College basketball rankings: Where SEC women’s teams are ranked in preseason Coaches Poll

South Carolina women’s basketball will look for its third national championship in four seasons when the 2024-25 season tips off.

The Gamecocks will certainly be among the favorites, starting the season at No. 1 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, which was unveiled on Thursday.

REQUIRED READING: How Dawn Staley reacted to suggestion loaded South Carolina women’s basketball roster is a problem

Some of South Carolina’s top contenders will be No. 2 UConn, who returns superstar guard Paige Bueckers, and No. 3 USC, who returns JuJu Watkins after a phenomenal freshman season. Both players were selected as AP preseason All-Americans.

Dawn Staley and Co. will also see plenty of competition from within the SEC, as the Gamecocks are joined by six other conference teams in the top 25, including No. 7 LSU and top-10 additions in No. 4 Texas and No. 10 Oklahoma, in their first seasons in the conference after jumping from the Big 12.

The Gamecocks only lost two players from last season’s undefeated national championship roster in Kamilla Cardoso, who went No. 3 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, and Ashlyn Watkins, who’s currently suspended.

Here’s the rest of the preseason Coaches Poll, with South Carolina leading the pack:

College basketball rankings: SEC teams in preseason women’s basketball poll

Here’s the full preseason top 25 by the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll:

First-place votes in parentheses. SEC teams bolded.

1. South Carolina (27)

2. UConn (3)

3. USC (1)

4. Texas

5. Notre Dame

6. UCLA

7. LSU

8. NC State

9. Iowa State

10. Oklahoma

11. Duke

12. Baylor

13. Kansas State

14. Ohio State

15. West Virginia

16. North Carolina

17. Louisville

18. Maryland

19. Florida State

20. Creighton

21. Ole Miss

22. Kentucky

23. Nebraska

24. Indiana

25. Alabama

Others receiving votes: Gonzaga (32-4) 49; TCU (21-12) 37; Stanford (30-6) 32; Tennessee (20-13) 32; Iowa (34-5) 28; Utah (23-11) 25; South Dakota State (27-6) 22; Oregon State (27-8) 21; Princeton (25-5) 18; Colorado (24-10) 15; Virginia Tech (25-8) 10; Illinois (19-15) 9; Middle Tennessee (30-5) 8; Fairfield (31-2) 7; California (19-15) 6; Richmond (29-6) 6; Auburn (20-12) 5; Florida Gulf Coast (29-5) 4; Miami (19-12) 4; UNLV (30-3) 4; South Florida (19-14) 3; George Mason (23-8) 2; Cleveland State (29-6) 1; Michigan (20-14) 1; Saint Joseph’s (28-6).

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: College basketball rankings: SEC women’s teams in preseason Coaches Poll