By R.L. Bynum
With plenty of offseason changes and an influx of talent, North Carolina is ranked No. 15 in the preseason Top 25 women’s poll released Tuesday.
The Tar Heels were ranked No. 16 in last season’s preseason poll, but that turned out to be their highest rank of the season. They were unranked from the first February poll until the end of the season after coming in at No. 24 on Jan. 29.
UNC, which went 20–13 and made the NCAA tournament, is one of six ACC teams in the poll. The others are No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 9 N.C. State, No. 11 Duke, No. 17 Louisville and No. 19 Florida State. Stanford, Miami, Georgia Tech and Syracuse also got votes.
Reigning national champion South Carolina is No. 1, followed by No. 2 UConn, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 UCLA. The Gamecocks are preseason No. 1 for the fourth time in five seasons. Last season, they were No. 6 in the first poll.
UNC has eight (and possibly nine) games against ranked teams: UConn in Greensboro on Nov. 15, No. 22 Kentucky in Chapel Hill on Dec. 5, Notre Dame at home on Jan. 5, Duke on Jan. 9 and Feb. 27, Florida State at home on Jan. 26, N.C. State at home on Feb. 16 and at Louisville on Feb. 23. The Tar Heels could face No. 12 Baylor or No. 25 Indiana on Nov. 25 on the second day of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Carolina opens the season at Carmichael Arena at 11 a.m. on Nov. 4 against Charleston Southern.
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AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (27) | 745 | 1 |
| 2 | UConn (2) | 708 | 3 |
| 3 | Southern California (1) | 697 | 5 |
| 4 | Texas | 641 | 7 |
| 5 | UCLA | 628 | 10 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 614 | 11 |
| 7 | LSU | 549 | 6 |
| 8 | Iowa State | 521 | 25 |
| 9 | N.C. State | 510 | 4 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 441 | 21 |
| 11 | Duke | 439 | 17 |
| 12 | Baylor | 422 | 13 |
| 13 | Kansas State | 390 | 19 |
| 14 | Ohio State | 372 | 16 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 285 | NR |
| 16 | West Virginia | 277 | 24 |
| 17 | Louisville | 250 | NR |
| 18 | Maryland | 227 | NR |
| 19 | Florida State | 191 | NR |
| 20 | Ole Miss | 165 | NR |
| 21 | Creighton | 152 | 23 |
| 22 | Kentucky | 108 | NR |
| 23 | Nebraska | 106 | NR |
| 24 | Alabama | 67 | NR |
| 25 | Indiana | 46 | 12 |
Others receiving votes: Iowa 37, TCU 30, Utah 24, Illinois 23, Stanford 17, Michigan St. 16, Gonzaga 16, Vanderbilt 12, South Dakota St. 7, Miami 4, Tennessee 3, Fairfield 3, Middle Tennessee 3, Georgia Tech 2, Syracuse 1, Princeton 1.
(UNC is one below the 15-player limit)
| Year | No. | Players | Pos. | Height | |
| Freshman | 11 | Kate Harpring | PG | 5–10 | |
| Freshman | 52 | Noelle Bofia | F | 6–4 | |
| Sophomore | 3 | Gabby White — W | G | 5–10 | |
| Sophomore | 7 | Nyla Brooks | W | 6–1 | |
| Sophomore | 26 | Taissa Queiroz | G | 6–1 | |
| Junior | 34 | Blanca Thomas | C | 6–5 | |
| Junior | 1 | Jordan Zubich | G | 5–11 | |
| RS junior | 21 | Ciera Toomey | F | 6–4 | |
| RS junior | 4 | Laila Hull | W | 6–1 | |
| Senior | 5 | Sophie Burrows — X | G | 6–2 | |
| Senior | 8 | Achol Akot — Y | F | 6–1 | |
| Senior | 10 | Reniya Kelly | G | 5–7 | |
| Senior | 15 | Sydney Barker | G | 5–6 | |
| Graduate | 13 | Chloe Clardy — Z | G | 5–9 |
W — Virginia transfer; X — Syracuse transfer; Y — Oklahoma State transfer; Z — Stanford transfer
Former players who entered transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elina Aarnisalo | Junior | G | 5–10 | UCLA |
| Lanie Grant | Junior | G | 5–9 | TCU |
| Taliyah Henderson | Sophomore | W | 6–1 | Clemson |
| Liza Astakhova | Sophomore | G | 6–2 | BYU |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
