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SALT LAKE CITY — A year removed from a Sweet 16 appearance, where Utah women's basketball narrowly lost to eventual champion LSU, the Utes have big expectations for the upcoming season.
Those expectations got even bigger Tuesday when voters for the Associated Press Top 25 rankings tabbed Utah at No. 5 in the preseason poll, the highest preseason rankings in program history.
With a returning starting lineup, led by reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Alissa Pili and deep-threat shooter Gianna Kneepkens, Utah is positioned well to be a favorite to return to the Big Dance for the third consecutive season under Lynne Roberts.
The national rankings pair with Utah being picked to win the Pac-12 this season by the coaches and media.
Though Utah was tabbed at No. 5, UCLA sits at No. 4 and leads a Pac-12 Conference that has six teams ranked. Other teams from the Pac-12 ranked include No. 15 Stanford, which shared a regular season conference title with Utah last year, No. 20 Colorado, No. 21 USC and No. 24 Washington State. Arizona, Oregon and Washington all received at least one vote.
At the top of the rankings is reigning national champion LSU, which returns star Angel Reese to the Tigers' lineup. Behind LSU is No. 2 UConn and No. 3 Iowa.
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