UConn put out a release this afternoon stating that the Huskies are the consensus No. 1 team based on four preseason polls. Although it is not entirely accurate since SLAM Magazine picked Oklahoma and Tennessee ahead of UConn in its rather curious preseason poll but it is still an impressive achievement for the Huskies.

UConn players Maya Moore, Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles were also named to the 10-team preseason All-American first team by The Sporting News. Stanford's Jayne Appel, Ohio State's Jantel Lavender and Marissa Coleman of Maryland didn't make the top 10 which means either it is a flawed list or we are in for one heck of a women's college season.

Another interesting item is that UConn plays eight teams in The Sporting News' top 25 including No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 5 Rutgers, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 9 Louisville. LSU was left out of three of the four polls which seemed hard to believe even if the Lady Tigers did lose pretty much the entire roster from last year's Final Four team. Something tells me that by season's end, LSU will most certainly be in the top 25. Personally, of the four preseason polls publicized by UConn, the only one which I would put any stock in is the USA Today "Sweet 16" since that is the only publication of the bunch that actually covers women's basketball.

Here are the polls and all-star lists:

Sporting News Top-25
1. Connecticut
2. Maryland
3. Oklahoma
4. Stanford
5. Rutgers
6. North Carolina
7. Tennessee
8. Duke
9. Louisville
10. Cal
11. Texas A&M
12. Oklahoma State
13. Virginia
14. Notre Dame
15. Vanderbilt
16. Texas
17. Arizona State
18. Baylor
19. Ohio State
20. Florida State
21. Marist
22. Xavier
23. Auburn
24. Syracuse
25. Marquette

Athlon Top-25
1. Connecticut
2. California
3. Stanford
4. Texas A&M
5. Duke
6. Maryland
7. Oklahoma
8. Arizona State
9. Tennessee
10. Louisville
11. Rutgers
12. North Carolina
13. Ohio State
14. Texas
15. Old Dominion
16. Vanderbilt
17. Oklahoma State
18. Virginia
19. Kansas State
20. Florida State
21. Xavier
22. Auburn
23. Michigan State
24. Utah
25. Pittsburgh


Lindy’s Top-25
1. Connecticut
2. Stanford
3. Maryland
4. Tennessee
5. Rutgers
6. North Carolina
7. Duke
8. California
9. Louisville
10. Oklahoma
11. Texas A&M
12. Oklahoma State
13. LSU
14. Texas
15. Virginia
16. Baylor
17. Ohio State
18. Vanderbilt
19. Auburn
20. Notre Dame
21. Arizona State
22. Florida State
23. USC
24. Pittsburgh
25. Marquette

2008-09 USA TODAY COLLEGE BASKETBALL PRESEASON SWEET 16
(listed alphabetically)

Arizona State
Baylor
Cal
Connecticut
Duke
Louisville
Maryland
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Rutgers
Stanford
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Virginia
Xavier

2008-09 Sporting News Preseason All-America Teams
FIRST TEAM
1. Maya Moore 6-1 So. Connecticut 17.8
2. Courtney Paris 6-4 Sr. Oklahoma 18.6
3. Kristi Toliver 5-7 Sr. Maryland 17.1
4. Angel McCoughtry 6-1 Sr. Louisville 23.8
5. Andrea Riley 5-5 So. Oklahoma State 23.1
6. Tina Charles 6-4 Jr. Connecticut 14.2
7. Renee Montgomery 5-7 Sr. Connecticut 14.1
8. Eipiphanny Prince 5-9 Jr. Rutgers 13.8
9. Ashley Walker 6-0 Sr. California 15.3
10. Takei Starks 5-8 Sr. Texas A&M 15.3

SECOND TEAM
1. Rashanda McCants 6-3 Sr. North Carolina 15.8
2. Rachele Fitz 6-0 Jr. Marist 18.5
3. Jantel Lavender 6-4 So. Ohio State 17.6
4. Amber Harris 6-5 Jr. Xavier 15.3
5. Krystal Ellis 5-9 Sr. Marquette 19.4
6. Monica Wright 5-11 Jr. Virginia 17.6
7. Jayne Appel 6-0 Jr. Stanford 15.0
8. Chante Black 6-5 Sr. Duke 14.1
9. DeWanna Bonner 6-4 Sr. Auburn 18.4
10. Marissa Coleman 6-1 Sr. Maryland 16.1

THIRD TEAM
1. Lyndra Littles 6-1 Sr. Virginia 16.8
2. Abby Waner 5-10 Jr. Duke 10.3
3. Devanei Hampton 6-3 Jr. California 13.5
4. Christina Wirth 6-1 Sr. Vanderbilt 13.1
5. Candice Bingham 6-0 Sr. Louisville 13.8
6. Shavonte Zellous 5-11 Sr. Pittsburgh 18-2
7. Marshae Dotson 5-11 Sr. Florida 13.0
8. Kayla Pedersen 6-4 So. Stanford 12.6
9. Cetera DeGraffenreid 5-6 So. North Carolina 11.6
10. Ta’Shia Phillips 6-6 So. Xavier 14.0