With under a month to go before the women's college basketball season tips off, it's time to start looking ahead at the new season. What better place is there to start than with a look at the top 25 teams in the nation.
While it'll still be a little bit before we get our first official AP poll of the year, it's never too early to start thinking about what that poll will look like. Barring injuries in practice, the teams are set at this point, so let's try to make sense of those teams.
Here's our best guess at a preseason AP Top 25 poll.
1. UConn
Even without Paige Bueckers, the Huskies enter the 25-26 season as the favorites. Azzi Fudd is ready to be the top backcourt option as long as she can stay healthy. Sarah Strong is the next great UConn star. Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams is set to add another dimension to this frontcourt. She's been top 20 in the nation in blocks in each of the past two seasons.
2. South Carolina
Has Dawn Staley ever had a player like Ta'Niya Latson? The Florida State transfer led the nation in scoring last season and it will be interesting to see how she fits into Staley's South Carolina system, which has mostly emphasized bigs. This should also be the true breakout season for Joyce Edwards, who led the Gamecocks in scoring as a freshman despite coming off the bench for all but one game.
3. UCLA
The top two teams might be in a tier of their own, but UCLA is the closest team there is to breaking into that tier. Lauren Betts returns, as does guard Kiki Rice. Charlisse Leger-Walker should play after missing last season with a knee issue. Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens is a knock-down shooter from deep who adds an additional element to this offense. Plus, the team added Sienna Betts, one of the top recruits in this class, to help provide depth. Maybe the bench is a slight concern, but the top-end talent here rivals anyone.
4. Oklahoma
Raegan Beers has given the Sooners something they always missed pre-Beers, which is a dominant post big who elevates the team's play. Head coach Jennie Baranczyk likes to play fast, with the Sooners leading the nation in pace last season, the third time in the past four years that the team was top three in that stat. Being able to do that while also having Beers on the inside makes this a very, very hard team to beat.
5. Texas
Point guard Rori Harmon opted to return for one more season, while SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker is back as well. The Longhorns don't have a ton of big names behind those two, but they do have a lot of really solid basketball players, plus the addition of Arizona big Breya Cunningham can make the team forget about losing Taylor Jones to graduation.
6. LSU
The addition of MiLaysia Fulwiley sets the Tigers up to be a very entertaining watch, though I do have some questions about her fit with Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams. If there's someone who can figure that out, though, it's LSU head coach Kim Mulkey.
7. Tennessee
Is Tennessee back? In Kim Caldwell's first season, the team won 24 games and made the Sweet Sixteen, and this offseason she added one of the most intriguing players in the country in Janiah Barker, who was once viewed as a potential WNBA lottery pick before her stock dropped due to inconsistent play. If Caldwell can unlock Barker, the Lady Vols can be a surprise championship contender.
8. Duke
After making the Elite Eight last year, how will the Blue Devils follow things up this time around? Well, much of that depends on how well Toby Fournier plays in her second collegiate season. The team's leading scorer as a freshman, Fournier has the talent to be a top 10 player in college basketball. Ashlon Jackson returns as well to provide veteran leadership.
9. NC State
NC State has the tough task of replacing much of its scoring output last year, but the addition of Vanderbilt transfer Khamil Pierre might be one of the most underrated moves made by any team this offseason. We should be talking more about how Wes Moore managed to grab a former SEC player who just averaged 20.4 points per game.
10. North Carolina
The Tarheels had one of the best recruiting classes this year, which will help make up for losing the three players who averaged double-digits last season. Plenty of depth returns, and UCLA transfer guard Elina Aarnisalo should excel in Chapel Hill.
11. Maryland
Kaylene Smikle was outstanding during Maryland's three NCAA Tournament games, averaging 20.7 points per contest. She should be one of the most dangerous scorers in the nation. The Terrapins have to replace Shyanne Sellers, but they might have found the perfect person to do so in Indiana transfer Yarden Garzon.
