South Carolina tops USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll
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The USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools. The panel is chosen by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The members represent each of the 32 Division I conferences that receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th.
| Rank | School (record) | Points | Last year’s final rank | First-place votes |
| 1 | South Carolina (26-5) | 768 | 4 | 13 |
| 2 – tie | Stanford (31-2) | 763 | 1 | 13 |
| 2 – tie | Connecticut (28-2) | 763 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | North Carolina State (22-3) | 670 | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | Maryland (26-3) | 661 | 9 | 0 |
| 6 | Louisville (26-4) | 642 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Indiana (21-6) | 558 | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | Baylor (28-3) | 495 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | Oregon (15-9) | 475 | 15 | 0 |
| 10 | Michigan (16-6) | 470 | 11 | 0 |
| 11 | Iowa (20-10) | 440 | 19 | 0 |
| 12 | Tennessee (17-8) | 346 | 16 | 0 |
| 13 | Kentucky (18-9) | 322 | 21 | 0 |
| 14 | UCLA (17-6) | 311 | 12 | 0 |
| 15 | Arizona (21-6) | 277 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Iowa State (17-11) | 258 | NR | 0 |
| 17 | Texas A&M (25-3) | 251 | 10 | 0 |
| 18 | Oregon State (12-8) | 224 | NR | 0 |
| 19 | Georgia (21-7) | 197 | 13 | 0 |
| 20 | Georgia Tech (17-9) | 192 | 22 | 0 |
| 21 | Texas (21-10) | 180 | 17 | 0 |
| 22 | South Florida (19-4) | 169 | 18 | 0 |
| 23 | West Virginia (22-7) | 165 | 24 | 0 |
| 24 | Florida State (10-9) | 157 | NR | 0 |
| 25 | Ohio State (13-7) | 128 | NR | 0 |
Dropped out: No. 14 Missouri State (23-3); No. 20 Gonzaga (23-4); No. 23 Arkansas (19-9); No. 25 Florida Gulf Coast (26-3) 54.
Others receiving votes: Missouri State (23-3) 112; Gonzaga (23-4) 59; Virginia Tech (15-10) 56; Florida Gulf Coast (26-3) 54; Arkansas (19-9) 53; Michigan State (15-9) 28; Rutgers (14-5) 17; Stephen F. Austin (24-3) 16; LSU (9-13) 13; Northwestern (16-9) 13; South Dakota State (21-4) 13; Washington State (12-12) 13; Brigham Young (19-6) 11; North Carolina (13-11) 11; Central Florida (16-5) 8; Colorado (12-11) 8; DePaul (14-10) 5; Mississippi (15-12) 5; Belmont (21-6) 4; Delaware (24-5) 4; Oklahoma (12-12) 4; Notre Dame (10-10) 3; South Dakota (19-6) 3; Houston (17-8) 2; IUPUI (15-5) 1; Seton Hall (14-7) 1; Virginia (0-5) 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2021-22 season: Ganiyat Adeduntan, Colgate; Suzy Barcomb, Seattle; Fred Batchelor, Maryland-Eastern Shore; Matt Bollant, Eastern Illinois; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Jeff Cammon, Long Beach State; Jamie Craighhead, San Jose State; Megan Duffy, Marquette; Nancy Fahey, Illinois; Ronny Fisher, Campbell; Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga; Robyn Fralick, Bowling Green; Andrea Gorski, Bradley; Carey Green, Liberty; Simon Harris, East Tennessee State; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Monique LeBlanc, Brown; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Lynn Milligan, Rider; Jalie Mitchell, North Texas; Mike Neighbors, Arkansas; Raegan Pebley, TCU; DoBee Plaisance, Nicholls State; Margaret Richards, Alabama A&M; Lynne Roberts, Utah; Seton Sobolewski, Idaho State; Lisa Stockton, Tulane; Angelika Szumilo, Fairleigh Dickinson; Amy Vachon, Maine; Jeff Walz, Louisville; Jaida Williams, Coastal Carolina; Doshia Woods, Denver.
