ACC: Virginia, the 2001 regular-season champion, is the coaches' favorite for the 2002 season, edging defending national champion North Carolina in a poll of conference coaches. Clemson, the 2001 ACC tournament champions, was picked to finish third. Completing the preseason poll are Wake Forest, Maryland, Duke and N.C. State. Virginia, North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest and Maryland all made the NCAA tournament in 2001.
BIG EAST: Connecticut, the 2000 NCAA Division I national champion, is picked to win the regular-season title by a vote of the league's 13 head coaches. UConn earned 139 points in the poll and received eight first-place votes. St. John's, which reached last year's Division I semifinals, took four first-place votes and 132 points to finish second in the poll. Notre Dame was picked to finish third. Rutgers garnered the remaining first-place vote and rounds out the top four. Here's the rest of the Big East finish: 5. Boston College; 6. Seton Hall; 7. Syracuse; 8. Georgetown; 9. Virginia Tech; 10. Pittsburgh; 11. West Virginia; 12. Villanova; 13. Providence. Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Boston College senior forward Casey Schmidt. Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: St. John's junior defender Chris Wingert. Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year: Notre Dame sophomore Chris Sawyer.
WCC: San Diego is again the favorite to win the WCC, receiving the first-place votes from four of the other six head coaches. Coach Seamus McFadden returns two-time All-WCC forward Ryan Coiner for his senior season. Santa Clara, winner of its first outright WCC title since 1997, was picked to finish second. The Broncos have a new head coach in Cameron Rast, a two-time All-American at SCU and their No. 2 coach for nine years. Loyola Marymount, Portland and Gonzaga, which all made the NCAA tournament last fall, are picked to finish 3-4-5. San Francisco and Saint Mary's were predicted to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.