12. Ole Miss
I love what Ole Miss did in the transfer portal. It remains to be seen if all these new pieces mesh together, but Cotie McMahon can lead an offense, Kaitlin Peterson is a lights-out scorer and Latasha Lattimore has bounced around a lot but finally looked like a very good big at Virginia last season.
13. Michigan
Can Michigan's 24-25 freshman class stay locked in for the 25-26 season? The trio of Olivia Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway could lead the Wolverines to the promised land of the Final Four one day if they stick together, provided all three players continue to improve. Depth is a question, but Michigan has the foundation of a good basketball team.
14. Iowa State
Speaking of second-year players, Iowa State's 23-24 freshmen were supposed to lead the team to huge things in 24-25, but instead the Cyclones played basically the same. Can Addy Brown and Audi Crooks take the next step this year and put the Cyclones in position to win the Big 12? Adding Arizona's Jada Williams will help that task.
15. Louisville
It feels like expectations for Jeff Walz's team are all over the place. Sure, it's not his most talented group on paper, but I like what he did in the portal and believe Tajianna Roberts will make a leap in her second college season. Also, if we're predicting what the AP poll will look like, we have to consider that voters will probably err on the side of betting on the Cardinals.
16. Baylor
I've been waiting for Darianna Littlepage-Buggs to go from "really good player" to "elite player" for a couple of years now. Maybe this is when it happens after a season where she averaged 13.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for the Bears. Nicki Collen came in clutch in the transfer portal by adding an elite scoring prospect in Taliah Scott.
17. TCU
TCU loses the three players who were most responsible for last season's success, but adding Olivia Miles in the portal is a good consolation prize. Can a pair of 6-foot-7 transfers — Kennedy Basham from Arizona State and Clara Silva from Kentucky — make the Horned Frogs forget about Sedona Prince?
18. Notre Dame
Speaking of Miles, the program she departed this year stands at a crossroads. In addition to losing Miles, the team has to replace Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld and Liatu King, all of whom are in the WNBA now. At least the team has its leading scorer, Hannah Hidalgo, back, but there are major questions about the supporting cast around Hidalgo.
19. Vanderbilt
Losing Khamil Pierre hurts, but the Commodores still have one of the most exciting players in the nation, Mikayla Blakes. Last season, a freshman Blakes averaged 23.3 points, 3.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Adding Texas transfer Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda should help the Vanderbilt defense out.
20. Oklahoma State
The Cowgirls have been on a roller coaster in the Jacie Hoyt era. After going 21-12 in Hoyt's first season, the team entered the 23-24 season with high expectations but went on to finish under .500. Then last year, with no expectations, the team won 25 games but was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This year, she has Micah Gray and Stailee Hard back, plus added BYU transfer Amari Whiting.
21. Richmond
The Spiders have been very good over the past three seasons and there's no reason to think that changes this time around. A-10 Player of the Year Maggie Doogan returns, which is enough on its own to make Richmond the conference favorites.
22. USC
What do we make of USC this year? JuJu Watkins is out for the season, and a number of key players hit the portal, but the team added Georgia Tech's leading scorer, Kara Dunn, and has one of the best freshmen in the nation in Jazzy Davidson, so the team should be fine. Not title contenders, but a dangerous team that has Sweet Sixteen upside.
23. Iowa
Iowa survived its first season without Caitlin Clark, going 23-11 thanks to the play of her replacement, Lucy Olsen. Now Olsen is gone as well, but Georgia Tech transfer Chazadi Wright should be a capable point guard for this team. Look for center Hannah Stuelke to dominate in her final season in Iowa City, plus freshman Addie Deal could make a quick impact in the backcourt.
24. Michigan State
The Spartans have back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in a decade and return leading scorer Grace VanSlooten, plus added another skilled scorer in Arizona State transfer Jalyn Brown.
25. Princeton
Princeton brings back a lot of players from last year's team, which made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row — and, if you don't count the canceled 2020 tournament or the 2021 tournament since Princeton sat that season out, the team's streak sits at six years. If the Tigers get a full season from Madison St. Rose, who played just four games last year before tearing her ACL, then this team could be in a position to make its first-ever Sweet Sixteen.