Ranking the 10 best women's college basketball players for 2026-27: Can anyone catch Sarah Strong?

With JuJu Watkins back and Hannah Hidalgo off to a strong start, the POTY race is already a thriller There was a full 14 hours between the end of the WNBA season in Game 7 on Saturday, Oct. 31, in San Francisco and the tip-off of the women's college basketball season in Rome, Italy, on Nov. 1. Hope you enjoyed your offseason, women's hoops fans. The 2026-27 college season got off to a high-scoring start, with Notre Dame beating Villanova 99-75 at the Eternal City Tip-Off behind Hannah Hidalgo's 32 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three assists. Most other top players will start their seasons on Monday, including JuJu Watkins, who returns to the USC lineup after missing all of last season recovering from an ACL tear.

Watkins will make her debut against UNLV at 4 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and streaming on Paramount+. There are many talented players in Division I, but we compiled a list of the top players to keep an eye on. Without giving away spoilers, here are CBS Sports' top 10 women's college basketball players ahead of the 2026-27 season. Despite a shaky start last season while facing some tough opponents, Duke turned things around and won both the ACC regular season and conference tournament titles before making it to the Elite