Connecticut forward Sarah Strong (21) dribbles the ball against Georgetown during the first half of their game at XL Center.

Our runup to the start of college basketball continues. Today it’s the women’s turn as we unveil the preseason rankings in the USA TODAY Sports women's basketball coaches poll, which has a lot of familiar names at the top.

Connecticut will begin this season where the last one concluded at No. 1. The defending champion Huskies were voted first by 28 of 31 panelists and are the preseason No. 1 team for the first time since 2017. South Carolina will open at No. 2, claiming the remaining three first-place nods. No. 3 Texas and No. 5 LSU give the SEC three of the top five spots to tip off the campaign.

TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports women's basketball poll

PREVIEWS: How each Top 25 team stacks up entering the season

There's two others from the conference in the top 10 with Oklahoma opening at No. 7 and Tennessee at No. 9. No. 4 UCLA fills out the top five, and No. 6 Duke and No. 8 North Carolina State head the projected ACC contenders. No. 10 Maryland gives the Big Ten a second top-10 representative.

In all, the SEC has eight teams in the initial top 25. The Big Ten is next with six overall, with the ACC and Big 12 landing five teams each in the preseason poll.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Connecticut starts at No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports preseason women's college basketball poll

Reporting by Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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