The defending national champion UConn women's basketball team stands a decent shot at repeating for the seventh time in program history — if you ask the AP voters.
The Huskies come in at No. 1 in the country in the preseason AP Poll, released on Tuesday.
The other three teams that made the 2025 Final Four — South Carolina, UCLA and Texas — occupy the next three spots. UConn defeated the Gamecocks in the national title game, and South Carolina is the only other team to receive No. 1 votes, though they may have come in before news broke that Chloe Kitts would miss the season with an ACL injury.
Though Paige Bueckers has since moved on, winning 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Dallas Wings, UConn returns plenty of talent, including the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, Azzi Fudd. Fudd is an early national player of the year candidate along with her teammate, sophomore sensation Sarah Strong.
That duo combined for 48 points in the championship game on 19-32 shooting, giving head coach Geno Auriemma his 12th national title.
As always, the Huskies have a daunting non-conference slate ahead of them. They'll open the season in Germany against No. 20 Louisville and also face No. 8 Tennessee, No. 13 Michigan, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 18 USC and No. 21 Iowa.
UConn women's basketball looks the part against Boston College
The 2025-26 Huskies took the court against outside competition for the first time on Monday, defeating Boston College, 84-67, in an exhibition game.
Don't get too hung up on the final score (it is an exhibition, after all). The game was filled with promising signs, including a bonkers third quarter from Azzi Fudd where she made five threes. Fudd finished with 20 points. Strong, meanwhile, shot 8-11 from the field and scored 17 points with five rebounds and five assists.
Fans also got the chance to see Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams, who was All-Big Ten First Team last year. She scored 15 to go with five rebounds and two blocks in her Husky debut.
Defensively, UConn turned Boston College over 21 times, scoring 29 points off the Eagles' miscues.
The Huskies will have one more exhibition tuneup against Southern Connecticut State on October 26 before the regular season gets underway.
