Preseason polls give preview of 2012-12 women’s basketball landscape

Complete list of preseason polls

In the past several weeks, conference preseason awards have given die-hard women’s basketball fans a preview of what teams are predicted to dominate their respective leagues. The Great West, Northeast,  Southland and West Coast conferences have not yet released their preseason standings.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, Miami sits atop the preseason rankings for the first time since it joined the conference in 2004. Traditional ACC powerhouse Duke came in second, Maryland was third while North Carolina showed up at sixth and North Carolina State placed seventh.

In the Big 12, last year’s conference champion is ranked No. 1 while national champion Texas A&M is second. Texas is third, Oklahoma fourth while Iowa State takes fifth. Baylor junior and dominating center Brittney Griner is once again the choice for preseason player of the year.

Last year’s opponent against Texas A&M in the national title game Notre Dame has the top spot in the Big East. Final Four participant Connecticut is second while Louisville is in third. Rutgers is in fourth and Georgetown rounds out the top five.

Penn State takes the preseason lead in the Big Ten, topping Ohio State, last year’s conference champion. Two players share the preseason player of the year honors in the conference: OSU senior Samantha Prahalis and Penn State junior Alex Bentley.

Delaware continues its recent dominance in the Colonial Athletic Conference, sitting on top of the preseason poll. Blue Hens junior Elena Delle Donne is the league’s preseason player of the year. Delaware returns five starters from last year’s 20-14 team.

In Conference USA, Memphis leads the pack with senior guard Brittany Carter taking the preseason player of the year honor. Carter missed five conference games last season with a stress fracture but managed to average a team-high 13.8 points per game. Head coach Melissa McFerrin guided her team to its 18th 20-win season (21-13) in 2010-11. The Tigers return four starters.

Among the Ivies, last year’s conference leader Princeton is again on top. Tigers star Niveen Rasheed is back in action this season for Princeton after recovering from a torn ACL.

In the Southeastern Conference, Tennessee once again is ranked first in the preseason polls. The team has six seniors, returning the majority of the squad despite losing guards Angie Bjorklund and Sydney Smallbone plus center Kelley Cain. Lady Vols senior Shekinna Stricklen was the overwhelming choice in the media poll for SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year.

On the west coast in the Pac-12 it is no surprise that Stanford leads for the 11^th year in a row. The 2010-11 NCAA Final Four team and last year’s conference champion is packed with sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogumwike returning. Recent Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Tara VanDerveer, who is entering her 26th year, looks to take the Cardinal back to the Final Four.

Conference	Preseason Pick	Preason Player of the Year	2011 Conference Tournament Champion
Atlantic Coast Poll	Miami	Shenise Johnson, Sr., G, Miami	Duke
America East Poll	UMBC	All-Conference First Team Unanimous Pick: Chantell Alford, Jr., G, Boston	Hartford
Atlantic 10 Poll	Tie: Dayton, Temple	All-Conference First Team	Xavier
Atlantic Sun Poll	Florida Gulf Coast	Victoria McGowan, Jr., G, Steston	Stetson
Big 12 Poll	Baylor	Brittney Griner, Jr., C, Baylor	Baylor
Big East Poll	Notre Dame	Skylar Diggins, Jr. G, Notre Dame	Connecticut
Big Sky Poll	Portland State	N/A	Montana
Big South Poll	Liberty	Avery Warley, R-Sr., C, Liberty	Gardner-Webb
Big Ten Poll	Penn State	Tie: Samantha Prahalis, Sr., G, Ohio State || Alex Bentley, Jr., G, Penn State	Ohio State
Big West Poll	Cal Poly	All-Conference Team	UC Davis
Colonial Poll	Delaware	Elena Delle Donne, Jr., G/F, Delaware	James Madison
Conference USA Poll	Memphis	Brittany Carter, Sr., G, Memphis	UCF
Great West Poll	TBA	TBA	Chicago State
Horizon Poll	Green Bay	Brandi Brown, Jr., F, Youngstown State	Green Bay
Ivy Poll	Princeton	N/A	Princeton*
Metro Atlantic Poll	Marist	Corielle Yarde, Sr., G, Marist	Marist
Mid-American Poll	East Division: Bowling Green West Division: Toledo	All-Mac Team	Bowling Green
Mid-Eastern Poll	Hampton	Saadia Doyle, Jr., F, Howard	Hampton
Missouri Valley Poll	Missouri State	Casey Garrison, Sr., G, Missouri State	Northern Iowa
Mountain West Poll	TCU	Kim Mestdagh, Sr., G/F, Colorado State	Utah
Northeast Poll	TBA	TBA	Saint Francis (PA)
Ohio Valley Poll	Tennessee Tech	Tacarra Hayes, Sr., G, Tennessee Tech	Tennessee Martin
Pacific-12 Poll	Stanford	N/A	Stanford
Patriot Poll	American	Jade Geif, Soph., F, Navy	Navy
Southeastern Poll	Tennessee	Shekinna Stricklen, Sr., G/F, Tennessee	Tennessee
Southern Poll	Chattanooga	Sophia Alexandravicius, Soph., F, Davidson	Samford
Southland Poll	TBA	TBA	McNeese State
SWAC Poll	Tie: Southern, Prairie View A&M	N/A, First Team Selections	Prairie View A&M
Summit Poll	Oral Roberts	Kevi Luper, Jr., G, Oral Roberts	South Dakota State
Sun Belt Poll	East Division: Denver West Division: Middle Tennessee	Preseason Co-Players of the Year Ebony Rowe, Soph., F, Middle Tennessee Kaetlyn Murdoch, Sr., F, Denver	Arkansas at Little Rock
West Coast Poll	TBA	TBA	Gonzaga
Western Athletic Poll	Louisiana Tech	Ashlee Brown, Sr., F, Utah State	Louisiana Tech

*Regular season champion. The Ivy League does not have a tournament.