Womens college basketball preseason top 25: Ranking the title contenders

The leaves are turning colors and starting to fall.You know what that means: College basketball is nearly here. And the women’s season is filled with storylines. JuJu Watkins, the presumed No.

1 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft, returns after a yearlong layoff, putting USC back into the spotlight. Her return makes the conversation for National Player of the Year more interesting.Last season’s winner, Sarah Strong, headlines a UConn squad determined to get back to the mountaintop.

Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes, the breakout star of last season, Texas forward Madison Booker and Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo are among the candidates. Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team is always a force to be reckoned with.But did the Big Ten finally overtake the SEC as the best basketball conference? There’s so much to explore.

But let’s start here, with The Post’s preseason Top 25: After falling in last season’s national championship game to UCLA, expect the Gamecocks to return this season with vengeance on their mind.It doesn’t matter that they lost four seniors because Joyce Edwards, Chloe Kitts and Tessa Johnson are back.

The Gamecocks also reloaded their roster with the additions of highly rated freshmen Jerzy Robinson and Oliviyah Edwards, and transfers Brooke Quarles Daniels (Michigan) and Jordan Lee (Texas). Death, taxes and the Huskies having championship expectations.UConn went 38-1 last year but was bounced by South Carolina in the Final Four.

Strong leads a talented roster featuring veteran guards KK Arnold, Ashlynn Shade and Kayleigh Heckel.The Huskies have an elite combination of scoring, defense and versatility, and they jam-packed their nonconference schedule full of heavyweights. There’s no denying that the return of Watkins changes the Trojans’ ceiling entirely.

Jazzy Davidson, the reigning Freshman of the Year, is expected to take a leap, and USC also welcomes the nation’s top recruiting class, headlined by Saniyah Hall. After back-...