Nov. 1, 2006

Knoxville, Tenn. - The Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team will debut in tonight's exhibition contest against Carson-Newman as the fifth-ranked team in the country, according to the preseason poll released Wednesday by USA Today/ESPN.

During the 2005-06 campaign, Tennessee was ranked No. 1 for the first 13 weeks, third the next, fifth for four weeks, ninth on Feb. 27, sixth three times and fifth in the final poll. The Big Orange have been ranked in the top-five of the final poll every year since the first poll of the 1985-86 season.

Tennessee led all Southeastern Conference schools with 648 points. Georgia is ranked ninth (487), LSU 10th (454), Vanderbilt 15th (262) and Kentucky 16th (255).

Ten of the teams ranked in the top 25 are on the Lady Vol schedule for 2006-07, including top 10 squads North Carolina, Stanford, Duke, Connecticut, Georgia and LSU.

The Top 25 preseason women's basketball coaches poll, with team's 2005-06 record in parentheses, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last season's final poll (April 5) and first-place votes received:

Others receiving votes (2005-06 record in parentheses): Boston College (21-12) 83; George Washington (23-9) 77; Utah (27-7) 77; Texas (13-15) 50; Bowling Green (28-3) 47; TCU (19-12) 46; Louisiana Tech (26-5) 45; Old Dominion (22-9) 39; Temple (24-8) 37; Louisville (19-10) 33; St. John`s (22-8) 20; Pittsburgh (22-10) 16; Kansas State (22-10) 13; North Carolina State (19-12) 12; Tulsa (25-7) 10; Florida State (20-10) 8; Texas Tech (15-14) 7; South Carolina (17-12) 6; Florida (21-9) 5; Hartford (27-4) 4; Rice (19-13) 4; South Florida (19-12) 4; Virginia Tech (21-10) 4; Mississippi (17-14) 3; Western Kentucky (26-7) 3; Drake (17-12) 2; Iowa (17-12) 2; Middle Tennessee (20-11) 2; Montana (21-7) 1.

The USA TODAY/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2006-07 season: Agnus Berenato, Pittsburgh; Pam Borton, Minnesota; Beth Burns, San Diego State; Pokey Chatman, LSU; Debra Clark, Florida A&M; Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, Prairie View; Beth Couture, Butler; Mary Taylor Cowles, Western Kentucky; Leslie Crane, Western Illinois; Tricia Cullop, Evansville; Brian Giorgis, Marist; Kellie Harper, Western Carolina; Mary Hegarty, Long Beach State; Melissa McFerrin, American; Kevin McGuff, Xavier; Tina Martin, Delaware; Curt Miller, Bowling Green; Dan Muscatell, Sacramento State; Paul Nixon, Columbia; Jill Poe, St. Francis (Pa.); Jeri Porter, Radford; Rick Reeves, Gardner-Webb; Lee Ann Riley, Stephen F. Austin; Jennifer Rizzotti, Hartford; Rhonda Rompola, Southern Methodist; Julie Rousseau, Pepperdine; Brady Sallee, Eastern Illinois; Cindy Stein, Missouri; LaVonda Wagner, Oregon State; AdrianWiggins, Fresno State; Kay Yow, North Carolina State.