PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Five BIG EAST women's basketball teams have been ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top 25 Poll, including unanimously selected No. 1 Connecticut and No. 7 Notre Dame. Louisville checked in at No. 19, Pittsburgh earned the No. 22 spot and DePaul was picked at No. 25. Rutgers, Syracuse, USF, Georgetown and West Virginia also received votes.

The defending national champion Huskies received all 31 first-place votes in the preseason poll. Four starters are returning from the team that went 39-0 last season, including player of the year and unanimous preseason All-American Maya Moore.
Since the 1989-90 season, the top team in the preseason poll has won the NCAA championship six times, including the Huskies last season.

"We tend to finish close to where we're picked," head coach Geno Auriemma said.

The No. 7 Irish return all 12 players, including all five starters, from last year's team and adds the nation's ninth-ranked incoming freshman class featuring consensus National High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Skylar Diggins. Notre Dame finished 2008-09 at 22-9 overall and in a four-way tie for fourth after going 10-6 in BIG EAST play.

2008-09 NCAA and BIG EAST runner-up, No. 19 Louisville is coming off its first national championship game appearance and is looking to fill the void left by graduated seniors Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham. McCoughtry, the WNBA's top pick in 2009, led the Cardinals to a 34-5 mark and second place in the BIG EAST with a 14-2 record. She led Louisville and the BIG EAST in scoring (23.1 ppg), rebounding (9.3 rpg) and steals (4.2 spg) and became the first BIG EAST player to lead the conference in all three categories for three straight seasons. The Cardinals return only two starters from last season as head coach Jeff Walz will have his youngest team since taking the reins in 2007.

The No. 22 Panthers finished 2008-09 at 25-8, including their second straight trip to the Sweet 16 and third consecutive NCAA berth. Last year was a record-setting year in Pittsburgh as the 25 wins marked the most in school history and the 12-4 BIG EAST record was its best finish in league history.

No. 25 DePaul also finished in the fourth-place knot in 2008-09 at 10-6 and was 23-10 overall. The Blue Demons return four starters from last season's team which lost in the first round of NCAA Championship. DePaul is one of only 14 teams in the country to compete in the NCAA Championship in each of the last seven seasons. DePaul adds three newcomers, including junior transfer Jennifer Juergens and freshmen Katherine Harry and Anna Martin. Harry was named the 2008-09 Gatorade Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Rutgers, Syracuse, USF, Georgetown and West Virginia also received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Poll.

The 2010 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship will return to the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. for the seventh straight year. For the second time all 16 BIG EAST schools will participate. The 2010 championship will be held March 5-9 with five full days of action and 15 games. The BIG EAST's teams will battle for the conference tournament title and one will earn the league's automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.

Preseason ESPN/USA Today Poll
Rank School (first place votes) Points
1. Connecticut (31)  775
2. Stanford   739
3. Ohio State   653
4. Baylor  649
5. North Carolina   561
6. Duke  547
7. Notre Dame   438
8. Oklahoma    416
9. Tennessee   412
10. Michigan State   353
11. Arizona State   328
12. Florida State   323
13. California    314
14. Texas   311
15. Xavier  303
16. Texas A&M   302
17. LSU    298
18. Virginia   246
19. Louisville   232
20. Vanderbilt   223
21. Maryland   209
22. Pittsburgh  127
23. Purdue   126
24. Iowa State   125
25. DePaul   121

Others Receiving Votes: Middle Tennessee State 118, Kansas 110, Rutgers 106, Auburn 84, Georgia 76, Georgia Tech 73, South Dakota State 70, Mississippi State 66, Gonzaga 48, San Diego State 39, Kansas State 39, Florida 31, TCU 12, North Carolina State 11, Michigan 10, Arizona 10, Bowling Green 7, Syracuse 6, South Florida 6, South Carolina 3, Temple 2, Southern Methodist 2, Richmond 2, Georgetown 2, Ball State 2, Arkansas-Little Rock 2, UCF 1, Charlotte 1, Fresno State 1, Hartford 1, Minnesota 1, West Virginia 1, Western Kentucky 1,