LEXINGTON, Ky. – Returning all five starters from last year, the University of Kentucky women?s basketball team will open the 2006-07 season with a No. 15 ranking in The Associated Press poll released Wednesday. It is the first preseason ranking in the AP poll in school history for the Wildcats.
Kentucky is one of five SEC teams to rank in the Top 25 with Tennessee (No. 5), Georgia (No. 9), LSU (No. 10) and Vanderbilt (No. 16). The Wildcats also are one of only five teams in the poll that weren?t ranked at the end of last season (Vanderbilt, California, Southern Cal and Texas) and they are the highest-ranking team that was not included in the 2005-06 final poll.
Maryland was ranked No. 1 followed by North Carolina second, Oklahoma third, Stanford fourth and Tennessee fifth.
Kentucky opponents in the AP poll are Tennessee, seventh-ranked Ohio State, Georgia, LSU and Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats return nine letter winners and all five starters are back from a team that finished 22-9 in 2005-06 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the Wildcats? best finish in 16 years and their first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years.
The Cats begin regular season play this weekend when they serve as hosts of the Women’s Sports Foundation Tournament Nov. 10 and 12. Indiana and Wake Forest begin tournament action Friday at 6 p.m. EST followed by Kentucky and Washington State at 8 p.m. EST. Sunday, game times are 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST. UK will play the 1 p.m. game and it will be televised on the Big Blue Sports Network.
Tickets for the WSF Tournament are $10 for adults and $4 for children ages 6-18. Five and under are admitted free. Single-game general admission tickets will allow spectators to watch both games of that day’s session.
Fans are encouraged to park in Parking Structure 5 located next to Kennedy?s Bookstore on Limestone Avenue. Parking within Parking Structure 5 will be available free of charge for all games being played at Memorial Coliseum. A shuttle bus service also will be provided and begins one hour prior to game time until one hour after the game. Additional game day parking is available in the E lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum including the Martin Luther King Parking Lot and the Student Center Parking Lot.
Rank Team Previous (Final 2005-06 Poll) 1 Maryland (47) 3 2 North Carolina (1) 1 3 Oklahoma (2) 7 4 Stanford 13 5 Tennessee 6 6 Duke 4 7 Ohio State 2 8 Connecticut 8 9 Georgia 12 10 LSU 5 11 Purdue 11 12 Rutgers 9 13 Arizona State 15 14 Texas A&M 20 15 Kentucky NR 16 Vanderbilt NR 17 Michigan State 16 18 New Mexico 24 19 Baylor 10 20 DePaul 13 21 California NR 22 USC NR 23 UCLA 21 24 BYU 22 25 Texas NR
