NEW YORK — The LSU Lady Tigers will go into the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., as the No. 7 team in the nation according to the Associated Press women’s basketball poll.
LSU, which is ranked ninth in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, fell in the East Region final a year ago to eventual national champion Connecticut.
UConn was unanimous at No. 1 garnered all 42 first-place to easily outdistance second-ranked Tennessee for the top spot. The defending national champions, ranked No. 1 from beginning to end last season, return all five starters and all but two reserves from a 36-1 team that romped through the NCAA tournament.
Georgia came in third with Purdue, the 1999 national champion, fourth and Duke, who LSU upset in last year’s Sweet 16, fifth.
Notre Dame will begin the season just ahead of the Lady Tigers in sixth. Rutgers, Louisiana Tech and Iowa State round out the top ten.
The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences with six teams in the Top 25 — Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Auburn.
The Atlantic Coast Conference was second with four — Duke, Virginia, North Carolina State and North Carolina. The Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 each has three ranked teams.