FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas women’s basketball team will begin the season ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll.
The Razorbacks are ranked No. 22 in the poll that was released Wednesday. It is the first time Arkansas has been ranked in the preseason AP poll since the 2002-03 season and the first time the program has been ranked at all since January 2014.
"We're honored by it and definitely not going to take it for granted," Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors told the AP.
"My grandpa used to say things are different when the deer gets the gun," Neighbors said of being ranked. "There's a different approach for us with teams having motivation against us. It requires a different level of preparation and understanding and that's really new for us."
Arkansas returns four starters and six of its top seven scorers from its team that finished 22-15 last season and advanced to the third round of the WNIT. The Razorbacks also added point guard Amber Ramirez, a former McDonald’s All-American in high school who redshirted at Arkansas last season after transferring from TCU.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to play Oklahoma City in an exhibition game tonight and open the season on Nov. 8 with a game against New Orleans.
Arkansas has been predicted to finish fifth in the SEC this season by media and coaches. The Razorbacks are the lowest of five ranked SEC teams, behind Texas A&M (6), South Carolina (8), Mississippi State (10) and Kentucky (13).
Preseason AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll
1 Oregon (25)
2 Baylor (3)
3 Stanford
4 Maryland
5 UConn
6 Texas A&M
7 Oregon State
8 South Carolina
9 Louisville
10 Mississippi State
11 UCLA
12 Florida State
13 Kentucky
14 North Carolina State
15 Texas
16 Notre Dame
17 Michigan State
T18 DePaul
T18 Miami
20 Arizona State
21 Syracuse
22 Arkansas
23 Minnesota
24 Indiana
25 Michigan