UConn women’s basketball picked to finish first in 2020 Big East Coaches’ Poll

In its first year back in the Big East, UConn women’s basketball is unsurprisingly expected to be the class of the league. During the Big East’s virtual media day on Thursday, the Huskies were picked first in the coaches’ poll, garnering all possible first-place votes.

DePaul came in second, taking Geno Auriemma’s vote, since coaches can’t pick their own team. Marquette slid in at No. 3.

UConn has been picked to finish first in the conference in 15 of the last 16 years, which includes the program’s time in the old Big East, AAC and this season. The last time the Huskies weren’t tabbed as favorites was during the 2011-12 campaign.

The Big East will certainly be a step up in competition for UConn compared to the AAC, where the Huskies went 139-0 over seven seasons. However, Geno Auriemma’s squad will still be favored to win every game by a comfortable margin considering UConn went 10-0 against current Big East teams between 2013 and 2020.

As for the preseason awards, Christyn Williams picked up Big East Preseason Player of the Year while Paige Bueckers was named Preseason Freshman of the Year. Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Evina Westbrook both made the All-Big East Preseason Team.

Here’s the full coaches’ poll with first-place votes in parentheses:

1. UConn (10)
2. DePaul (1)
3. Marquette
4. St. John’s
5. Creighton
6. Seton Hall
7. Villanova
8. Butler
9. Xavier
10. Providence
11. Georgetown

Be sure to follow The UConn Blog all day long for updates from Big East women’s basketball media day. Megan Gauer and myself (Daniel Connolly) will be following it all throughout the day.