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Reported Analysis · AP Women's Basketball · 2026–27 Preseason

NC State's Four-Point Edge Shows Two Ways to Miss the Cutoff

By Poll Behavior ·

2026–27 Preseason
4 AP points at the cutoff
NC State takes No. 25; Nebraska and Arizona State finish outside.
0775 AP points
NC StateNo. 25
51
Included on 11 of 31 ballots
NebraskaOutside Top 25
47
Included on 11 of 31 ballots
Arizona StateOutside Top 25
36
Included on 16 of 31 ballots
October 20 · 31 complete ballots. Bars start at zero; 775 is the maximum AP-point total.

NC State claimed the last place in the AP women's basketball preseason Top 25 with 51 points, four ahead of Nebraska. Each appeared on 11 of the panel's 31 ballots. The difference came from their placements, with no advantage in the number of voters including either team.

Arizona State supplies a different comparison just below them. Sixteen voters included the Sun Devils, five more than either NC State or Nebraska, but those choices produced 36 points. Their broader inclusion did not overcome their concentration near the bottom of individual ballots.

Together, the three teams show why the October 20 cutoff requires more than a count of appearances.

Equal Breadth, Different Placements

AP awards 25 points for first place, declining by one per position to one point for 25th. A No. 17 placement is worth nine points; a No. 25 placement is worth one. NC State received three No. 17 rankings, providing 27 of its 51 points.

TeamBallots Including TeamPoints
NC State1151
Nebraska1147
Arizona State1636

NC State's included placements average 4.64 points per appearance, compared with Nebraska's 4.27. Those figures use the 11 ballots including each team. Only four voters included both, so they describe different groups of supporters rather than a direct preference shared by the whole panel.

Nebraska's best placement was 15th, two positions higher than NC State's best. That one measure of enthusiasm still leaves the other choices to be counted. NC State's complete set of placements supplies four more points, enough for No. 25.

Arizona State averaged 2.25 points across its 16 appearances. Fourteen of those came at Nos. 23, 24 or 25, worth three, two or one point. Its best placement was 20th. The Sun Devils reached more ballots but accumulated fewer points from them.

NC State's position rests on the combined strength of its included rankings. It shares Nebraska's appearance count and trails Arizona State's, yet finishes ahead of both in points. At this preseason boundary, neither the highest individual placement nor the broadest inclusion identifies the team that takes the final ranked spot.

Sources & Methodology

Complete poll and ballots; preseason Insights. Poll Behavior calculated appearances, distributions and points from all 31 captured ballots. An omission earns no points and is not assigned a numerical rank. Points per appearance divide each team's total by its own included-ballot count; these groups differ. Nebraska and Arizona State are the first two teams listed among others receiving votes, without official numbered ranks below No. 25.

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NC State's Four-Point Edge Shows Two Ways to Miss the Cutoff

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