As the 2002-03 season approaches, Duke and Tennessee are clearly the favorites. The Blue Devils and Lady Vols, who both reached last season's Final Four, have dominated the top two spots in every preseason poll released so far.
In all but one set of rankings, Duke is No. 1 followed by Tennessee at No. 2.
After that, however, the rankings rarely matched up. Louisiana State, Kansas State, Connecticut, Texas Tech and Stanford each were tabbed third by at least one publication.
UConn, the defending NCAA champion, is ranked as high as third and as low as 12th. One other noteworthy observation: Louisiana Tech, the only team besides Tennessee to appear in every NCAA Tournament in women's basketball history, was typically ranked in the teens and was completely omitted from the All-Star Girls Report's top 25.
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2002-03 PRESEASON POLLS
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ASGR
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ATHLON
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BBALL NEWS
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LINDY'S
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1. Duke
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1. Duke
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1. Duke
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1. Tennessee
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2. Tennessee
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2. Tennessee
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2. Tennessee
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2. Duke
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3. Connecticut
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3. Kansas State
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3. Texas Tech
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3. Stanford
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4. Georgia
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4. Vanderbilt
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4. Purdue
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4. Connecticut
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5. LSU
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5. Notre Dame
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5. LSU
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5. Purdue
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6. Texas Tech
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6. LSU
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6. Connecticut
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6. Texas Tech
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7. Texas
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7. Stanford
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7. Stanford
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7. LSU
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8. Vanderbilt
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8. Connecticut
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8. Kansas State
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8. Kansas State
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9. Purdue
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9. Georgia
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9. Vanderbilt
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9. Texas
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10. Penn State
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10. Texas
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10. Georgia
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10. Georgia
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11. Kansas State
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11. North Carolina
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11. Texas
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11. Vanderbilt
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12. Stanford
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12. Tulane
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12. Notre Dame
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12. Notre Dame
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13. North Carolina
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13. Minnesota
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13. North Carolina
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13. Penn State
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14. Colorado
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14. Arkansas
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14. Penn State
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14. Louisiana Tech
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15. Virginia
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15. Texas Tech
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15. Arkansas
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15. Iowa State
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16. Notre Dame
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16. Colorado State
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16. Minnesota
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16. Mississippi St
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17. Clemson
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17. Purdue
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17. UCSB
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17. North Carolina
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18. Oregon
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18. Louisiana Tech
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18. Colorado State
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18. Arkansas
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19. TCU
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19. Iowa State
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19. Iowa State
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19. Minnesota
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20. Ohio State
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20. Cincinnati
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20. Cincinnati
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20. Cincinnati
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21. Arkansas
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21. New Mexico
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21. Louisiana Tech
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21. UCSB
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22. Oklahoma
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22. Oregon
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22. Washington
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22. Oregon
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23. Mississippi St
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23. Houston
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23. Old Dominion
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23. Oklahoma
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24. N.C. State
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24. Southern Cal
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24. TCU
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24. New Mexico
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25. Florida
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25. Penn State
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25. Oregon
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25. Washington
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2002-03 PRESEASON POLLS, CONT.
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STREET&SMITH
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WBNS
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SLAM
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GBALLMAG.COM
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1. Duke
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1. Duke
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1. Duke
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1. Duke
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2. Tennessee
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2. Tennessee
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2. Tennessee
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2. Tennessee
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3. LSU
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3. LSU
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3. Kansas State
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3. Connecticut
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4. Notre Dame
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4. Texas Tech
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4. Texas
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4. Kansas State
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5. Kansas State
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5. Connecticut
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5. Connecticut
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5. LSU
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6. Georgia
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6. Purdue
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6. Georgia
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6. Stanford
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7. Stanford
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7. Georgia
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7. Purdue
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7. Texas
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8. Louisiana Tech
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8. Kansas State
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8. LSU
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8. Vanderbilt
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9. North Carolina
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9. Stanford
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9. Texas Tech
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9. Georgia
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10. Purdue
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10. Arkansas
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10. Stanford
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10. Purdue
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11. George Wash
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11. Notre Dame
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12. Connecticut
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12. Penn State
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13. Minnesota
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13. Texas
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14. Boston Coll
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14. North Carolina
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15. Tulane
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15. Colorado State
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16. Penn State
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16. Vanderbilt
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17. Cincinnati
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17. TCU
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18. Texas
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18. George Wash
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19. Oklahoma
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19. Minnesota
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20. Virginia
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20. Louisiana Tech
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21. Texas Tech
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21. Mississippi St
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22. Pepperdine
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22. UCSB
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23. Rice
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23. BYU
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24. Arkansas
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24. ODU
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25. Washington
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25. (tie) Oregon
Boston Coll
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(Notes: ASGR = All-Star Girls Report; BBall News = Basketball News; WBNS = Women's Basketball News Service.)
