After falling out of the top 25 last season, the Terps will start the season ranked No. 18.
Maryland women’s basketball was ranked No. 18 in the AP women’s college basketball preseason poll, released Tuesday.
For the 15th consecutive season, the Terps find themselves in the preseason top 25.
The Terps fell out of the top 25 in November last season for the first time since the start of the 2010-11 season, and did not climb back into the rankings for the rest of the year.
Head coach Brenda Frese’s squad is one of six teams in Big Ten to appear in the preseason top 25. Maryland is accompanied by No. 3 USC, No. 5 UCLA, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 23 Nebraska and No. 25 Indiana.
One notable Big Ten team not in the preseason top 25 is Iowa. After the departure of Caitlin Clark to the WNBA, the Hawkeyes find themselves as the first team outside the top 25, with an unofficial ranking of No. 26.
In Maryland’s nonconference slate, the Terps will host No. 11 Duke on Nov. 10 and will face No. 4 Texas in the Coretta Scott King Classic on Jan. 20.
In Big Ten play, Maryland will host USC on Jan. 8, UCLA on Jan. 26, Nebraska on Feb 13 and Ohio State on March 2. The Terps will also hit the road to face Ohio State on Jan. 23 and Indiana on Feb. 27.
Maryland faced both of the top two teams in last season, losing to No. 1 South Carolina, 114-76, and No. 2 UConn, 80-48.
No. 8 Iowa State also eliminated Maryland from the NCAA Tournament last year.