The Athletic’s 2026-2027 too-early top 25 women’s basketball rankings

Part of the problem is that these rankings are being conducted as the transfer portal opens on Monday. We can imagine that UC

UCLA is the national champion , but for the first time in my way-too-early power rankings for The Athletic , UCLA will not be the top-ranked team heading into the 2026-27 season. With all due respect to Cori Close and the success of the Bruins program over the last few years, the reality is that six seniors are leaving. It was touch-and-go whether to rank the Bruins at all.

Part of the problem is that these rankings are being conducted as the transfer portal opens on Monday. We can imagine that UCLA (and other high-profile programs) will be able to bring in some quality players after already crushing the portal each of the last two offseasons. Close said: “The transfer portal just got easier” in Sunday’s postgame news conference in Phoenix.

But we don’t know what the Bruins roster will look like, or which players across the country are on the move. That puts even more uncertainty than usual into these rankings, especially compared to last season when we could already pencil in the Final Four. Keep that in mind when we look back at this list a year from now.