Lady Raiders Ranked In Preseason AP Poll For First Time
Friday, October 30, 2009 4:40 pm
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee women's basketball earned 143 votes for the No. 24 position in the preseason Associated Press poll released Friday, marking the first time in school history the Blue Raiders have been placed in the preseason poll.
"It is definitely exciting to be ranked in the preseason top 25," head coach Rick Insell said. "It says a lot about our program and our players. Now comes the time that we have to go out and take care of business."
Middle Tennessee, coming off a 28-6 campaign a year ago, has also received preseason accolades from various magazines. Slam has listed the Blue Raiders at the highest position, placing them at No. 8.
While it never reached the Top 25 by the organization in 2008-09, the Associated Press in its final poll ranked MT No. 26 last season. The highest the AP has ever listed the Blue Raiders was at No. 16 late in the 2006-07 campaign before they finished at No. 17 in the final standings.
Four Middle Tennessee opponents also earned preseason honors from the Associated Press. Tennessee (No. 7), LSU (No. 8), Xavier (No. 11) and Louisville (No. 23) garnered rankings.
The Blue Raiders open their exhibition slate with a 7 p.m. Monday contest against Carson-Newman inside the Murphy Center. Middle Tennessee begins regular-season action at 2 p.m. Nov. 15 at home against UCF.
Preseason AP Poll: 1. Connecticut (40), 1000 2. Stanford, 951 3. Ohio State, 862 4. Notre Dame, 799 5. North Carolina, 798 6. Duke, 772 7. Baylor, 744 8. Tennessee, 676 9. LSU, 600 10. Michigan State, 521 11. Xavier, 492 12. Texas, 487 13. Oklahoma, 444 14. Virginia, 394 15. Florida State, 385 16. Arizona State, 317 17. DePaul, 301 18. California, 294 19. Georgia Tech, 262 20. Kansas, 241 21. Georgia, 201 22. Vanderbilt, 165 23. Louisville, 156 24. Middle Tennessee, 143 25. Rutgers, 138
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