| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Baylor | Baylor's disappointment last season will not happen again if Brittney Griner has anything to say about it. | |
| 2 |  | Notre Dame | Notre Dame's trip to the championship game last year got them wanting more. Skylar Diggins can provide it. | |
| 3 |  | Tennessee | As always, Tennessee has the talent to win a national title, and this year they'll want to do it for Coach Summitt. | |
| 4 |  | Connecticut | The absence of Maya Moore is getting all the headlines, but this is still a team with a ton of talent. | |
| 5 |  | Stanford | Stanford is looking for their fifth straight trip to the Final Four and Coach Tara VanDerveer has the weapons. | |
| 6 |  | Texas A&M | Texas A&M returns enough talent from their National Championship team, but have to replace Danielle Adams. | |
| 7 |  | Louisville | Shoni Schimmel and Monique Reid will have Louisville ready to compete for a Big East title and maybe more. | |
| 8 |  | Duke | Duke lost a ton of talent, but the Blue Devils will reload with another superb recruiting class. | |
| 9 |  | Georgetown | Georgetown has built their program the right way and now it is time to reap the rewards of the hard work. | |
| 10 |  | Miami | Miami has had an amazing rise to success over the last few years. The rise will continue this season. | |
| 11 |  | Georgia | Jasmine James is a good scorer, but Georgia will have to depend on their defense to make noise in the NCAAs. | |
| 12 |  | Penn State | Maggie Lucas had a great freshman campaign and rejoins an experienced group in Happy Valley. | |
| 13 |  | Florida State | Few teams in the nation have as much length and size as Florida State and that will be a nightmare for opposition. | |
| 14 |  | LSU | Coach Nikki Caldwell takes over a very experienced LSU squad that is expected to battle for an SEC title. | |
| 15 |  | Maryland | Maryland has a ton of experience and that should catapult them back into the national spotlight in 2011-2012. | |
| 16 |  | Rutgers | Rutgers returns a slew of talent from a 20 win team that was hit with the injury bug. They should be a force now. | |
| 17 |  | Kentucky | The Wildcats are undersized, but their talent on the perimeter will lead to another great season in Lexington. | |
| 18 |  | Oklahoma | Oklahoma is a post player away from regaining their old spot atop the Big 12 pecking order. | |
| 19 |  | North Carolina | UNC has pieces to replace, but their uptempo style of play has attracted plenty of recruits who are very talented. | |
| 20 |  | Purdue | Drey Mingo, Brittany Rayburn will be better and Purdue is virtually a lock for their 18th straight NCAA appearance. | |
| 21 |  | USC | Guards Briana Gilbreath and Ashley Corral should help end USC's NCAA Tournament drought. | |
| 22 |  | DePaul | Keisha Hampton averaged 16.0 points per game last year and will be in for an even bigger senior season. | |
| 23 |  | Michigan State | The Spartans will have to rely on some freshmen, but Lykendra Johnson will lead the Spartans back to the NCAAs. | |
| 24 |  | Texas | Last year is behind them and now Texas can get back to their winning ways with a healthy Cokie Reed. | |
| 25 |  | UCLA | New coach Cori Close has a little rebuilding to do, but the Bruins will keep winning games with their defense. | |
Women's Basketball Preseason Top 25
Mon, 10/24/2011
