productive players for UConn. But how much Geno Auriemma has all these players on the court is the biggest question for the Huskies. Injuries have engulfed the program for two years. With Bueckers, who also missed a good portion of 2021-22 with knee injuries, injuring her thumb in a preseason practice, concerns remain. She and Fudd, the nation’s top recruits in 2020 and 2021, respectively, have played only nine games together as Fudd has also dealt with injuries. Edwards has been the most reliable of the group and blossomed last season (16.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG), at times carrying the Huskies. The Final Four streak ended at 14 last spring, but a healthy UConn would be favored to begin a new one. Preseason AP rank: 2

This might be the best UCLA team coach Cori Close has ever had. The top two recruits of the 2022 class — Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice — are now both Bruins and have the potential to be one of the preeminent inside-outside duos for the next three seasons. Rice (11.6 PPG), along with classmate Londynn Jones (8.6 PPG), was named to the Pac-12 all-freshman team, and Stanford transfer Betts, at 6-7, gives Close something she hasn’t had: a rim protector and post presence to ease the responsibility on her talented perimeter players. The best of those remains Charisma Osborne (15.6 PPG), who decided to return instead of declaring for the WNBA draft. Emily Bessoir, a 6-4 junior, improved across the board last season and is the Bruins’ most accurate 3-point shooter (35.7%). If Jones and Gabriela Jaquez similarly lift their games as sophomores, Close will have the Pac-12’s most versatile rotation. Preseason AP rank: 4

The defense produced the second-most turnovers in the Big Ten last season and got even better with the addition of Duke transfer Celeste Taylor, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. She joins Jacy Sheldon, who averaged 3.5 steals in the 13 games she played, in a backcourt that could wreak havoc in the full-court press coach Kevin McGuff likes to employ. The Buckeyes might miss the shooting of Taylor Mikesell, the team’s leading scorer last season, but return Cotie McMahon, who was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was often Ohio State’s best player on the floor. McMahon is a potential All-American for the next three years who is the perfect fit for Ohio State’s up-tempo style. That also holds true for Taylor Thierry, who lifted her scoring average from 2.9 PPG as a freshman to 13.5 in her second season. The return of 6-4 Rebeka Mikulasikova (10.1 PPG) for her fifth year gives the Buckeyes a proven inside scoring option. Preseason AP rank: 7

With all five starters returning, coach Lynne Roberts can run it back with a team that finished just behind Stanford in the Pac-12 and reached its first Sweet 16 since 2006. Conference player of the year Alissa Pili (20.7 PPG) leads the returners and is a dominant and efficient inside force who also shot 42.6% from 3-point range. Junior guards Gianna Kneepkens and Jenna Johnson have combined to start 110 games in their first two seasons and together averaged over 27 points per game last season. Kneepkens and Kennady McQueen are 3-point threats, and Australian point guard Issy Palmer, back for her senior season, is the glue. Maty Wilke, a 5-10 guard who averaged 11.8 points per game as a freshman at Wisconsin, is an intriguing addition. Preseason AP rank: 5

All eyes will be on Clark’s every move, and there is no reason to believe she won’t be just as spectacular. Triple-doubles — she tallied another in the Crossover at Kinnick exhibition game against DePaul — 40-point games and logo 3-pointers are just as special but almost seem commonplace in Clark’s world. But whether the Hawkeyes can reproduce last season’s Final Four appearance will be less about Clark and more about how they replace the production and efficiency of Monika Czinano (17.1 PPG, 67.4 FG%) and the headiness of McKenna Warnock. Much will be asked of 6-2 sophomore Hannah Stuelke (6.5 PPG), the reigning Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, and veterans Gabbie Marshall, Kate Martin and Molly Davis will have to score more than the 17.7 points per game they combined for last season. Preseason AP rank: 3

When Elizabeth Kitley decided to return to Blacksburg, Virginia, for another season, the Hokies instantly became a Final Four contender again. She might be the best post player in the country, and again pairs with one of the nation’s premier point guards, Georgia Amoore. Three-point specialist Cayla King followed Kitley’s lead and also returns for a fifth year. Coach Kenny Brooks then hit the transfer portal to fill other holes. Rose Micheaux from Minnesota should step into Taylor Soule’s role of hustling power forward, and Michigan State’s Matilda Ekh is the shooter the Hokies had lost in Kayana Traylor. Amoore, third in the ACC in both assists and 3-point accuracy, remains the first perimeter option, but with King, Ekh and Carys Baker, the headliner from a top-20 recruiting class, she might have even more help than a season ago. Preseason AP rank: 8

