It’s a new era for Oklahoma Women’s Basketball as the Sooners prepare to take on the challenge of the SEC. Coming off their third straight NCAA tournament appearance, Jennie Baranczyk enters a conference featuring the last three national champions; South Carolina (2022 and 2024) and LSU (2023).
But the Sooners have a good and experienced roster to wade into the waters of the historically strong SEC women’s basketball league. A conference with elite teams and historic blue bloods. Can the Sooners take the next step to join the sport’s elite?
The Oklahoma Sooners enter the 2024-2025 season as one of the top 10 teams in the nation, according to the USA TODAY Sports preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll.
Defending national champion South Carolina comes in at No. 1, earning 27 of a possible 31 votes after their undefeated 2023-2024 season. They’re followed by UConn, USC, Texas, and Notre Dame to round out the top five.
UConn was knocked off by Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the final four. Juju Watkins and USC won the Pac-12 tournament last year before getting beat by UConn in the Elite 8. They’re the team to beat in the expanded Big Ten. Texas won the Big 12 tournament title after falling short of Oklahoma in the regular season title race.
The Sooners are the fourth-highest-ranked SEC team in the poll. Seven SEC teams were included in the top 25.
Led by returning Big 12 Player of the Year Skylar Vann and one of the top players in the transfer portal Raegan Beers, the Sooners are set to make another tournament appearance in 2024-2025. But the question the Sooners are facing is if they can make it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in Baranczyk’s tenure and the first time since 2013.
2024-25 Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Rank |
School (Last Year’s Record) |
Points |
First Place Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
South Carolina (38-0) |
770 |
27 |
|
2 |
Connecticut (33-6) |
734 |
3 |
|
3 |
Southern California (29-6) |
716 |
1 |
|
4 |
Texas (33-5) |
670 |
– |
|
5 |
Notre Dame (28-7) |
629 |
– |
|
6 |
UCLA (27-7) |
612 |
– |
|
7 |
LSU (31-6) |
567 |
– |
|
8 |
North Carolina State (31-7) |
533 |
– |
|
9 |
Iowa State (21-12) |
487 |
– |
|
10 |
Oklahoma (23-10) |
457 |
– |
|
11 |
Duke (22-12) |
449 |
– |
|
12 |
Baylor (26-8) |
434 |
– |
|
13 |
Kansas State (26-8) |
407 |
– |
|
14 |
Ohio State (26-6) |
405 |
– |
|
15 |
West Virginia (25-8) |
285 |
– |
|
16 |
North Carolina (20-13) |
263 |
– |
|
17 |
Louisville (24-10) |
261 |
– |
|
18 |
Maryland (19-14) |
254 |
– |
|
19 |
Florida State (23-11) |
177 |
– |
|
20 |
Creighton (26-6) |
150 |
– |
|
21 |
Mississippi (24-9) |
135 |
– |
|
22 |
Kentucky (12-20) |
106 |
– |
|
23 |
Nebraska (23-12) |
92 |
– |
|
24 |
Indiana (26-6) |
75 |
– |
|
25 |
Alabama (24-10) |
57 |
– |
Others Receiving Votes
Gonzaga 49; TCU 37; Tennessee 32; Stanford 32; Iowa 28; Utah 25; South Dakota State 22; Oregon State 21; Princeton 18; Colorado 15; Virginia Tech 10; Illinois 9; Middle Tennessee 8; Fairfield 7; Richmond 6; California 6; Auburn 5; UNLV 4; Miami (FL) 4; FGCU 4; South Florida 3; George Mason 2; Saint Joseph’s 1; Michigan 1; Cleveland State 1;
List Of Voters
The USA TODAY Sports 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 2024-25 season: Ashleen Bracey, Illinois-Chicago; Jen Brown, Queens University; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Fred Chmiel, Bowling Green; Janell Crayton Del Rosario, Bethune-Cookman; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Carrie Eighmey, South Dakota; Dalila Eshe, Yale; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Cindy Fisher, San Diego; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Ty Grace, Howard; Hana Haden, Georgia Southern; Johnnie Harris, Auburn; Brian Holsinger, Montana; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Renee Jimenez, UC Santa Barbara; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Mike Lane, NJIT; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Mike McGuire, Radford; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Lynn Milligan, Rider; Dan Nielson, Utah Valley; Shawn Poppie, Clemson; Samantha Quigley Smith, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Missy Traversi, Army; Jonathan Tsipis, Western Carolina; Way Veney, Central Connecticut State; Coquese Washington, Rutgers.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Women’s Basketball inside Top 10 of preseason Coaches Poll
