Three C-USA Teams Ranked in Final USA Today/ESPN Women's Basketball Coaches Poll

Sancho Lyttle

For the first time in league history, three schools are ranked in the Top 25 of the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Regular season and Tournament Champion Houston is ranked No. 16, while TCU and DePaul follow in 22nd and 25th place, respectively. Marquette ranked fourth among the other teams that also received votes.

Houston concluded the 2003-04 season with a 28-4 record, posting the most wins in conference and school history. The Cougars were the fourth Conference USA school to win the regular-season and tournament titles in the same season and had won 13 straight games before losing at UC-Santa Barbara in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In their first appearance in 12 seasons, the Cougars defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round for the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Houston also earned the highest ranking in C-USA history with a No. 9 spot in the March 15 USA Today/Coaches Poll. Following the conclusion of the season, senior forward CHANDI JONES has appeared on every All-American team, while head coach JOE CURL has been honored by three different organizations as National Coach of the Year.

TCU notched a record of 25-7 this past season, tying the school's single-season win record with the 2000-01 squad that finished 25-8. After earning their highest seed ever (No. 6), the Horned Frogs reached the second round of the NCAA Championship for the fourth year in a row with an opening round victory at Temple. TCU lost in the second round of the NCAA’s to Georgia.

DePaul finished the 2003-04 campaign with a 23-7 record – the second-highest win total in school history. The Blue Demons earned an at-large NCAA Tournament bid and knocked off George Washington in the first round before falling to top-seeded Tennessee. In January, the club earned the program’s highest ranking in school history with a No. 11 spot in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and a No. 12 ranking in the AP top 25.

Marquette closed out the season with a record of 22-10, matching the school record for victories. The Golden Eagles returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1999-00 season and posted a first round win over Old Dominion, just the second NCAA victory in MU history. Top-seeded Duke eliminated the Golden Eagles in the second round.

Houston, TCU and DePaul were each nationally-ranked for the final nine polls of the 2003-04 campaign. Prior to this season, C-USA had never had three teams nationally-ranked at the same time.


2003-04 FINAL USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL

Rank School
1. Connecticut (40)
2. Tennessee
3. LSU
4. Minnesota
5. Duke
6. Penn State
7. Stanford
8. Georgia
9. Purdue
10. Texas
11. Baylor
12. Louisiana Tech
13. Vanderbilt
14. Boston College
15. Kansas State
16. HOUSTON
17. Texas Tech
18. Oklahoma
19. UC-Santa Barbara
20. Notre Dame
21. North Carolina
22. TCU
23. Auburn
24. Colorado
25. DE PAUL


Others receiving votes: Michigan State (22-9) 73; Virginia Tech (23-8) 67; Chattanooga (29-3) 43; MARQUETTE (22-10) 30; Ohio State (21-10) 26; Middle Tennessee (24-8) 22; Villanova (23-7) 22; Southwest Missouri State (28-4) 21; Florida (19-11) 19; Miami (Fla.) (22-7) 19; Arizona (24-9) 12; Maryland (18-13) 11; Montana (27-5) 11; Liberty (25-7) 10; UCLA (17-13) 7; Rutgers (21-12) 6; Utah (24-7) 5; Creighton (24-9) 4; Old Dominion (25-7) 4; West Virginia (21-11) 1.