GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Five Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball teams are ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, tied for the most of any conference.

Reigning ACC Champion NC State headlines the group at No. 5, while 2020-21 regular-season champion Louisville sits one spot behind the Wolfpack at No. 6. Florida State is ranked No. 16, Georgia Tech is No. 17 and Virginia Tech rounds out the poll for the league at No. 24. Notre Dame also received votes.

NC State earns its highest preseason AP ranking since 1979-80, when the Wolfpack also started the season ranked fifth. Louisville is ranked in the preseason top 10 for the seventh consecutive season and the 10th time in the past 11 years.

For Florida State, it marks the 10th time the Seminoles have been ranked in the AP preseason poll, all occurring since 2007. Coming off a historic season, Georgia Tech begins the year ranked for the third time in program history and first since 2012-13. Virginia Tech is a preseason top 25 team for the first time since 1999 and just the second time in program history.

The 2021-22 season tips off on Tuesday, Nov. 9 with 11 of the league’s teams in action.

Conference play begins on Sunday, Nov. 14, with Syracuse hosting Notre Dame on ACC Network, while NC State travels to Pitt on Friday, Dec. 10, and the Orange welcome Clemson on Saturday, Dec. 11. The first full date of league play is Sunday, Dec. 19, with six matchups on the slate.

The 2022 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 2-6 at Greensboro Coliseum for the 22nd time in the last 23 years.

Eight ACC women’s basketball teams were selected to compete in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, which was the most of any conference. It marked the third consecutive NCAA Tournament in which the ACC has had eight teams selected, leading all conferences each year, and matching the ACC record for teams in the field (2014-15, 2018-19).

The ACC placed three teams in the 2021 Sweet 16 and is the only conference to have at least three teams in the regional semifinals in each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments.

ACC member institutions have won three NCAA Championships and made 24 trips to the Final Four. Seven different institutions have represented the ACC in the Women’s Final Four.