Things are going to look a lot different in Columbia, South Carolina, but the results might not change all that much. Dawn Staley will turn to an all-new starting lineup after the “Freshies” era came to an end in the Final Four loss to Iowa. Five Gamecocks were selected in the WNBA draft, but Staley will build around a likely future lottery pick. Kamilla Cardoso (9.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG) takes over in the middle for Aliyah Boston, and with more playing time the 6-7 post player should put up big numbers. She ranked third in the country in win shares per 40 minutes but only played 18.8 per game. Oregon transfer Te-Hina Paopao should pair well with sophomore Raven Johnson as interchangeable backcourt players. With more opportunity, former high school All-American Sania Feagin, a 6-3 junior, could be a breakout candidate, and Staley once against added a big-time class of newcomers, headlined by point guard Milaysia Fulwiley, and 6-2 Chloe Kitts. Preseason AP rank: 6

For the past few years, the Lady Vols haven’t been able to get their guard play quite right, and turnovers have plagued them. That should change this season. Belmont transfer Destinee Wells and Jewel Spear from Wake Forest give coach Kellie Harper a new backcourt. Wells averaged career highs with 19.5 points, 4.9 assists and 45.5% 3-point shooting in the OVC last season, and Spear has been one of the ACC’s best scorers for three years. In Knoxville, Spear will be able to pick her spots more judiciously because of Rickea Jackson‘s decision to stay one more season. Jackson’s 19.2 points per game were good for third in the SEC. After missing most of last season with blood clots in her lungs, 6-6 center Tamari Key is also giving it another go. With 6-5 Jillian Hollingshead back, size will again be strength for Tennessee, which was eighth in the nation in rebound rate. Preseason AP rank: 11

Coach Teri Moren will have plenty of scoring options to turn to, but make no mistake: Indiana will be built around Mackenzie Holmes. One of the most efficient post players in Big Ten history, the 6-3 Holmes averaged 22.3 points per game last season and is a career 63.5% field goal shooter. Indiana will miss the clutch play of first-round WNBA draft pick Grace Berger, but Holmes, the Hoosiers’ first-ever first-team All-American, will be surrounded by plenty of veterans. Senior Chloe Moore-McNeil will likely inherit much of Berger’s ballhandling duties and had a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. Sara Scalia, like Holmes, will be playing her fifth year and is a career 36.5% 3-point shooter. Senior Sydney Parrish (12.0 PPG) brings versatility to the backcourt. The key to Indiana repeating as Big Ten champs could be two sophomores. Yarden Garzon (11.1 PPG) led the Big Ten with a 45.8% 3-point percentage and could be a breakout offensive player as a sophomore. Sharnecce Currie-Jelks averaged 15.2 PPG and was the OVC Freshman of the Year at UT Martin. Preseason AP rank: 9

Thanks to her continued good work in the transfer portal, coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin is going to have numerous lineup combinations from which to choose. Kennedy Todd-Williams was North Carolina’s second-leading scorer (13.4 PPG), KK Deans led Florida in scoring last season (14.1 PPG) and Kharyssa Richardson started 27 games for Auburn. They join returners Madison Scott (11.6 PPG), Snudda Collins (8.9 PPG) and Marquesha Davis (10.5 PPG). Previous transfers Shakira Austin and Angel Baker helped elevate the program, and after the Rebels made the Sweet 16 last March for the first time in 16 years, Coach Yo hopes this next group takes the program even higher. Preseason AP rank: 12

With the status of Olivia Miles and her injured knee still in doubt, highly regarded point guard prospect Hannah Hidalgo will be thrust into the spotlight for an Irish team with big expectations. That spotlight begins immediately with a nationally televised game against South Carolina in Paris on Nov. 6 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN). Hidalgo will have plenty of veteran help, especially in Sonia Citron (14.7 PPG), who was Notre Dame’s leading scorer a season ago, and Maddy Westbeld (11.2 PPG). This could also be a big sophomore season for KK Bransford (8.2 PPG), who showed flashes of the talent that made her a McDonald’s All-American in 2022. The interior defense and rebounding of 6-4 junior Kylee Watson will also be key for Notre Dame. Preseason AP rank: 10

Few coaches in the country have been as good at pivoting from personnel losses as Brenda Frese. After the departure of WNBA first-round picks Diamond Miller and Abby Meyers, Frese will have to do it again. Having Shyanne Sellers back helps. The 6-2 Sellers can play four positions and will be asked to do a lot as the Terps’ No. 1 scoring option. But she has help. The return of Lavender Briggs and Brinae Alexander, plus the addition of Jakia Brown-Turner from NC State (all as graduate students), gives Maryland three wing scorers who can all shoot from deep. Faith Masonius, another fifth-year senior, supplies the grit. Hopes are also high for 6-2 freshman Riley Nelson. What Frese decides to do at point guard — it could be Sellers — will be an important element to Maryland’s season, especially with games against South Carolina, UConn and Washington State in the first three weeks. Preseason AP rank: 14

