With every starter returning and the addition of hometown hero Skylar Diggins to the Notre Dame women's basketball team, the expectations are high going into the season.

And the Big East coaches took notice.

The Irish were selected to finish second in the conference. Connecticut was picked to finish first with 225 points, and Notre Dame received 210 points and one first-place vote.

Since coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team, one can assume UConn coach Geno Auriemma – who led his team to a third straight conference title and the NCAA championship last season – voted for Notre Dame.

Diggins, who played at Washington South Bend, was selected the preseason freshman of the year, and senior guards Lindsay Schrader and Ashley Barlow were named to the 12-player preseason All-Big East team.

Preseason awards

Preseason Player of the Year

Maya Moore, Connecticut, Jr., F

Preseason Freshman of the Year

*Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame, G

Preseason All-Big East team^

Ashley Barlow, Notre Dame, Sr., G

*Tina Charles, Connecticut, Sr., C

Keisha Hampton, DePaul, So., F

Tiffany Hayes, Connecticut, So., G

Nicole Michael, Syracuse, Sr., F

*Maya Moore, Connecticut, Jr., F

Deirdre Naughton, DePaul, Sr., G

Liz Repella, West Virginia, Jr., G

*Angel Robinson, Marquette, Jr., G

Kahla Roudebush, Cincinnati, Sr., G

Lindsay Schrader, Notre Dame, R-Sr., G

Da'Shena Stevens, St. John's, So., F

^ - an extra member has been added to the preseason team due to a tie in voting

Preseason All-Big East honorable mention

Deseree' Byrd, Louisville, Jr., G

Kalana Greene, Connecticut, Sr., G

Brittany Ray, Rutgers, Sr., G

* - unanimous selections

Coaches poll

Analysis

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said she was looking forward to the hype and believed her team could feed off high expectations this season.

Clearly, no one got carried away as the Huskies are the top dog of the Big East, but the Irish will have the chance to challenge them twice this year as they play UConn on the road and at home.

The Irish will likely not overtake the Huskies as Big East champions of the regular season, but if things break right, Notre Dame does have a chance to compete and knock off UConn in the one-game situations of the Big East tournament and NCAA tournament.

Diggins being voted the preseason freshman of the year is likely the start of many awards for the former Washington South Bend standout. If she lives up to half of her billing, Notre Dame will have quite the weapon for four seasons.

The main thing for Notre Dame to be successful this season is the development of it interior play, the team has plenty of guards. As the team started preseason practice junior forward Becca Bruszewski was the only fully healthy post player.

As the rest of the post players get healthy, we will find out how good this team can really be.