Tennessee is everyone’s choice to repeat title

It’s unanimous. Tennessee is No. 1.

Seven months after winning their seventh national championship, the Lady Vols are the top team in the Associated Press preseason poll for the 12th time in school history.

The Lady Vols received all 50 first-places votes Saturday from a national media panel and compiled 1,250 points -- 75 more than No. 2 Connecticut.

It’s easy to see why.

Coach Pat Summitt has four starters back, including All-American Candace Parker, from the team that ran through the NCAA tournament last season, beating Rutgers, 59-46, in the title game to finish 34-3.

“For our team being No. 1 is a tremendous compliment,” Summitt said. “It’s also a tremendous challenge. Coming off a national championship, we are every opponent’s target.”

This is only the fourth time since it became a writer’s poll in 1994 that the preseason No. 1 pick has been unanimous. The Lady Vols received all the first place votes in 1998-99, the season after their last title. Connecticut held the honor twice, in 2000-01 and 2003-04.

“I think this team has yet to understand what goes with a No. 1 ranking,” Summitt said. “It’s a first for them, at the same time, we play a tough schedule every year. There are always high expectations here. It’s interesting because it’s amazing to see how teams respond to that.”

Top 25 women

The top 25 teams in the Associated Press’ preseason women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one for a 25th-place vote and last year’s last ranking:

*--* Record Pts Pvs 1. Tennessee (50)...34-3 1,250 3 2. Connecticut...32-4 1,175 4 3. Rutgers...27-9 1,122 15 4. Maryland...28-6 1,109 6 5. Louisiana State...30-8 1,049 12 6. Oklahoma...28-5 949 9 7. Stanford...29-5 898 5 8. North Carolina...34-4 890 2 9. Georgia...27-7 825 13 10. Duke...32-2 809 1 11. Texas A&M...25-7 777 16 12. Arizona State...31-5 629 10 13. California...23-9 615 -- 14. George Washington...28-4 525 14 15. Baylor...26-8 504 19 16. Ohio State...28-4 458 8 17. Michigan State...24-9 355 23 18. West Virginia...22-11 336 -- 19. Florida State...24-10 323 -- 20. Pittsburgh...24-9 298 -- 21. Louisville...27-8 220 25 22. Texas...18-14 205 -- 23. Vanderbilt...28-6 184 7 24. Notre Dame...20-12 131 -- 25. DePaul...19-13 108 -- *--*

Others receiving votes: Purdue 96, Wisconsin 90, Middle Tennessee 65, North Carolina State 62, Auburn 52, Xavier 38, Georgia Tech 35, Wyoming 19, Illinois 17, Oklahoma State 8, Marquette 7, Marist 4, Texas Tech 4, Mississippi 2, Drake 1, Kentucky 1, South Dakota State 1, USC 1, Texas Christian 1, Temple 1, Tulane 1.