UConn. Stanford. UCLA. Championships in 2026 from those teams wouldn't shock anyone. Texas and LSU likely wouldn't either. That's not to say, though, that those are the only women's college basketball teams with championship opportunities. Oklahoma and Tennessee are both in the preseason AP Top 25 and should have a chance, for example.
But what if we go even deeper? The 2022-23 LSU Tigers were No. 16 in the preseason AP poll and entered the tournament ranked ninth in the country. That counts as a dark horse title win, right? Are there teams this year that can have an LSU-esque rise?
Let's take a look at five teams that open the year outside of the top 10 in the AP poll, but that could be dark horse title contenders if everything goes well.
Ole Miss
I love what Ole Miss did in the transfer portal. In fact, I'd say that there's no team whose portal moves I loved more than the Rebels'.
The headliner here is former Ohio State guard Cotie McMahon, a skilled scorer who just needed a fresh start. Last year, McMahon took a pretty big step as a 3-point shooter, but she also connected on a career-low 45.1 percent of her 2-point attempts. She has to work on finishing at the basket and cutting down on the midrange looks, but McMahon is an elite talent.
But that's not all the Rebels did. Virginia transfer Latasha Lattimore will be a huge help up front. UCF transfer Kaitlin Peterson averaged over 20 points per game in each of the past two seasons and should thrive in a lower-usage role. Wichita State transfer Jayla Murray is an underrated addition.
Of course, how far the team goes depends on how well these players develop chemistry. You can have all the talent in the world, but it doesn't mean you're guaranteed to win with it. How this team develops as a team will be crucial.
Michigan
Last season, the Wolverines won 23 games with a team with two freshmen as the leading scorers, so the argument for the team as a viable contender this season is simple: Olivia Olson and Syla Swords just need to keep getting better. The duo played 858 minutes together last season, with the team posting a plus-14.0 net rating in those minutes.
Michigan also gets a big addition up front with Patriot League Player of the Year Ashley Sofilkanich, who averaged 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds at Bucknell last season. She won't need to score that much, but if she can give the team reliable inside scoring when needed, that's huge. She shot 9.8 percentage points above the Division I average on non-rim paint attempts last season.
Iowa State
The Cyclones are proof that just because you have a very good freshman class, you aren't guaranteed to be better when those players are a year older. Michigan should probably think of last year's Iowa State team as a cautionary tale. Instead of getting better in Year 2 of the Audi Crooks-Addy Brown era, the Cyclones were about the same, winning two more games but still ending the season with 12 losses for the second consecutive season. The offense and defense improved, but not enough to make any notable difference.
Now, though, the duo has another year under its belt. Crooks is a dominant inside scorer. Brown is an excellent ball-handler who shoots the ball well. The Cyclone added two very good players in the portal in Wofford wing Evangelia Paulk and Arizona guard Jada Williams. Williams, in particular, will expand what this team is capable of offensively.
Baylor
Baylor's path to title contention is simple. If former Arkansas/Auburn transfer Taliah Scott can a) stay healthy and b) play like she did in the three games she played at Auburn last year before she went down with injury, the Bears should be a very, very good basketball team.
Scott's 2024-25 performance is obviously difficult to draw conclusions from since it was a three-game sample, but whew, it was a good three games, as Scott averaged 20.3 points per game and shot 50.0 percent from deep on 10.7 attempts per game. She also added 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Scott has a chance to really thrive in Nicki Collen's system.
Baylor is more than just Scott, though. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs is capable of doing a little bit of everything. Bella Fontleroy averaged 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks last season. Players like Kyla Abraham and Jana Van Gytenbeek provide the team with solid depth.
Vanderbilt
Caitlin Clark never won a championship in college, but she came close a couple of times, despite never really playing on a team with a championship-level supporting cast.
I bring Clark up not because I'm, like, contractually obligated to bring Clark up, but to offer a potential comparison for what Mikayla Blakes can do at Vanderbilt this season. With Khamil Pierre transferring to NC State, this is now Blake's team.
Luckily, there's talent around her. Sacha Washington missed last season, but returns and should give the team a very, very reliable inside presence. Texas transfer Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda is a very underrated player. Vanderbilt might be the least likely team in this article to actually win a title, but I just don't want to underestimate what Blakes is capable of. She's an elite scorer, and the players around her aren't as bad as some people might think.