COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - The defending national champion Texas A&M women's basketball team earned its highest-ever preseason ranking at No. 6in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll that was released Saturday.
Coming off their first national championship in program history, the Aggies made their sixth consecutive appearance in the AP preseason poll. The Aggies were the second-highest ranked school from the Big 12, as Baylor was voted No. 1
The Lady Bears received 33 of the 40 first-place votes from a national media panel. Notre Dame received six first-place notes and was second, while Tennessee, Connecticut and Stanford round out the first five. Â
The Aggies received the only other first-place vote and were followed by Miami, Duke, Louisville, and Georgetown.
Other A&M opponents in the top 25 include No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 17 Purdue, No. 23 USC, No. 24 Texas and No. 25 St. John's.
With the 2011-12 season just around the corner, the Aggies were also ranked in the top 10 by other media outlets including No. 7 by the Sporting News and No. 9 by Athlon Sports.
Texas A&M returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from its 2010-11 squad that finished with a program-best 33-5 overall record and earned its first national championship, defeating Baylor, Stanford and Notre Dame in its final three games.
A&M hosts Oklahoma City for an exhibition game on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. and begins the 2011-12 season with its home opener against Lamar on Nov. 12.
Season tickets are available for as low as $100 by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE or by visiting tickets.12thmanfoundation.com. Tickets for the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds are also on sale now here.
2011 AP Preseason Poll
|
1. |
Baylor (33) |
0-0 |
988 |
|
2. |
Notre Dame (6) |
0-0 |
934 |
|
3. |
Tennessee |
0-0 |
906 |
|
4. |
Connecticut |
0-0 |
876 |
|
5. |
Stanford |
0-0 |
852 |
|
6. |
Texas A&M (1) |
0-0 |
772 |
|
7. |
Miami (FL) |
0-0 |
750 |
|
8. |
Duke |
0-0 |
705 |
|
9. |
Louisville |
0-0 |
690 |
|
10. |
Georgetown |
0-0 |
585 |
|
11. |
Maryland |
0-0 |
569 |
|
12. |
Penn State |
0-0 |
491 |
|
13. |
Georgia |
0-0 |
432 |
|
14. |
Florida State |
0-0 |
428 |
|
15. |
Oklahoma |
0-0 |
344 |
|
16. |
Rutgers |
0-0 |
283 |
|
17. |
Purdue |
0-0 |
277 |
|
18. |
Kentucky |
0-0 |
275 |
|
19. |
DePaul |
0-0 |
263 |
|
20. |
North Carolina |
0-0 |
261 |
|
21. |
LSU |
0-0 |
228 |
|
22. |
UCLA |
0-0 |
175 |
|
23. |
USC |
0-0 |
158 |
|
24. |
Texas |
0-0 |
152 |
|
25. |
St. John's |
0-0 |
151 |
Others receiving votes: Ohio State 118, Michigan State 95, Gonzaga 57, Texas Tech 41, Green Bay 32, Iowa 20, California 19, Georgia Tech 17, Kansas State 15, Iowa State 12, Xavier 6, Dayton 4, Marist 4, Temple 4, Vanderbilt 4, Florida 2, Oral Roberts 2, Delaware 1, Marquette 1, Pittsburgh 1
Dropped from rankings: Xavier 5, Michigan State 12, Green Bay 13, Ohio State 18, Marist 19, Gonzaga 20, Georgia Tech 23, Marquette 24, Iowa 25