BATON ROUGE — The LSU womens basketball team received its highest pre-season ranking in a decade as the Lady Tigers are ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN poll which was released on Tuesday.
The Lady Tigers return four starters from last years team which posted a 22-8 overall mark, placed second in the Southeastern Conference with a school-record 10 league wins and advanced to the Sweet 16 at the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 14 ranking for the Lady Tigers is the highest for LSU since coming in at No. 13 in the Associated Press poll in 1989-90. The top 25 ranking for the Lady Tigers is also the first in a preseason poll since being ranked No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN poll to start the 1996-97 season.
Connecticut is the No. 1 team in the poll, followed by Tennessee, Rutgers, UCLA and Georgia. Louisiana Tech, Iowa State, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Penn State round out the top 10.
Auburn is No. 11 followed by Illinois, Cal-Santa Barbara, LSU and Old Dominion. Oregon is ranked No. 16, followed by Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, defending national champion Purdue and Kansas. Boston College is ranked No. 21, with Duke, Texas Tech, Arizona and Virginia rounding out the top 25.
Obviously we are some among very elite company, LSU coach Sue Gunter said. This ranking is a tribute to the work that we have put in the last three or four years with our recruiting and our performance on the court.
I really feel like we have the players this year and that we are worthy of that position. We cant get too carried away about our ranking because we still have to go out and do a good job. Im glad for the recognition and Im proud for the fans and the players. We known it for a while now, but its nice for the rest of the country to finally realize that LSU womens basketball is for real.
After a pair of exhibition games this week, the Lady Tigers open its regular-season at the Four in the Fall Classic in Lubbock, Texas. LSU will face either host Texas Tech, UCLA, or North Carolina in the Classic which will be nationally televised by Lifetime.
USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25 Rank Team
1. Connecticut (18)
2. Tennessee (7)
3. Rutgers (7)
4. UCLA (1)
5. Georgia (5)
6. Louisiana Tech (1)
7. Iowa State (1)
8. North Carolina
9. Notre Dame
10. Penn State
11. Auburn
12. Illinois
13. UC-Santa Barbara
14. LSU
15. Old Dominion
16. Oregon
17. Virginia Tech
18. North Carolina State
19. Purdue
20. Kansas
21. Boston College
22. Duke
23. Texas Tech
24. Arizona
25. Virginia