The University of Utah women’s basketball team did plenty to earn respect last season.
The Utes upped their attendance seemingly every home game. They were consistently included in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, including a best-ever No. 3 at one point. They picked up big wins against Arizona and Stanford, the latter of which secured a share of the Pac-12 title. They advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The respect kept coming Tuesday when it was announced the Utes were ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP women’s college basketball Top 25 poll. It’s the highest preseason rank in school history, and the first time the team has been ranked to start a season since 2005.
“I do think it’s a milestone,” coach Lynne Roberts said of the preseason ranking. " I do think it’s something for our team to be proud of. They’ve earned that.”
At the same time, Roberts said she didn’t want to put too much stock into the ranking.
Neither do her players.
“It’s a cool thing, but it doesn’t really matter,” junior guard Gianna Kneepkens said. “At the end of the day, if you don’t win games, that ranking doesn’t matter because, in March, no one remembers that we were ranked fifth in the nation.”
The Utes were picked to win the Pac-12 this season. They’ll have stiff competition, at least according to the AP poll. UCLA is ranked No. 4, and a total of six Pac-12 teams appeared in the AP’s preseason Top 25 — including No. 15 Stanford, No. 20 Colorado, No. 21 USC and No. 24 Washington State.
Along with Utah and UCLA, LSU (1), UConn (2), and Iowa (3) round out the rest of the top 5.
Senior forward Alissa Pili said the preseason ranking was a testament to how the Utes performed a season ago.
“I think that just shows how we made our mark last year, and people believe that we’re going to continue to do so this year,” Pili said. “So we’re excited to fill those shoes.”
Utah returns all five starters from a season ago, in addition to key bench players like senior forward Dasia Young, sophomore guard Lani White and junior guard Inês Vieira. With so much continuity returning, Roberts said what’s new about this team is a heightened level of confidence.
“Things are just a lot sharper,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot less drop-off. The players are more — they’re coaching each other. There just seems to be a little more swagger.”
Utah starts its 2023-24 season Wednesday with an exhibition against Colorado State-Pueblo at 5 p.m. at the Huntsman Center.