FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas women's basketball coach Mike Neighbors said last week that he didn't believe his team would be picked with a double-digit number beside its name in the preseason SEC poll.
He was right.
On Tuesday, the Razorbacks were picked fifth in the preseason media poll. That is up six spots from where Arkansas was predicted to finish last season, when they finished 10th overall with a 6-10 record in league play.
Arkansas was 20-14 overall last season and played in the third round of the WNIT.
The Razorbacks return redshirt junior guard Chelsea Dungee, who has made a jump into the preseason watch lists. Dungee was on the SEC's preseason first team and also received a vote to be the SEC's player of the year.
Dungee will look to improve on last season when she set the school record for scoring in a single season with 759 points, broke the school record for free throws made in a single season with 229, set the single-game record for most points in Bud Walton Arena against an SEC opponent (41) and was the first Razorback in 13 years to score in double digits more than 30 times.
The Razorbacks have not had a player finish the season on the All-SEC first team since Jessica Jackson in 2016. The Razorbacks had not had a player picked to the preseason first team media poll since C'eira Ricketts in 2012.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to play an exhibition game against Pittsburg State on Thursday, Oct. 24 in Bud Walton Arena.
The regular season is scheduled to begin Friday, Nov. 8 with a game against New Orleans at 10:30 a.m.
Predicted Order of Finish
1 South Carolina
2 Texas A&M
3 Mississippi State
4 Kentucky
5 Arkansas
6 Tennessee
7 Auburn
8 LSU
9 Missouri
10 Georgia
11 Alabama
12 Florida
13 Ole Miss
14 Vanderbilt
Preseason All-SEC First Team
Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas (1)
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky (2)
Ayana Mitchell, LSU
Tyasha Harris, South Carolina
Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M (14)
- Parentheses indicate number of votes for SEC player of the year