Baylor No. 1 in women's poll; OU, OSU ranked
BY Associated Press
Sunday, October 28, 2012
10/28/12 at 7:22 AM
Brittney Griner and Baylor are picking up right where they finished last season - at No. 1.
The Lady Bears are ranked at the top of the preseason women's basketball poll by The Associated Press for the second straight year. Baylor had the No. 1 spot for the entire season last year en route to its second national title and a 40-0 record.
"It's a humbling honor, which we'll embrace, but it's just that - an honor. It doesn't win basketball games. Our goal every year is to win championships," coach Kim Mulkey said.
Baylor received all 40 first-place votes Saturday from a national media panel. The Lady Bears, who return all five starters including the 6-foot-8 Griner, joined Texas (1985 and 1986) as the only Big 12 schools to start the season at No. 1 in consecutive years.
Connecticut, Duke, Stanford and Maryland round out the first five.
Oklahoma is No. 12 and Oklahoma State No. 23 after both teams ended last season unranked. OU was 21-13 last season while OSU finished 22-12.
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has a lot of optimism about his team, which has lost in the Final Four the past two years. He's telling anyone who will listen that he believes his team can win it all, even though defending national champion Baylor returns Griner.
"If everyone expected us to go to the Final Four and contend for a national championship without Maya Moore, isn't the expectation level this year to go undefeated and win every game by 100?" he joked last week. "So, I might as well say, 'Yeah, that's what we're going to do."
AP Women's Top 25 poll
First-place votes in parentheses, 2011-12 final records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and 2011-12 final ranking:
|
Record |
Pts |
Prv |
| 1. Baylor (40) |
40-0 |
1,000 |
1 |
| 2. UConn |
33-5 |
951 |
3 |
| 3. Duke |
27-6 |
909 |
6 |
| 4. Stanford |
35-2 |
854 |
2 |
| 5. Maryland |
31-5 |
827 |
5 |
| 6. Kentucky |
28-7 |
767 |
12 |
| 7. Notre Dame |
35-4 |
754 |
4 |
| 8. Penn St. |
26-7 |
676 |
11 |
| 9. Louisville |
23-10 |
657 |
19 |
| 10. Georgia |
22-9 |
599 |
20 |
| 11. Delaware |
31-2 |
545 |
7 |
| 12. Oklahoma |
21-13 |
476 |
- |
| 13. California |
25-10 |
428 |
- |
| 14. St. John's |
24-10 |
422 |
14 |
| 15. Texas A&M |
24-11 |
370 |
22 |
| 16. Vanderbilt |
23-10 |
361 |
- |
| 17. West Virginia |
24-10 |
335 |
- |
| 18. Nebraska |
24-9 |
297 |
17 |
| 19. Ohio St. |
25-7 |
273 |
16 |
| 20. Tennessee |
27-9 |
256 |
9 |
| 21. Purdue |
25-9 |
223 |
13 |
| 22. Georgia Tech |
26-9 |
140 |
15 |
| 23. Oklahoma St. |
22-12 |
139 |
- |
| 24. Miami |
26-6 |
110 |
8 |
| 25. DePaul |
23-11 |
104 |
- |
Others receiving votes: Kansas 90, Middle Tennessee 70, Green Bay 57, Texas 52, Iowa St. 51, San Diego St. 48, Rutgers 41, Georgetown 24, LSU 14, UCLA 14, Florida St. 12, North Carolina 12, Virginia 12, Michigan 9, Iowa 6, Princeton 4, UTEP 3, Fresno St. 2, Michigan St. 2, South Carolina 2, Creighton 1, Southern Cal 1.
