Defending champ LSU, UConn are 1-2 in women's preseason poll - ESPN

The defending champion LSU Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the women's preseason AP Top 25 college basketball poll for the first time in school history.

LSU, which won its first NCAA title last April behind star player Angel Reese, received 35 first-place votes from a 36-member national media panel in the poll released Tuesday. UConn received the other top vote. The second-ranked Huskies have now been ranked in the AP poll for 565 consecutive weeks, tying Tennessee's record.

Caitlin Clark and national runner-up Iowa ranked third. It's the same spot the Hawkeyes held last year in the preseason poll. UCLA and Utah round out the top five.

The Tigers were ranked second in 1977 and third in 2004 and 2005 in the preseason poll, but never No. 1 until this year. There is a lot of optimism around LSU as it returns a stellar group, including Reese, along with two talented transfers in Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow.

«We appreciate the recognition of being the No. 1-ranked team going into the season and it is something we will embrace,» LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. «A ranking doesn't win championships, but it brings great awareness to our program and our school. We want to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the season.»

The Tigers were last ranked No. 1 in the poll in 2005 when they held the top spot for a five-week stretch.

UConn's run started in the preseason poll of the 1993-94 season and has continued for 30 straight years. No. 14 Maryland has the second-longest active streak, appearing in the poll for 250 consecutive weeks.

First-place votes in parentheses.

UCLA and Utah are spending their final year in the Pac-12. The Bruins haven't been in the top five in the preseason since 1999, when they were fifth. The Utes, who haven't been in