Oct. 26, 2017
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A week after Notre Dame women’s basketball were proclaimed ACC favorites for the 2017-18 season, USA Today released its preseason top-25 coaches poll with the Irish landing in the No. 5 spot with 648 points.
Thursday’s poll also solidified the fact that Notre Dame’s 2017-18 schedule will undoubtedly rank among the top in the country. Currently, the Irish will challenge a total of 12 schools ranked inside the top-25, and a total of 18 different opponents either ranked or receiving votes, including nine in the ACC.
Fellow ACC schools joining Notre Dame inside the top-25 were No. 10 Louisville, No. 12 Duke, No. 14 Florida State and No. 24 Miami, as the league boasted the second most ranked teams with five.
Fans can catch their first glimpse of Notre Dame when they host IUP in an exhibition contest on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. ET, inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Then the Irish will officially kick things off on Nov. 11 vs. Mount Saint Mary’s at 1 p.m.
The Nov. 11 season opener will also witness 2014 graduate Kayla McBride getting inducted into the Ring of Honor during the pre-game festivities.
|
Rank |
School (record) |
Points |
Last year’s rank |
1st Place votes |
|
1. |
Connecticut (36-1) |
789 |
3 |
25 |
|
2. |
South Carolina (33-4) |
719 |
1 |
7 |
|
3. |
Baylor (33-4) |
687 |
6 |
0 |
|
4. |
Mississippi State (34-5) |
678 |
2 |
0 |
|
5. |
Notre Dame (33-4) |
648 |
5 |
0 |
|
6. |
Texas (25-9) |
608 |
14 |
0 |
|
7. |
UCLA (25-9) |
582 |
13 |
0 |
|
8. |
Ohio State (28-7) |
575 |
10 |
0 |
|
9. |
Stanford (32-6) |
548 |
4 |
0 |
|
10. |
Louisville (29-8) |
504 |
12 |
0 |
|
11. |
Oregon (23-14) |
479 |
16 |
0 |
|
12. |
Duke (28-6) |
442 |
15 |
0 |
|
13. |
Maryland (32-3) |
380 |
8 |
0 |
|
14. |
Florida State (28-7) |
334 |
7 |
0 |
|
15. |
West Virginia (24-11) |
272 |
20 |
0 |
|
16. |
Missouri (22-11) |
249 |
not ranked |
0 |
|
17. |
Oregon State (31-5) |
246 |
9 |
0 |
|
18. |
Tennessee (20-12) |
229 |
not ranked |
0 |
|
19. |
Marquette (25-8) |
218 |
not ranked |
0 |
|
20. |
DePaul (27-8) |
156 |
18 |
0 |
|
21. |
Oklahoma (23-10) |
151 |
21 |
0 |
|
22. |
South Florida (24-9) |
109 |
not ranked |
0 |
|
23. |
Michigan (28-9) |
100 |
not ranked |
0 |
|
24. |
Miami (Fla.) (24-9) |
80 |
19 |
0 |
|
25. |
California (20-14) |
79 |
not ranked |
0 |
|
25. |
Washington (29-6) |
79 |
11 |
0 |
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M (22-12) 70; North Carolina State (23-9) 67; Kentucky (22-11) 59; Syracuse (22-11) 53; Arizona State (20-13) 43; Quinnipiac (29-7) 27; Drake (28-5) 18; Gonzaga (26-7) 18; Virginia (20-13) 17; Purdue (23-13) 15; Kansas State (23-11) 10; LSU (20-12) 8; Florida Gulf Coast (26-9) 7; Georgia Tech (22-15) 7; Michigan State (21-12) 7; South Dakota State (23-9) 6; Nebraska (7-22) 5; Temple (24-8) 5; Dayton (22-10) 4; Indiana (23-11) 4; Middle Tennessee (23-11) 2; Texas-Arlington (22-9) 2; Virginia Tech (20-14) 2; Boise State (25-8) 1; Elon (27-7) 1; Villanova (20-15) 1.
–ND–
Josh Bates joined Fighting Irish Media as associate athletics communications director in July of 2017, serving as the women’s basketball and men’s golf contact. Bates earned both his bachelor’s (2011) and master’s (2014) degree in sports management from the University of Illinois. He also worked as a grad assistant at Illinois from 2012-14 and worked full-time at Tulane University from 2014-17.