After reaching at least the Sweet 16 in 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments, the Bears were eliminated in the second round in each of Nicki Collen’s first two seasons in Waco, Texas. Depth was one of the main culprits, but that shouldn’t be a problem in 2023-24. The return of a healthy Aijha Blackwell, who missed all but eight games last season with a leg injury, and Dre’Una Edwardss, who sat out last year after transferring from Kentucky, will be a huge boost for the Bears. Collen also brought in three veteran transfers in guards Yaya Felder (Ohio) and Denae Fritz (Iowa State) and forward Madison Bartley (Belmont). All five players have been prime contributors in their careers. They should also help take some of the burden off Baylor’s two best players — Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and Sarah Andrews (14.7 PPG), a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season. Bella Fontleroy, a 6-0 sophomore who scored in double figures 15 times a season ago, might be ready for a bigger role. Preseason AP rank: 19

Coach Jeff Walz didn’t lament the loss of Van Lith for very long. Instead, he jumped into the transfer portal and found players just as he has the past two years. In 2022, the Cardinals reached the Final Four with a rebuilt roster. Last season, they got to the Elite Eight. Cal transfer Jayda Curry was the biggest prize from the portal, and she should assume the role Van Lith held as the top offensive option in the backcourt. She led the Pac-12 in scoring two years ago and was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. Kiki Jefferson was also a huge acquisition who averaged 18.2 points per game last season, which included a 30-point effort against North Carolina. Sydney Taylor (UMass) and Nina Rickards (Florida) will join Curry in the backcourt, and both are coming off career-best seasons. Preseason AP rank: 17

How’s this for irony: In the final season of the Pac-12 as we know it, the program that has dominated for so long and helped elevate the conference’s profile so much has its lowest preseason expectations in nearly a decade. The personnel losses Stanford suffered in the offseason leave the Cardinal with less depth than they have had in a few seasons, but it might be a roster with which legendary coach Tara VanDerveer does her best work. In Cameron Brink, Stanford has one of the best two-way players in the country. The 6-4 forward (15.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 3.5 BPG), a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, is an intimidating shot-blocker and will also be the center of everything Stanford does on offense. Sharpshooter Hannah Jump (11.2 PPG, 44.1 3PT%) returns for her extra year and could get more chances to shine if sophomore point guard Talana Lepolo (4.8 PPG) has developed as a ball distributor the way VanDerveer has talked about in the preseason. More production from junior forwards Kiki Iriafen (6.7 PPG) and Brooke Demetre (32 3-pointers) will also be key. Preseason AP rank: 15

One of the best defensive teams in the ACC might have gotten even stingier thanks to some work by coach Courtney Banghart in the transfer portal. Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Lexi Donarski came east from Iowa State, and Maria Gakdeng, the ACC’s third-leading shot-blocker, made the interconference jump from Boston College. The Tar Heels were already second in steals and fourth in field goal percentage defense in the ACC. The offense will be led by veteran first-team all-conference selections Deja Kelly (16.5 PPG) and Alyssa Ustby (13.2 PPG), who have been starters for nearly their entire three-year careers in Chapel Hill. Having 6-4 Teonni Key and 5-8 Kayla McPherson available together for an entire season would be a big boost. They both missed all of 2021-22 with injuries, and McPherson made it back only last February. Indya Nivar, the North Carolina Player of the Year in 2022, returns home after a disappointing freshman season at Stanford. She and Paulina Paris form the core of what could be a highly productive bench. Preseason AP rank: 16

This should be the best USC team since at least the early 1990s, and this is the first time the Trojans have been ranked in the preseason since 2011. In just two seasons on the job, coach Lindsay Gottlieb has returned USC to competing with the best teams in the Pac-12, bringing in talent from the high school ranks and the transfer portal. She landed one of the most highly regarded recruits in recent memory in 6-0 guard JuJu Watkins, who should be a foundational player for the next few years. Mia Samuels, a 5-6 point guard, is also a top-50 recruit. Three Ivy League grad transfers should also have an immediate impact: Kayla Padilla (Penn), Kaitlyn Davis (Columbia) and McKenzie Forbes (Harvard). Padilla was a three-time All-Ivy League guard and averaged 17.5 points a season ago. USC’s top returning scorer, Rayah Marshall (12.7 PPG), is also one of the country’s best defenders with 3.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. Preseason AP rank: 21

