It has been 15 years since Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame were No. 1 in the poll.The Irish hold the preseason top spot in The Associated Press womens basketball poll Tuesday, receiving 14 first-place votes from a 33-member national media panel. Notre Dame last held the No. 1 ranking on March 5, 2001. McGraw returns most of the core from a team that went 33-2 last season.She was happy for the compliment, but said she found the ranking a little high considering her team was coming off one of its most disappointing seasons in a few years.Id rather we earned it, McGraw said. Were coming off the worst season weve had in six years; it seems odd that were preseason No. 1.McGraw has had very good teams over the last 15 seasons that never reached the top spot. There always seemed to be someone just a little bit better.Other teams have had good teams too. Connecticut has had some pretty good teams in there, McGraw said. There was a year when yeah maybe, Stanford beat Connecticut, but then South Carolina went to No. 1.Baylor was a close second, four points behind the Irish. The Lady Bears garnered 12 first place votes.UConn, which has won 75 consecutive games and four straight national championships, was third. South Carolina and Louisville round out the top five teams.Maryland, Ohio State, Texas, UCLA and Mississippi State are next.Tennessee, which saw its run of 565 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 end last season, is back in at No. 13. The Lady Vols have been in every one of the preseason polls except for the first one. They are one of four teams to not be ranked in the final poll, who are in the Top 25 now.National runner-up Syracuse was 14th while Final Four participants Washington and Oregon State were 17th and 25th.The SEC leads the way with six teams in the top 25. The Pac-12 and ACC each have five. UConn and 21st-ranked DePaul are the only two schools from non-Power 5 conferences to be ranked.The first regular-season poll will be Nov. 14 with two big games that night. Baylor hosts UCLA while UConn visits Florida State.Here are a few other poll tidbits:ITS BEEN A WHILE: Missouri is ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1984. The Tigers reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade and return star Sophia Cunningham. Unfortunately they already lost second-leading scorer and top rebounder Jordan Frericks and reserve Bri Porter for the season with knee injuries.MISSING TRIANGLE: Duke is not ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1994-95. The Blue Devils arent the only member of Tobacco Road absent from the poll. North Carolina and NC State both are unranked, marking only the second time in the 41-year history of the poll that none of the three are in the preseason rankings. It also happened in 1986.HIGH HOOSIER HOPES: Indiana is ranked for only the third time in the programs history. The No. 23 Hoosiers matched a school record with 21 victories in 2015-16 and won the teams first NCAA tournament game. Indiana is led by junior Tyra Buss, who averaged 18.8 points last season. Bob Rule Jersey . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Nate McMillan Jersey . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. https://www.supersonicsjerseys.com/400s-detlef-schrempf-jersey-supersonics.html . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Custom Seattle Supersonics Jerseys . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Spencer Haywood Jersey . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.SASKATOON -- The Halifax Mooseheads and Portland Winterhawks have been at the apex of the Canadian Hockey League all season, so its only fitting that the powerhouse clubs will meet in the MasterCard Memorial Cup final. The teams will play for the CHL title on Sunday in a showcase game that will feature not only the best clubs in junior hockey, but also the top prospects ahead of next months NHL draft. "We cant wait. We played our last game on Tuesday and if we could play it this afternoon, right now, were ready," Halifax coach Dominique Ducharme said Saturday. "To be playing in that last game, that was what we wanted to do and thats where we wanted to be so now its time to make the most out of it." Portland defenceman Seth Jones and Halifax centre Nathan MacKinnon are the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Although both have the ability to be gamebreakers, Winterhawks coach Travis Green says his focus isnt on the hype surrounding the potential top picks. "I dont look at it as a MacKinnon-Jones thing at all. Its Portland-Halifax," Green said. "Theyve got a lot of good players other than MacKinnon. Hes obviously a really good player, Jones is a great player, but its coming down to our team against their team and nothing more than that." MacKinnon, who is friends with Jones off the ice, says its too simplistic to suggest the game will come down to the two players. "I want to play really hard against him and hes going to play really hard against," he said. "Its going to be a team thing going on out there. Both of us have deep teams and a lot of talented players so its not going to be a Nathan versus Seth kind of thing." The Mooseheads, who lost just six games in the regular season and once in the playoffs as the CHLs top-ranked team before earning a bye right to the final of this tournament with a 2-1 record, are looking to become the third straight team from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to win the Memorial Cup after Saint John in 2011 and Shawinigan last year. The Winterhawks, meanwhile, had similar success in the Western Hockey League, finishing No. 2 in the rankings, but had a tumultuous campaign off the ice. The team had to deal with the season-long suspension of coach and general manager Mike Johnston for transgressions that included financial perks for players and their families. "After the sanctions we played with a chip on our shoulder. With Mike gone we definitely used that as fuel throughout the rest of the season," Portland centre Taylor Peters said.dddddddddddd"If we win this it just shows that nothing can stop us." Winterhawks right-winger Ty Rattie, who leads the tournament with five goals, says his team deserves to be in the final after a trying campaign. "Its kind of surreal. Everything you went through and especially our team this year, all the ups and downs we had. Its a cool feeling," he said. "We worked real hard this year. We went through a lot this year and now were only 60 minutes away from our ultimate goal." The Mooseheads and Winterhawks are two highly offensive clubs that can score in bunches. Halifax beat Portland 7-4 in the round robin portion of the tournament, but neither side is putting much emphasis on that result. "On our side, whoever were playing, we need to be bringing our best," Ducharme said. "We need to be strong physically for 60 minutes, but also mentally we need to be sharp and we need to be keeping those highs and lows at the same level, or almost, and not fluctuate too much." Added Green: "I dont think its about redemption. Its about us trying to achieve our goal and win a hockey game." Players on both the Mooseheads and Portland say a key will be staying calm in a game with so much on the line. "Its been a long road to get here and its kind of surreal its finally here," said MacKinnon, who had a hat trick against the Winterhawks in their first meeting. "Right now were keeping our emotions in check. (Sundays) game is going to be filled with emotions and its going to be a fun and exciting game." Apart from Jones and MacKinnon, other top prospects will be involved in the game, including Halifax left-winger Jonathan Drouin and goalie Zachary Fucale. Drouin is the No. 3 ranked North American skater, while Fucale is the top-rated goaltender on the continent. "This an exciting tournament. Its got the best players in the world playing here," Peters said. "The fans come to see excitement and thats what this game is going to be." Halifax is looking for its first CHL title, while Portland has two Memorial Cups to its name (1983 and 1998). "Obviously theres butterflies all the time but thats a good sign," Ducharme said. "It brings the best out of you but at the same time you need to stay in control and really focus on things you can control and things that (help) us win and will make the difference for us. "We cant get caught up into think about everything thats around the game but really focus on what you need to do to win." ' ' '