Huskers Earn Votes in Coaches Preseason Top 25

Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team collected seven votes from coaches across the nation in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25 released Wednesday, Oct. 31. The Huskers enter the season in a five-way tie for 43rd in the coaches poll.

Nebraska, which earned its fourth consecutive postseason tournament appearance in 2007 by finishing with a 22-10 overall record and a 10-6 conference mark, was one of eight Big 12 teams to earn votes in the poll.

A collection of Nebraska non-conference opponents in 2007-08 also earned votes in the preseason coaches poll, including several teams that will provide marquee matchups at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln early in the season. The Huskers will battle 2007 NCAA Elite Eight qualifier Mississippi, which picked up 31 votes to start the season with the 31st-highest vote total, on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 2:05 p.m.

Traditional Pac-10 Conference power USC earned 17 votes in the preseason poll to start the season in a tie for 36th. The Women of Troy venture to Lincoln on Saturday, Dec. 8, with a scheduled 7:05 p.m. tip time at the Devaney Center.

Two other Husker early season road opponents also earned votes in the preseason poll, with 2007 NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier Marist matching NU with 43 votes. The Red Foxes return four starters from a club that finished 29-6 last season and will face the Huskers in their first road game of the season at the Oahu Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii on Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

The next night, Nebraska will take on Utah, which earned one vote after advancing to the second round of the 2007 Postseason WNIT a year ago. The Utes return four starters from a club that finished with 19 victories last season.

The Huskers will face possibly their biggest non-conference battle of the year when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, to square off with defending Big Ten champion Ohio State. The Buckeyes, who went 28-4 last season, start the year at No. 16 in the coaches poll, before facing the Huskers in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 22 at 11 a.m.

Four Big 12 teams earned spots in the top 25, including No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Baylor and No. 24 Texas. NU will open Big 12 Conference play at the Bob Devaney Sports Center against the 24th-ranked Longhorns on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 7:05 p.m. The Huskers will also face the defending Big 12 co-champions from Texas A&M in Lincoln on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 7:05 p.m., in a game that will be televised by FSN Midwest live from Lincoln.

The Huskers will battle Oklahoma (Jan. 16) and Baylor (Jan. 26) on the road during the regular season, but the Huskers will add home Big 12 battles with a pair of schools receiving votes in the preseason poll. Oklahoma State, a 2007 NCAA Tournament qualifier, collected 16 preseason votes (38th) and will come to the Devaney Center on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 1 p.m. in an ESPN2 nationally televised contest. Iowa State, another 2007 NCAA Tournament qualifier, picked up six votes to rank 48th in the preseason poll. The Cyclones will come to town for the regular-season finale on March 5 at 7:05 p.m.

Texas Tech, which earned three votes in the preseason poll, was the eighth Big 12 school to receive votes, ranking 54th in the preseason. The Huskers will play the Lady Raiders on Feb. 24 in Lubbock, Texas.

Nebraska opens its 2007-08 exhibition season on Thursday, Nov. 1, when the Huskers take on Nebraska-Kearney at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. with a free live Interent-only radio broadcast on Huskers.com.

USA TODAY ESPN DIVISION I TOP 25 COACHES' POLL

Preseason Poll: Oct. 31, 2007

The Top 25 Preseason women’s basketball coaches poll, with team’s 2006-07 final records in parentheses, total points based on 25 points for first-place through one point for 25th, ranking in the final 2006-07 poll and first-place votes received:

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

not ranked

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

not ranked

0

22

West Virginia (21-11)

139

not ranked

0

23

Louisville (27-8)

126

24

0

24

Texas (18-14)

121

not ranked

0

25

North Carolina State (25-10)

72

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.

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: Lisa Bluder - Non-Voting Chair, Iowa; 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; Kay Yow, North Carolina State.