Jeff Walz’s highly promising Louisville women’s basketball team will begin the 2026-27 season at No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
It’s the highest preseason ranking for U of L since the 2022-23 season, when the Cardinals were also ranked seventh. That campaign ended with an Elite Eight loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
Here’s the complete poll:
Preseason AP Top 25
- South Carolina (23)
- UConn (6)
- USC (2)
- Duke
- Michigan
- Texas
- Louisville
- Vanderbilt
- LSU
- Iowa
- UCLA
- North Carolina
- Notre Dame
- Kentucky
- TCU
- Washington
- Minnesota
- Ohio State
- Ole Miss
- Maryland
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- Illinois
- West Virginia
- NC State
Others receiving votes: Nebraska 47, Arizona State 36, Baylor 31, Virginia 30, Michigan State 16, Kansas 12, Tennessee 9, Alabama 7, Syracuse 5, Villanova 5, Fairfield 2, Oregon 2, Rice 2, Georgia 2, Colorado 2, Virginia Tech 1, Clemson 1
Louisville’s first game against a ranked opponent will be a Nov. 15 showdown against No. 2 UConn inside the KFC Yum Center. The Cards will open the season on Nov. 2 against Bellarmine.