Last year the Big East coaches picked the Irish women's basketball team to finish 11th in the conference.

Notre Dame went on to have an outstanding season, shocking the NCAA world by making it to the NCAA tournament with a very young team.

Now more experienced, ND is getting more respect. The Big East coaches have picked the Irish to finish 5th for the upcoming season.

UConn is the pre-season favorite in the Big East.

Rutgers, which went to the NCAA National Championship last year, was picked to finish 2nd.

Irish senior guard Charel Allen was named to the All-Big East Pre-Season team.