The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were picked to win 2011-12 Big East Conference Regular Season Title in a poll voted on by the league coaches today at Big East Media Day in NYC. For only the second time since the 1992-93 season the Huskies were not selected as the favorite in the Big East. Notre Dame narrowly edged out UConn as the favorite with 219pts. to UConn's 216. The other time was in 2005-06 when Rutgers was picked to finish first in the Big East. Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins was unanimously selected as the 2011-12 Preseason Big East POTY while Connecticut's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was picked as the 2011-12 Preseason Big East FOTY. Due to a tie in voting, 12 players were named to the 2011-12 Preseason All Big East Team including Connecticut's Tiffany Hayes and Bria Hartley.

2011-12 Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll:
1. Notre Dame (9) 219
2. Connecticut (7) 216
3. Louisville 191
4. Rutgers 176
5. Georgetown 175
6. DePaul 152
7. St. John’s 145
8. Syracuse 123
9. West Virginia 108
10. South Florida 96
11. Marquette 92
12. Pittsburgh 62
13. Villanova 54
14. Providence 51
15. Cincinnati 38
16. Seton Hall 22

( ) - First-place votes

2011-12 Preseason Big East Player of the Year:
Jr. G Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame*

2011-12 Preseason Big East Freshman of the Year:
Fr. F Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut

2011-12 Preseason All-Big East Team^:
So. G Bria Hartley, Connecticut
Sr. G Tiffany Hayes, Connecticut
Sr. F Keisha Hampton, DePaul*
Jr. G Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown*
Sr. W Monique Reid, Louisville
So. G Shoni Schimmel, Louisville
Sr. G Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame
Sr. F Devereaux Peters, Notre Dame
Jr. G Shenneika Smith, St. John's
Sr. F Da'Shena Stevens, St. John's
Jr. C Kayla Alexander, Syracuse

* - unanimous selection
^ - additional member added due to voting tie

2011-12 Preseason All-Big East Honorable Mention:
So. C Stefanie Dolson, Connecticut
Sr. G Khadijah Rushdan, Rutgers
Sr. W April Sykes, Rutgers
Sr. G Andrea Smith, South Florida