South Carolina was the unanimous pick to lead the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll ahead of the 2022-23 women's college basketball campaign.

The defending-champion Gamecocks collected all 30 first-place votes. Head coach Dawn Staley told the AP's Doug Feinberg that No. 1 "is where we wanted to be and envisioned for our program."

"I got to give it to our players," she said. "We constantly get some of the best players in the country. They put us in this position, as they work extremely hard. I don't know if they come in and say, 'I want to be the No. 1 team in the country,' but they do say they want to be national champions. This is a step to being a national champion."

Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee round out the top five.

AP Preseason Top 25 Poll

1. South Carolina 
2. Stanford 
3. Texas 
4. Iowa 
5. Tennessee 
6. Connecticut 
7. Louisville 
8. Iowa State 
9. Notre Dame 
10. North Carolina 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

The Gamecocks aren't totally running it back from last year, with Destanni Henderson now plying her trade in the WNBA. But the bulk of a roster responsible for a 35-2 record in 2021-22 is returning.

No star shines brighter than Aliyah Boston. The 6'5" forward averaged 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks en route to winning every major individual award. Zia Cooke, who averaged 10.7 points and 1.7 assists, will help to shoulder some of the playmaking burden following Henderson's departure.

Staley also reloaded by bringing in Georgia Tech transfer Kierra Fletcher, who dished out 3.7 assists per game in her final year with the Yellow Jackets. Incoming freshmen Ashlyn Watkins and Talaysia Cooper were the Nos. 12 and 18 players, respectively in HoopGurlz's 2022 rankings, too.

The Cardinal, meanwhile, are poised to make a third straight Final Four run and potentially lift their second title in three years. Head coach Tara VanDerveer supplemented a roster that already included Haley Jones and Cameron Brink with Lauren Betts, the No. 1 recruit in the country.

South Carolina and Stanford meet on Nov. 20 in Palo Alto, California, in a game that could further cement the Gamecocks' hold as the early season championship favorite.

Feinberg noted this is the first year since 2006 that UConn didn't earn a top-five preseason ranking, and that's partially because of Paige Bueckers' torn ACL. Still, the Huskies landed a pair of 5-star recruits in Ayanna Patterson and Ice Brady to help fill the void left by Evina Westbrook, Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.