WBB No. 6 in Coaches' Preseason Poll

Oct. 31, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma women's basketball team enters the 2007-08 season ranked No.6 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Preseason Poll released Wednesday.

The Sooners return the Associated Press National Player of the Year Courtney Paris and starters Jenna Plumley and Amanda Thompson along with a deep class of sophomores and exciting freshmen talents. Oklahoma ended last season with a Sweet 16 loss to Mississippi and a No. 9 national ranking.

Defending national champion Tennessee earned the No. 1 preseason ranking after getting 26 of a possible 31 first-place votes. Connecticut (four first-place votes), Rutgers, Maryland and LSU (one) complete the top five.

The Sooners will face eight preseason Top 25 opponents, including its first two games against No. 4 Maryland (Nov. 11) and No. 1 Tennessee. OU's third regular-season matchup is against No. 12 Arizona State.

Oklahoma's No. 6 ranking was the third best debut in program history. OU started last season ranked No. 3 and the 2001-02 season ranked No. 5.

OU was the top-ranked Big 12 team in the national coaches' poll despite being ranked second in the conference's preseason coaches' poll. Big 12 preseason favorite Texas A&M ranks No. 11 in the USA Today/ESPN poll. Baylor is No. 15 and Texas is No. 24. Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Iowa State and Texas Tech also received votes.

The Sooners' No. 6 ranking is among its best position in preseason rankings. Of the numerous preseason magazines, OU was only ranked as high in Lindy's which also tabbed the Sooners sixth best. Oklahoma was ninth in SLAM Magazine and GBallMag.com, 14th in Women's Basketball Magazine and 15th in Athlon Sports.

The USA TODAY/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2007-08 season includes Agnus Berenato, Pittsburgh; Pam Borton, Minnesota; Brian Boyer, Arkansas State; Beth Burns, San Diego State; Debra Clark, Florida A&M; Beth Couture, Butler; Leslie Crane, Western Illinois; Dana Eikenberg, Southern Illinois; Tricia Fabbri, Quinnipiac; Sharon Fanning, Mississippi State; Brian Giorgis, Marist; Julie Goodenough, Charleston Southern; Kellie Harper, Western Carolina; Mary Hegarty, Long Beach State; Nate Kilbert, Mississippi Valley State; Melissa McFerrin, American; Kevin McGuff, Xavier; Tina Martin, Delaware; Curt Miller, Bowling Green; Dan Muscatell, Sacramento State; Paul Nixon, Columbia; Rick Reeves, Gardner-Webb; Lee Ann Riley, Stephen F. Austin; Jennifer Rizzotti, Hartford; Rhonda Rompola, Southern Methodist; Julie Rousseau, Pepperdine; Brady Sallee, Eastern Illinois; Cindy Stein, Missouri; LaVonda Wagner, Oregon State; Adrian Wiggins, Fresno State; and Kay Yow, North Carolina State.

The Associated Press preseason rankings debut Nov. 6. The first regular-season USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll will be conducted the morning of Nov. 13.

Oklahoma hosts Henderson State Thursday, Nov. 1, in the first of two exhibition games the Sooners will play at the Lloyd Noble Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT.

USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll (Oct. 31)
Rank	School (2006-07 record)	Points	Final 2006-07 Rank	First-Place Votes
1.	Tennessee (34-3)	767	1	26
2.	Connecticut (32-4)	714	5	4
3.	Rutgers (27-9)	683	2	0
4.	Maryland (28-6)	637	14	0
5.	LSU (30-8)	617	4	1
6.	Oklahoma (28-5)	550	9	0
7.	North Carolina (34-4)	539	3	0
8.	Stanford (29-5)	529	16	0
9.	Duke (32-2)	515	6	0
10.	Georgia (27-7)	509	13	0
11.	Texas A&M (25-7)	459	21	0
12.	Arizona State (31-5)	454	8	0
13.	George Washington (28-4)	331	11	0
14.	California (23-9)	322	NR	0
15.	Baylor (26-8)	317	20	0
16.	Ohio State (28-4)	284	18	0
17.	Vanderbilt (28-6)	181	17	0
18.	Michigan State (24-9)	166	25	0
19.	Florida State (24-10)	155	19	0
20.	Purdue (31-6)	146	7	0
21.	Pittsburgh (24-9)	142	NR	0
22.	West Virginia (21-11)	139	NR	0
23.	Louisville (27-8)	126	24	0
24.	Texas (18-14)	121	NR	0
25.	North Carolina State (25-10)	78	12	0

Others receiving votes (with 2006-07 record): DePaul (19-13) 75; Middle Tennessee (30-4) 71; Notre Dame (20-12) 57; Auburn (21-13) 41; Wisconsin (23-13) 32; Mississippi (24-11) 31; Georgia Tech (21-12) 30; Marquette (26-7) 30; Xavier (26-8) 30; Wyoming (27-9) 26; Brigham Young (23-10) 17; Southern California (17-13) 17; Bowling Green (31-4) 16; Oklahoma State (20-11) 16; New Mexico (24-9) 12; UCLA (14-18) 12; Western Kentucky (23-9) 11; Marist (29-6) 7; Montana (27-4) 7; Nebraska (22-10) 7; TCU (21-11) 7; Temple (25-8) 7; Iowa State (26-9) 6; Kentucky (20-14) 5; Minnesota (17-16) 5; Gonzaga (24-10) 4; Boise State (24-9) 3; Old Dominion (24-9) 3; Texas Tech (15-16) 3; Tulane (26-7) 2; Ball State (24-7) 1; Hartford (25-9) 1; Utah (19-14) 1; Wisconsin-Green Bay (25-4) 1.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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