The women’s college basketball preseason AP top 25 is here, and NC State checks in at No. 9, behind only Duke (No. 7) among ACC teams. Duke also tops the preseason ACC media poll with 40 first-place votes,
while NC State is second, with 25 first-place votes (out of 70).
Both Zoe Brooks and Khamil Pierre earned earned a spot on the 10-member preseason All-ACC team. Brooks was second in points among all players, making her the runner-up for preseason Player of the Year.
NC State’s stacked non-conference schedule includes a pair of top-10 teams (No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 8 Tennessee), as well games against No. 17 TCU and No. 18 USC—the Trojans obviously would be a fair bit higher if Juju Watkins were healthy. There’s also an exhibition game against No. 10 Maryland.
As usual, Wes Moore is not shy about playing the very best teams in the country even though the ACC itself is quite good. Both the men’s and women’s programs have given us a lot of appointment television in November and December.