Rutgers Women's Basketball Picked Fifth in AP Poll
Nov 08 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers women's basketball team was selected fifth in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, marking the Scarlet Knights' highest preseason ranking in that poll since the start of the 1999-2000 season, when RU was picked fourth.
Rutgers has been featured prominently in the preseason national polls, picked second by the Women's Basketball News Service, third by Lindy's, fifth by ESPN.com, tied for fifth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/ESPN/USA Today, sixth by Basketball Times, ninth by Gballmag.com, 11th by both SI.com and Athlon Sports, and 16th by Street & Smith's. The Scarlet Knights also were picked first in the Preseason BIG EAST Conference Poll.
The Scarlet Knights posted a 28-7 overall record and a 14-2 mark in BIG EAST play last season, winning their first outright BIG EAST regular-season title and advancing to their second consecutive BIG EAST Tournament championship game. Rutgers reached the Elite Eight of the 2005 NCAA Tournament and finished seventh in the final WBCA/ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll.
Rutgers, which returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last season's Elite Eight team, will officially begin the 2005-2006 campaign on Grand Bahama Island, competing at the Junkanoo Jam Nov. 25-26. The Scarlet Knights will face a challenging 2005-2006 regular-season schedule, facing seven teams included in the Associated Press Preseason Poll - No. 9 Connecticut (Feb. 7 and Feb. 27), No. 10 Michigan State (Jan. 7), No. 12 Texas (Dec. 30), No. 15 Notre Dame (Jan. 24), No. 18 DePaul (Feb. 4), No. 21 Temple (Jan. 19) and No. 23 N.C. State (possible opponent Nov. 26).
2005-2006 Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll
Team Points
1. Duke (17) 1,107
2. Tennessee (23) 1,102
3. LSU (3) 1,025
4. Ohio State 997
5. Rutgers 881
6. Baylor (1) 874
7. North Carolina 863
8. Georgia (1) 853
9. Connecticut 802
10. Michigan State 727
11. Stanford 675
12. Texas 644
13. Texas Tech 601
14. Maryland 598
15. Notre Dame 408
16. Minnesota 344
17. Vanderbilt 341
18. DePaul 335
19. Purdue 297
20. Arizona State 271
21. Temple 215
22. Utah 199
23. N.C. State 192
24. USC 168
25. Oklahoma 143
