Wildcats Make Third-Straight Appearance In USA TODAY/ESPN Preseason Coaches Poll
Nov 04, 2004 | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA For the third consecutive season, the Kansas State women’s basketball team previewed as one of the nation’s top 25 teams in the USA TODAY/ESPN/WBCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll released Wednesday.
The Wildcats tied Boston College for 18th in this year’s poll. In 2002 and 2003, Kansas State was selected as a preseason No. 5 favorite. Last season, K-State finished 25-6 overall, won a share of its first Big 12 Conference title and earned a No. 2 seed in its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Wildcats would go on to finish 15th in the final USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll and eighth in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
Picked to finish third in the Big 12 this season in a vote by the league’s coaches, K-State was one-of-five conference schools selected to this year’s poll. Texas received nine first-place votes for third, Baylor in eighth, Texas Tech tied for ninth and Oklahoma in the final 25th spot.
The top vote getter for the nation’s No. 1 team in the land was Tennessee with 15 first-place votes followed by fellow Final Four participant LSU (10), Texas, defending national champion Connecticut (6), Georgia, Duke, Stanford, Baylor, Ohio State and Texas Tech.
2004 USA TODAY/ESPN/WBCA DIVISION I TOP 25 PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank School Record Pts Last Ranking
1. Tennessee (15) (31-4) 944 2
2. LSU (10) (27-8) 934 3
3. Texas (9) (30-5) 908 10
4. Connecticut (6) (31-4) 883 1
5. Georgia (25-10) 782 8
6. Duke (30-4) 747 5
7. Stanford (27-7) 724 7
8. Baylor (26-9) 688 11
9T. Ohio State (21-10) 555 NR
9T. Texas Tech (25-8) 555 17
11. Notre Dame (21-11) 483 20
12. North Carolina (24-7) 472 21
13. Vanderbilt (26-8) 468 13
14. Minnesota (25-9) 425 4
15. Purdue (29-4) 420 9
16. Michigan State (22-9) 397 NR
17. Rutgers (21-12) 324 NR
18T. Boston College (27-7) 259 14
18T. Kansas State (25-6) 259 15
20. DePaul (23-7) 232 25
21. Penn State (28-6) 226 6
22. Louisiana Tech (29-3) 165 12
23. Maryland (18-13) 153 NR
24. Arizona (24-9) 147 NR
25. Oklahoma (24-9) 139 18
