USC sits at No. 3 in the 2026-27 women’s preseason AP Top 25 poll, released Tuesday, Oct. 20, with voters pointing to the return of guard JuJu Watkins as the central reason for the ranking. The Trojans picked up two first-place votes out of 31 ballots cast, slotting them behind South Carolina and UConn in a poll shaped largely by who has their star players back on the floor.
Ranking methodology for the AP preseason poll comes down to a media panel vote, with teams ordered by total points based on where each voter placed them. USC’s position reflects both last season’s result and the health of its roster heading into November, with Watkins’ recovery from a torn ACL serving as the single biggest swing factor nationally.
1. South Carolina (No. 1, 23 First-Place Votes)
South Carolina took the top spot in the AP preseason poll with 23 of 31 first-place votes, the clear favorite among the panel. No other program came close to that level of consensus, underscoring how far ahead the Gamecocks sit in the eyes of voters before a game has been played.
2. UConn (No. 2, Six First-Place Votes)
UConn landed at No. 2 with six first-place votes, according to the AP preseason poll results. The gap between South Carolina’s first-place total and UConn’s shows a clear top tier forming at the very start of the season, with the rest of the field trailing by a wider margin.
3. USC (No. 3, Two First-Place Votes)
USC’s No. 3 ranking in the women’s basketball preseason AP poll centers on Watkins, who missed the entire 2025-26 season after tearing her ACL during the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Her return gives head coach Lindsay Gottlieb a player who was the No. 1 recruit in the nation when she signed with the Trojans, a distinction later matched by another USC signee, Watkins and Davidson, per USA Today.
USC went 18-14 last season and exited the NCAA tournament in the second round, a finish that came without Watkins on the floor. The preseason ranking suggests voters are weighing her potential impact heavily against that modest finish. Gottlieb’s incoming class adds further depth: Saniyah Hall, a 6-1 guard from SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, arrives as the No. 1 recruit in the nation, while international forwards Sara Okeke of Spain and Sitaya Fagan of Australia round out the newcomers. Okeke was named MVP of the 2025 FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket, a credential that stands out among the freshman class.
USC opens its season Nov. 2 at UNLV at 4 p.m. as part of the Hall of Fame Series, then faces its first major test Nov. 15 at South Carolina in Greenville, set for 1 p.m. on ABC. That matchup against the preseason No. 1 Gamecocks will offer an early measuring stick for whether the Trojans’ ranking holds up against the toughest competition in the poll.
4. Duke (No. 4)
Duke checks in at No. 4 in the preseason poll, placing the Blue Devils just behind USC and ahead of Michigan among the sport’s top five teams entering the year, according to the ESPN breakdown of the poll.
5. Michigan (No. 5)
Michigan rounds out the top five, closing a group that includes two Big Ten programs in USC and Michigan among the nation’s top-ranked teams before the season tips off.
USC’s next confirmed action comes Nov. 2 against UNLV, with the Trojans’ first ranked showdown following two weeks later at South Carolina on Nov. 15.
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