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Defending national champion Tennessee was a unanimous pick as the No. 1 women's basketball team in the Associated Press preseason poll.

The Lady Vols, who play the U.S. national team in an exhibition game at 3 today at Thompson-Boling Arena, received all 50 first-place votes from the national media panel and had 1,250 points, which was 75 more than second-ranked Connecticut.

The Lady Vols return All-American Candace Parker and three other starters from last season's team. UT coach Pat Summitt described the ranking, the 12th preseason No. 1 in program history, as "a tremendous compliment" but also "a tremendous challenge."

Of the other 24 ranked teams, 12 are on Tennessee's schedule, including seven of the other nine top 10 teams.

The Big East Conference has seven teams ranked in the poll. It's the third time a conference has had that many teams in the preseason rankings. The SEC, which has four teams in the poll, did it twice before. The last time was 1997.

Although UT has dropped Connecticut from its schedule, it still will play four ranked teams from the Big East - No. 3 Rutgers, No. 18 West Virginia, No. 24 Notre Dame and No. 25 DePaul.

Tennessee opens the regular season against Chattanooga next Sunday.

Another SEC Poll: Tennessee was the pick of the league coaches to win the conference. The Lady Vols received all but two votes, which went to LSU.

Parker was voted player of the year and was a unanimous pick to the nine-player All-SEC first team. Teammates Nicky Anosike and Alexis Hornbuckle also made first team.

Shannon Bobbitt was a second-team selection.

Injury Report: Freshman center Kelley Cain, who missed 11 days while recovering from a concussion, has practiced the past two days and will play today.

Senior wing player Alberta Auguste remains out with a right calf contusion, but her condition is improving. She did defensive slide drills the past two days.

For the U.S., guard Loree Moore, a former Lady Vol, has had a flare-up of a left knee injury and won't play today. Moore, who plays for the WNBA's New York Liberty, has returned to New York for treatment and rehabilitation.

Notebook: Other than the 1999 victory, Tennessee's other U.S. exhibition result was an 82-58 loss in 1995. ... On Friday, Summitt warned her players in practice to take a deep breath for today: "You better be ready for a track meet." ... Tennessee's final exhibition is Tuesday against Carson-Newman College.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.