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For the second time in three years, UConn women’s basketball isn’t the No. 1 team in the nation at the start of the season. The Huskies are slotted at No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll, behind the defending national champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Other teams on the Huskies’ schedule in the Top 25 are No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Louisville, No. 10 South Carolina, No. 15 DePaul, No. 22 USF and No. 24 Cal.
UConn’s No. 2 ranking seems high upon first glance after they lost Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams to graduation and Azura Stevens to the WNBA a year early. The Huskies don’t have much frontcourt depth — or depth behind their starting five for that matter. However, many felt UConn’s No. 3 ranking before the 2016-17 season was too high and that team still ran the table in the regular season.
The new year is set to kick-off soon with UConn’s first exhibition game coming on Sunday, Nov. 4 and their season opener one week later on Nov. 11.