October 20, 2026 | Women's Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the second time under head coach Shauna Green, Illinois women's basketball is ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Poll. The Fighting Illini come in at No. 23, matching their 2023-24 ranking under Green.
Prior to the ranking ahead of Green's second season at the helm of the Orange and Blue, Illinois had not appeared in an AP Preseason Top-25 Poll since the 1999-2000 campaign.
The 2026-27 season marks the fifth time in program history that Illinois has appeared in the AP Preseason Poll. Prior to this year, the Illini had appeared ahead of the 1997-98 (No. 7), 1998-99 (No. 25), 1999-2000 (No. 12), 2023-24 (No. 23) campaigns – with the first four occurrences coming under Hall of Fame head coach Theresa Grentz.
Illinois has now appeared in an AP Top-25 poll at some point during the season all five years under Green. The Illini have been ranked in 12 combined AP polls under Green. In 2022-23, the Illini appeared in four Top-25 polls, followed by the preseason rankings in 2023-24, five weeks across 2024-25, on Jan. 12, 2026, and most recently in the 2025-26 preseason ratings.
The Illini have now appeared in 75 AP polls all-time across 13 different seasons.
Green joins Naismith Hall of Famer Theresa Grentz as the only two coaches in program history to lead their teams to AP Top-25 ranking appearances in five-straight seasons. The last time Illinois was ranked in five consecutive seasons was from 1996-97 through 2000-01.
The Big Ten has nine teams in the Top 25, the most ever for one conference in the preseason poll. Those squads are No. 3 USC, No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 Iowa, No. 11 UCLA, No. 16 Washington, No. 17 Minnesota, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 20 Maryland, No. 23 Illinois. Nebraska (47), Michigan State (16), and Oregon (2) are also receiving votes.
