Women’s Basketball Debuts at No. 8 in USA Today/Coaches’ Poll
October 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball
Louisville is one of five Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the poll’s top 25.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville women's basketball team is beginning the season where it finished last year, ranked inside the top 25 in the USA Today/Coaches' poll.
The Cardinals, tabbed eighth in Thursday's rankings release, have been listed as high as second in preseason publications. Louisville capped the 2015-16 campaign eighth in the Associated Press poll and 14th in the USA Today/Coaches' rankings.
Louisville, coming off a 26-8 season that culminated with its sixth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, is one of five Atlantic Coast Conference schools to appear in the poll's top 25, the most of any league in the country.
While the expectations are lofty for the Cardinals, the schedule presents plenty of challenges. Eight of the program's opponents are listed in the top 25, with six more receiving votes.
The Cardinals, who open the season on Nov. 11 at UT Martin, were picked to finish second in the ACC. The team returns all five starters, including the conference's reigning and preseason player of the year Myisha Hines-Allen and all-conference preseason honorees Mariya Moore and Asia Durr.
Fans interested in watching the Cardinals can purchase a six-game mini-plan, which features Sunday games against Western Kentucky, Evansville, Pittsburgh, Miami, Boston College, and North Carolina for only $48. Season tickets for the 18-game schedule are available still for as low as $108.
For the latest information on Louisville women's basketball, log on to GoCards.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/UofLWBB or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UofLWBB.
2016-17 USA TODAY SPORTS NCAA DIVISION I TOP-25 COACHES POLL (PRESEASON – OCT. 27)
1. Connecticut (38-0)
2. Notre Dame (33-2)
3. South Carolina (33-2)
4. Baylor (36-2)
5. Maryland (31-4)
t-6. Texas (31-5)
t-6. Ohio State (26-8)
8. Louisville (26-8)
9. UCLA (26-9)
10. Stanford (27-8)
11. Mississippi State (28-8)
12. Florida State (25-8)
13. Syracuse (30-8)
14. Tennessee (22-14)
15. Washington (26-11)
16. Arizona State (26-7)
17. Oregon State (32-5)
18. Oklahoma (22-11)
19. Kentucky (25-8)
20. Miami (24-9)
21. DePaul (27-9)
22. Michigan State (25-9)
23. Texas A&M (22-10)
24. Florida (22-9)
25. West Virginia (25-10)
Others receiving votes: South Florida (24-10); Indiana (21-12); South Dakota State (27-7); Colorado State (31-2); Missouri (22-10); Duke (20-12); Auburn (20-13); Creighton (17-18); Michigan (21-14); Western Kentucky (27-7); St. John's (23-10); Northwestern (18-17); Oklahoma State (21-10); Wisconsin-Green Bay (28-5); Pennsylvania (24-5); Georgia (21-10); NC State (20-11); California (15-17); Temple (23-12); Brigham Young (26-7); Iowa (19-14); Duquesne (28-6); George Washington (26-7); Gonzaga (19-14); Oregon (24-11); Drake (23-10); Georgia Tech (20-13); Troy (20-13); Tulane (23-12).
