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There are significant changes this offseason for both the Utes and Cougars.

Utah Utes guard Matyson Wilke (23) puts up a shot during a Women’s NCAA basketball game between the Utah Utes and the BYU Cougars at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 1, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News

The early projections are that both BYU and Utah won’t be major factors in the Big 12 women’s basketball championship race.

On Thursday, the league released the preseason Big 12 coaches poll, and TCU was the overwhelming favorite to repeat as league champion and received 10 of a possible 16 first-place votes.

Utah, coming off its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, was projected to finish eighth, while BYU was picked to finish two spots lower.

Three other schools also received two first-place votes each, as Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma State were projected to finish second, third and fourth, respectively.

The Cougars were represented on the preseason All-Big 12 team, though. Sophomore guard Delaney Gibb was one of six unanimous selections on the 10-woman team.

Gibb was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year after she averaged 17.4 points per game last season while finishing fourth in the Big 12 in 3-point shooting percentage (39.5%), 11th in assists (4.13 per game) and 12th in field goal percentage (45.3%).

BYU is under new leadership this season, with longtime assistant coach Lee Cummard replacing former Cougars head coach Amber Whiting.

The projected 10th-place finish for the Cougars is the highest BYU has appeared in the preseason Big 12 poll since joining the league. The Cougars were picked to finish 11th in 2022-23 and 12th last season.

BYU went 4-14 in conference play last season and 13-17 overall, finishing in a tie for 12th in the conference standings.

Utah, meanwhile, has six newcomers on a 13-player roster after a senior group left that was a part in every one of those NCAA Tournament appearances, along with star guard Gianna Kneepkens, who transferred to UCLA.

That leaves second-year coach Gavin Petersen retooling a program that is only a couple years removed from earning a share of the Pac-12 regular-season championship under previous head coach Lynne Roberts, who’s now in the WNBA.

The Utes were 13-5 in Big 12 play and 22-9 overall last season, finishing in a tie for fourth in the league.

Utah was projected to finish sixth in the Big 12 last season. That is the seed the Utes earned in the conference tournament, after losing tiebreakers with the other two teams, West Virginia and Kansas State, tied with them in the league standings.

Utah opens the season Nov. 3 with a home game against Sioux Falls and begins Big 12 play at Arizona on Dec. 22.

BYU begins its 2025-26 season Nov. 5 at home against Coastal Carolina before opening conference action Dec. 20 at UCF.

For the first time, the Big 12 will release a preseason media poll. That will be released the week before the season begins, on Oct. 27.

Prior to that, all 16 Big 12 institutions will participate in the league’s basketball media days in Kansas City. The women will take center stage at the event on Oct. 21, with the men the following day.