LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the seventh straight year, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will begin its season ranked inside the top 20 of the USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25, sitting No. 19 in the annual listing, which was released Thursday afternoon, Oct. 27.

Kentucky has been ranked in both the USA Today Coaches Top 25 and The Associated Press Top 25 since week 13 of the 2009-10 season, which is a program-record streak. Last season, UK was ranked No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25. The Associated Press Preseason Top 25 is expected in early November.

Entering his 10th season as head coach, Matthew Mitchell has again put together a challenging schedule for the Wildcats in 2016-17. Kentucky is scheduled to play 10 games against teams inside the USA Today/Coaches’ Preseason Top 25, including No. 3 South Carolina (twice), No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 16 Arizona State, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 20 Miami (Fla.), No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 24 Florida. UK is also scheduled to play Missouri (twice), Duke, Auburn and Georgia (twice), who are each receiving votes in the poll. In all, 16 of Kentucky’s 29 regular-season games will come against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason listing.

Kentucky, which is lead by senior standouts Makayla Epps (pictured) and Evelyn Akhator, will start its 2016-17 season with the Kentucky Classic at Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 11-13 with No. 20 Miami (Fla.) and Albany, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago. UK and Miami (Fla.) will begin the event Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Kentucky and Albany on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. ET and Albany and Miami (Fla.) concluding the event Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. ET. Both Kentucky games will be broadcast live on SEC Network+ through WatchESPN.

Season tickets for the 2016-17 season are available for $65 in upper level chairbacks, lower level bleachers and general admission upper level bleachers. Purchasing season tickets offers the best option and price savings for fans. Current and future season ticket holders are also encouraged to join the Victory Club, the official booster program for Kentucky women’s basketball. More information on the Victory Club can be found at bit.ly/VictoryClub.

Single-game tickets are also available through ticketmaster.com. Single-game tickets are $9 for reserved seating (all ages), $8 for general admission seating (adults) and $5 for general admission seating (youth 6-18/seniors 65+). General admission seating is free for ages five and under.

2016-17 USA Today/Coaches’ Preseason Top 25

1. Connecticut (38-0)

2. Notre Dame (33-2)

3. South Carolina (33-2)

4. Baylor (36-2)

5. Maryland (31-4)

6. (Tie) Ohio State (26-8)

6. (Tie) Texas (31-5)

8. Louisville (26-8)

9. UCLA (26-9)

10. Stanford (27-8)

11. Mississippi State (28-8)

12. Florida State (25-8)

13. Syracuse (30-8)

14. Tennessee (22-14)

15. Washington (26-11)

16. Arizona State (26-7)

17. Oregon State (32-5)

18. Oklahoma (22-11)

19. KENTUCKY (25-8)

20. Miami (Fla.) (24-9)

21. DePaul (27-9)

22. Michigan State (25-9)

23. Texas A&M (22-10)

24. Florida (22-9)

25. West Virginia (25-10)

Others receiving votes: South Florida (24-10) 65; Indiana (21-12) 51; South Dakota State (27-7) 38; Colorado State (31-2) 17; Missouri (22-10) 17; Duke (20-12) 16; Auburn (20-13) 14; Creighton (17-18) 10; Michigan (21-14) 10; Western Kentucky (27-7) 10; St. John’s (23-10) 9; Northwestern (18-17) 7; Oklahoma State (21-10) 7; Wisconsin-Green Bay (28-5) 7; Pennsylvania (24-5) 6; Georgia (21-10) 5; North Carolina State (20-11) 5; California (15-17) 4; Temple (23-12) 4; Brigham Young (26-7) 3; Iowa (19-14) 3; Duquesne (28-6) 2; George Washington (26-7) 2; Gonzaga (19-14) 2; Oregon (24-11) 2; Drake (23-10) 1; Georgia Tech (20-13) 1; Troy (20-13) 1; Tulane (23-12) 1.

Photo by Chet White/UK Athletics