Preseason No. 16

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford will open the 2015-16 season ranked 16th in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll, the organization announced Tuesday. It’s the 16th consecutive season the Cardinal has appeared in the preseason AP rankings.

Stanford closed out 2014-15 ranked 14th in the same poll. The Cardinal finished third in the Pac-12 a season ago with a 13-5 mark, but rallied through Seattle to claim the program’s 11th Pac-12 Tournament Championship in 14 tries and earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Stanford, which has been to 28 consecutive tournaments, advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the eighth straight year and with a 26-10 overall record, won at least 20 games for the 14th straight season.

Stanford has appeared in the AP rankings a possible 478 times out of 693 total polls since 1977 (69.0 percent), with an average positioning of 6.8. It’s been in the past 259 polls, the fourth-longest active streak behind Tennessee (535), Connecticut (413) and Duke (342). The Cardinal’s 478 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (679), Georgia (523) and Texas (483).

Stanford is third when it comes to all-time AP top-10 appearances (377). Tennessee is first in that category with 602 and Connecticut is second with 398. With the retirement of Georgia’s Andy Landers, Tara VanDerveer moved into the top spot among active coaches in terms of AP poll appearances with 486. Landers appeared in 522 polls with the Bulldogs.

Another typically tough slate awaits the Cardinal, which will face at least four members of the preseason top 25 during its nonconference schedule this season. No. 4 Tennessee visits Maples on Wednesday, Dec. 16 (6 p.m.) in a game televised on ESPNU. The Cardinal also begins its home schedule with No. 21 George Washington on Saturday, Nov. 21 (TBD) and travels to No. 12 Texas for an ESPN game on Sunday, Dec. 13 (10 a.m. PT). No. 25 Chattanooga travels to The Farm on Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.

A matchup with No. 8 Louisville is a possibility at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Sunday, Nov. 29 depending on how the bracket shakes out in that tournament.

The Pac-12 has three teams in the preseason poll with No. 10 Oregon State and No. 15 Arizona State joining No. 16 Stanford among the nation’s top 25.

The Cardinal takes the court in Maples for the first time this Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. for an exhibition against Academy of Art University.