Kentucky women ranked No. 19 in preseason coaches’ poll
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team is ranked No. 19 in the USA Today/Coaches’ preseason poll announced Thursday.
This marks the seventh consecutive year UK starts the season inside the coaches’ top 20.
Kentucky has been ranked in both the coaches’ poll and The Associated Press Top 25 since week 13 of the 2009-10 season, which is a program-record streak.
UK is scheduled to play 10 games against teams in the coaches’ Top 25, including No. 3 South Carolina (twice), No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 16 Arizona State, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 20 Miami (Fla.), No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 24 Florida. UK is also scheduled to play Missouri (twice), Duke, Auburn and Georgia (twice), who are each receiving votes in the poll.
Kentucky will start its 2016-17 season with the Kentucky Classic in Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats’ season opener is against Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
Louisville starts the season No. 8 in the coaches’ voting. Western Kentucky was among teams also receiving votes.
2016-17 USA Today/Coaches’ Preseason Top 25
(Teams listed with last season’s record.)
1. Connecticut (38-0)
2. Notre Dame (33-2)
3. South Carolina (33-2)
4. Baylor (36-2)
5. Maryland (31-4)
6. Ohio State (26-8)
6. Texas (31-5)
8. Louisville (26-8)
9. UCLA (26-9)
10. Stanford (27-8)
11. Mississippi State (28-8)
12. Florida State (25-8)
13. Syracuse (30-8)
14. Tennessee (22-14)
15. Washington (26-11)
16. Arizona State (26-7)
17. Oregon State (32-5)
18. Oklahoma (22-11)
19. Kentucky (25-8)
20. Miami (Fla.) (24-9)
21. DePaul (27-9)
22. Michigan State (25-9)
23. Texas A&M (22-10)
24. Florida (22-9)
25. West Virginia (25-10)
Others receiving votes: South Florida (24-10) 65; Indiana (21-12) 51; South Dakota State (27-7) 38; Colorado State (31-2) 17; Missouri (22-10) 17; Duke (20-12) 16; Auburn (20-13) 14; Creighton (17-18) 10; Michigan (21-14) 10; Western Kentucky (27-7) 10; St. John’s (23-10) 9; Northwestern (18-17) 7; Oklahoma State (21-10) 7; Wisconsin-Green Bay (28-5) 7; Pennsylvania (24-5) 6; Georgia (21-10) 5; North Carolina State (20-11) 5; California (15-17) 4; Temple (23-12) 4; Brigham Young (26-7) 3; Iowa (19-14) 3; Duquesne (28-6) 2; George Washington (26-7) 2; Gonzaga (19-14) 2; Oregon (24-11) 2; Drake (23-10) 1; Georgia Tech (20-13) 1; Troy (20-13) 1; Tulane (23-12) 1.
This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Kentucky women ranked No. 19 in preseason coaches’ poll."