A talented, veteran backcourt is a good foundation; Texas might have the best in the Big 12. Rori Harmon is a front-runner for Big 12 Player of the Year, and Shaylee Gonzales (12.7 PPG) now has a season of experience as a Longhorn after three high-scoring seasons at BYU. Harmon shook off an early-season foot injury to set a program record with 7.4 assists per game and earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season. Getting 6-1 junior Aaliyah Moore back and keeping her healthy will be a key. She was averaging 11.8 points through nine games before an injury ended her season. Taylor Jones, who missed nine games, and 6-2 DeYona Gaston combined to score over 21 points and grab 10 rebounds a contest and would benefit greatly playing alongside Moore. The addition of top-15-rated freshman wing Madison Booker should also bolster an inconsistent offense that especially struggled late in the season. Preseason AP rank: 13

Ta’Niya Latson had one of the greatest rookie seasons in ACC history, but her late-February injury derailed perhaps the biggest surprise story of 2023. Picked to finish ninth in the ACC, the Seminoles finished fourth and made the NCAA tournament in Brooke Wycoff’s first official season as head coach. With Latson healthy and three of the next four top scorers — 6-2 Makayla Timpson and veteran guards Sara Bejedi and O’Mariah Gordon — also back, Florida State should reach an 11th straight NCAA tournament and compete for another top-four ACC finish. Latson won nearly every national freshman of the year award after leading the ACC with 21.3 points per game, and she gets even more scoring help with the addition of grad transfer Alexis Tucker, a 14.9 PPG scorer at UC Santa Barbara. Preseason AP rank: 18

Sam Purcell’s dive into the transfer portal last offseason resulted in a seven-game improvement for Mississippi State and a near upset of Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament’s second round. This year he might have done even better. In Lauren Park-Lane (Seton Hall), Darrione Rogers (DePaul) and Erynn Barnum (Arkansas), Purcell landed a trio who averaged a combined 52.6 points per game and made an all-conference team. With all that offense around her, 6-5 fifth-year senior Jessika Carter might be even more dominant in the post. This should be the Bulldogs’ best team since they went 27-6 in COVID-shortened 2019-20, Vic Schaefer’s last season as coach in Starkville. Preseason AP rank: 25

After producing the program’s best season in 20 years, the Buffs could be even better this season. Veterans Quay Miller and Jaylyn Sherrod return for their bonus seasons to rejoin Frida Formann and Aaronette Vonleh and keep the core intact. Formann, Colorado’s best 3-point shooter, spent part of her summer playing point guard for the Denmark national team. With the addition of Michigan transfer Maddie Nolan, a career 35.8% 3-point shooter, and Sherrod’s quickness, the Buffaloes should be more versatile in the backcourt as they look to improve on 25 wins and a third-place Pac-12 finish. Preseason AP rank: 20

The same core that has produced 45 wins, two NCAA tournament appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight remains in Omaha, Nebraska, for another run. Emma Ronsiek, Morgan Maly, Lauren Jensen and Molly Mogensen are seniors after already starting 209 games together. They make Jim Flanery’s spread offense go. All four are good shooters and produced the fourth-most prolific 3-point shooting team in the country on their way to a third-place Big East finish (15-5). The Bluejays line up as the second-best team in the conference this season. Preseason AP rank: 22

Much of this ranking is based on the return of 6-6 center Ayoka Lee, who missed last season with a knee injury. In 2021-22, Lee was a dominating post presence with 22.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game as the Wildcats reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. That team didn’t have Gabby Gregory, who arrived in Manhattan last season after three years with Oklahoma and averaged 18.5 points per game. Now coach Jeff Mittie has a veteran inside-outside scoring duo that he hasn’t had in his five seasons in Manhattan. Junior guards Serena Sundell (13.9 PPG) and Jaelyn Glenn (11.3 PPG) also averaged double-figure scoring last season. Preseason AP rank: NR

The Cougars’ fortunes changed the day Charlisse Leger-Walker landed in Pullman from New Zealand. After five straight losing seasons, Washington State has been on the right side of .500 every season since she arrived. Entering her senior year, the best might be yet to come. Sure, the Cougars won the Pac-12 tournament last March, but they did it as the No. 7 seed and then lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Nearly every key contributor is back to play alongside Leger-Walker, most notably fifth-year 6-3 center Bella Murekatete. The addition of 6-1 Idaho transfer Beyonce Bea, sixth in the country at 22.8 PPG last season, provides Leger-Walker with the best scorer she has ever played with at Washington State. Preseason AP rank: 24

Also considered: Nebraska, Illinois, Texas A&M