NEW YORK (AP) -- Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame start the new season where they left off -- atop women's college basketball.
The Irish were the unanimous No. 1 team in The Associated Press women's basketball preseason poll that was released Wednesday.
The defending national champions received all 31 first-place votes from a national media panel. It's only the second time that McGraw's team has been the preseason No. 1 team. It also occurred in 2016. The Irish return four starters from last season's team that battled through a bunch of ACL injuries before winning the school's second national championship.