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Jeff Walz's defending national runners-up will begin the 2013-14 ranked No. 5 in the USA Today coaches' poll. The Cards sit behind only Connecticut, Duke, Stanford and Tennessee.
Here's the complete poll:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK | CHANGE | HI/LOW |
| 1 | Connecticut Huskies |
35-4 | 799 | 31 | NR | -- | |
| 2 | Duke Blue Devils |
33-3 | 735 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 3 | Stanford Cardinal |
33-3 | 714 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 4 | Tennessee Vols |
27-8 | 663 | 1 | NR | -- | |
| 5 | Louisville Cardinals |
29-9 | 631 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 6 | Maryland Terrapins |
26-8 | 630 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 7 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
35-2 | 624 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 8 | Kentucky Wildcats |
30-6 | 621 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 9 | California Golden Bears |
32-4 | 490 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 10 | Baylor Bears |
34-2 | 407 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 11 | North Carolina Tar Heels |
29-7 | 387 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 12 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
25-9 | 381 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 13 | Texas A&M Aggies |
25-10 | 368 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 14 | Oklahoma Sooners |
24-11 | 354 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 15 | Penn State Lions |
26-6 | 313 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 16 | Dayton Flyers |
28-3 | 307 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 17 | LSU Tigers |
22-12 | 276 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 18 | Michigan State Spartans |
25-9 | 185 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 19 | Colorado Buffaloes |
25-7 | 172 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 20 | Iowa State Cyclones |
24-9 | 163 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 21 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
25-8 | 158 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 22 | Georgia Bulldogs |
28-7 | 152 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 23 | Purdue Boilermakers |
25-9 | 129 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 24 | Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
22-11 | 127 | 0 | NR | -- | |
| 25 | UCLA Bruins |
26-8 | 114 | 0 | NR | -- |
Others Receiving VotesVanderbilt 99; Gonzaga 68; DePaul 54; West Virginia 53; South Florida 37; Georgia Tech 34; Kansas 32; Florida State 18; Wisconsin-Green Bay 18; Marist 17; Rutgers 11; Creighton 10; Saint Marys 8; Syracuse 8; Toledo 6; Middle Tennessee 6; San Diego 4; Quinnipiac 4; Iowa 4; Delaware 2; Minnesota 2; Pacific 1; Florida 1; Brigham Young 1; Southern Methodist 1; St. Johns 1.