Bulldogs Ranked No. 11 In Preseason Associated Press Poll
November 03, 2015 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State claimed its highest preseason ranking in school history as it came in at No. 11 in Tuesday's Preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
Reigning SEC Coach of the Year Vic Schaefer's squad moved up one place from where it ended the 2014-15 campaign. State was the third-highest SEC team in the poll, following No. 2 South Carolina and No. 4 Tennessee.
SEC foes Texas A&M and Kentucky followed at Nos. 13 and 18, respectively.
Texas, MSU's Dec. 2 opponent in Austin, followed the Bulldogs at No. 12. South Florida, the Bulldogs' foe in the Dec. 30 SEC/AAC Challenge, came in at No. 20.
Florida Gulf Coast, State's foe in the Puerto Rico Classic on Dec. 20, received votes along with Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri.
After finishing last season with school records for wins (27-7 overall and 11-5 SEC), the latest ranking came just days after State was tabbed No. 13 in the USA Today Preseason Top 25. MSU also earned a No. 6 ranking by Athlon and a No. 8 selection by Lindy's.
MSU, which was picked third in the SEC by media members, returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Schaefer has three of his top four scorers back with preseason first team All-SEC selection Victoria Vivians (14.9 ppg), Morgan William (9.1 ppg) and Breanna Richardson (8.4 ppg).
Mississippi State hosts Mississippi College in a Nov. 10 exhibition before officially beginning the season with a 5:15 p.m. tip at the Hump against Samford on Nov. 13.
Fans can buy season tickets online at www.hailstate.com/tickets or by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS.
Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll
|
1 |
Connecticut (32) |
0-0 |
800 |
|
2 |
South Carolina |
0-0 |
758 |
|
3 |
Notre Dame |
0-0 |
714 |
|
4 |
Tennessee |
0-0 |
711 |
|
5 |
Baylor |
0-0 |
672 |
|
6 |
Ohio State |
0-0 |
570 |
|
7 |
Florida State |
0-0 |
551 |
|
8 |
Louisville |
0-0 |
541 |
|
9 |
Maryland |
0-0 |
536 |
|
10 |
Oregon State |
0-0 |
518 |
|
11 |
Mississippi State |
0-0 |
465 |
|
12 |
Texas |
0-0 |
459 |
|
13 |
Texas A&M |
0-0 |
397 |
|
14 |
Duke |
0-0 |
392 |
|
15 |
Arizona State |
0-0 |
347 |
|
16 |
Stanford |
0-0 |
338 |
|
17 |
Oklahoma |
0-0 |
264 |
|
18 |
Kentucky |
0-0 |
241 |
|
19 |
Northwestern |
0-0 |
209 |
|
20 |
South Florida |
0-0 |
202 |
|
21 |
George Washington |
0-0 |
171 |
|
22 |
North Carolina |
0-0 |
94 |
|
23 |
Syracuse |
0-0 |
74 |
|
24 |
Michigan State |
0-0 |
61 |
|
25 |
Chattanooga |
0-0 |
60 |
Others receiving votes: Princeton 58, DePaul 45, Florida Gulf Coast 37, Rutgers 34, Iowa 17, California 14, Dayton 13, Arkansas 8, Western Kentucky 6, Vanderbilt 5, West Virginia 4, UCLA 4, Iowa State 4, Missouri 3, Gonzaga 2, Miami (FL) 1
Dropped from rankings: Princeton 13, Iowa 18, Florida Gulf Coast 20, California 24
