The USA South Athletic Conference's women's basketball coaches have released their 2025-26 preseason poll. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.
Southern Virginia was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 81 total points and nine of the possible ten first place votes. The Knights posted a perfect 16-0 regular season League record last season which earned them the program's third championship. SVU would go on to sweep through the USA South Tournament to earn the title for the second consecutive season and third time in program history. The team who played the Knights for the tournament crown last season was Brevard who placed second in this year's preseason poll with 69 points. N.C. Wesleyan earned 64 points to appear third while Methodist rounded out the top-four of the poll with 59 points and the final remaining first place vote.
This is the second consecutive time Southern Virginia has been picked to capture the title in its brief history within the conference. Since the first Conference women's basketball preseason poll in 2003-04, the team picked first has reached at least the semifinals of the League tournament each year but one, played for the championship 17 times, and won the title on ten occasions. The team picked second in the preseason poll has won the Conference championship six times but not since 2018.
The 2026 USA South Women's Basketball Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-eight seeded teams will advance to postseason play which will begin with first round action on Tuesday, February 24. The semifinals will take place Thursday, February 26 with the finals occurring on Saturday, February 28. The higher-seeded team in each contest will serve as the host of that particular game.
| 2025-26 USA South Coaches Preseason Women's Basketball Poll |
| Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Southern Virginia* (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
Brevard |
69 |
| 3. |
N.C. Wesleyan |
64 |
| 4. |
Methodist (1) |
59 |
| 5. |
Pfeiffer |
52 |
| 6. |
William Peace |
38 |
| 7. |
Greensboro |
27 |
| 8. |
Meredith |
26 |
| t-9. |
Mary Baldwin |
17 |
| t-9. |
Salem |
17 |
| *Defending Regular Season & Tournament Champions |
All-Time Women's Basketball Conference Records
(listed by wins of current Conference members) |
| Team |
Seasons |
Record |
Pct. |
Conference Championships
(Reg. Season / Tournament) |
| Greensboro |
44 |
390-243 |
.616 |
11 / 7 |
| Methodist |
44 |
312-321 |
.493 |
5 / 3 |
| N.C. Wesleyan |
44 |
302-330 |
.478 |
1 / 3 |
| William Peace |
22 |
122-243 |
.334 |
1 / 0 |
| Meredith |
18 |
96-206 |
.318 |
0 / 0 |
| Southern Virginia |
4 |
62-8 |
.886 |
3 / 3 |
| Brevard |
7 |
60-50 |
.545 |
0 / 0 |
| Mary Baldwin |
17 |
55-221 |
.199 |
0 / 0 |
| Pfeiffer |
7 |
45-67 |
.402 |
0 / 0 |
| Salem |
8 |
26-106 |
.197 |
0 / 0 |