GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Five Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball teams are ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, the second-most among all conferences.
Final Four participant Louisville headlines the group at No. 7, while Notre Dame lands at the No. 9 position and ACC Champion and Elite 8 finalist NC State lands 10th. North Carolina earned the No. 12 slot, while Virginia Tech rounds out the group at No. 13. The three top-10 teams and the five top-15 teams are the most among all conferences.
It is the eighth straight season Louisville has been ranked in the top 10 in the AP preseason poll, while Notre Dame lands in the top 10 in the preseason ranking for the first time since 2018-19. NC State is in the top 10 for the third straight season.
North Carolina’s No. 12 ranking is its highest in seven years and matches its highest ranking in the preseason poll since 2013-14. Virginia Tech claims its highest preseason ranking in program history, and it is just the third time the Hokies will begin the season as a ranked team.
The 2022-23 season tips off on Monday, Nov. 7 with 13 of the league’s programs taking the court.
Conference play starts on Sunday, Nov. 13 with Wake Forest playing at Virginia on ACC Network. The first full day of league games is Thursday, Dec. 29 with seven scheduled contests.
The 2023 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 1-5 at the Greensboro Coliseum. For the first time, ACC Network will be the exclusive broadcast home for the first four days of the tournament, with all 13 games available on ACCN. The championship game will air on ESPN or ESPN2.
Current ACC member institutions have won three NCAA Championships and made 25 appearances in the Final Four. Seven different institutions have represented the ACC in the Women’s Final Four.
The ACC placed four teams in the Sweet 16 last season and is the only conference to have at least three teams in the regional semifinals in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments. Louisville and NC State each played in the Elite Eight last season, with Louisville reaching the Final Four for the fourth time in program history.
Eight ACC teams were selected to compete in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, which tied for the most of any conference. It marked the fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament in which eight ACC teams were selected, leading all conferences each year and matching the ACC record for teams in the field.