Michigan women's basketball opens season at No. 25 in preseason AP Poll
Coming off its best season in program history which ended in an Elite Eight loss to Louisville, the Michigan women's basketball team opens the 2022-23 season ranked 25th in the preseason AP Poll.
Despite losing Naz Hillmon, Michigan retains its four leading scorers after the All-American. Leigha Brown, Laila Phelia, Emily Kiser and Maddie Nolan will be the players that Barnes Arico needs to step up early in the season as the Wolverines look ahead to life without Hillmon.
Kim Barnes Arico acknowledged at Big Ten Media Days last week that this year's Big Ten isn't going to be a walk in the park. In fact, she even said that she wouldn't be surprised if this year's national champion comes from the Big Ten.
"Our league is absolutely incredible, and if you are a women's basketball fan, you get to follow the best league in the country. Back-to-back years we had four teams advance to the Sweet 16, which is pretty incredible," Barnes Arico said.
"I think our league is going to be more challenging than ever. Obviously Caitlin Clark is a phenomenal basketball player, but I think from top to bottom there are tremendous players in our league as well as coaches, and I would not be surprised if we have a national championship ahead of us representing the Big Ten conference."
The full AP Poll is below:
1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. Texas
4. Iowa
5. Tennessee
6. UConn
7. Louisville
8. Iowa State
9. Notre Dame
10. NC State
11. Indiana
12. North Carolina
13. Virginia Tech
14. Ohio State
15. Oklahoma
16. LSU
17. Maryland
18. Baylor
19. Arizona
20. Oregon
21. Creighton
22. Nebraska
23. South Dakota State
24. Princeton
25. Michigan
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