2. UMBC (17-15, 10-6 America East)

After matching its best regular-season finish since 2017 and advancing to the second round of the WNIT, UMBC was chosen second in the preseason poll with 57 points and a pair of first-place votes. The Retrievers closed out the 2025-26 season by winning six of their nine final contests, but they will be without last season’s AE Newcomer of the Year in senior guard Jade Tillman, who transferred to Ole Miss after averaging 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

UMBC’s returning squad is headlined by preseason all-conference selection sophomore guard Heidi Williams, who averaged 9.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game during an all-rookie campaign. Fellow all-rookie honoree sophomore guard Kennedy Austin added 7.9 points and three rebounds per game, giving third-year head coach Candice Hill the potent combination of a young backcourt with significant starting experience.

The Retrievers also reinforced their squad with four additions through the portal, including redshirt sophomore guard Alden Yergey from Siena University and junior guard Shariah Baynes from Towson University. On the offensive side of the court, UMBC must improve upon its 37.5 percent shooting from the field, good for second-to-last in the conference, if it hopes to convert last season’s progress into the second March Madness appearance in program history.

3. University of Vermont (27-8, 13-3 AE)

Despite claiming both the AE regular-season and tournament titles last season, Vermont was selected third in this year’s preseason rankings with 48 points and one first-place vote. The Catamounts enter their 2026-27 campaign in the first year of Maureen Magarity’s tenure following former head coach Alisa Kresge’s departure for Richmond. Magarity returns to the conference after previously leading New Hampshire for a decade, from 2010 to 2020.

Vermont arguably has been hit the hardest with its departures, with the loss of its three leading scorers, in 2025-26 first-team all-conference selections Keira Hanson and Nikola Priede, alongside second-team honoree and former Bearcat Jadyn Weltz. The returning roster is headlined by preseason all-conference selection senior guard Malia Lenz, who started all 35 games last year while averaging 7.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Graduate student guard Catherine Gilwee also returns after an injury-shortened campaign a season ago, last having earned second-team all-conference honors in 2024-25.

The Catamounts found significant size in the portal, bringing in six-foot-two senior forward Arantxa Portalez from the University of Delaware and six-foot-two junior forward Meja Jaegerskog from Saint Joseph’s University. With junior guard Emma Haan and three other 2025-26 letter winners also returning, Magarity has a plethora of pieces with significant NCAA experience around whom to build, but Vermont’s hopes of a third consecutive conference championship will depend on how quickly its new-look rotation can find its rhythm when competing with AE rivals built upon returning chemistry.

4. University of Maine (19-13, 12-4 AE)

Entering her conference-leading 11th season as Maine’s head coach, Amy Vachon led the No. 2 seed Black Bears to the AE title game last year before ultimately falling 61-43 to Vermont. Maine was selected fourth in the preseason poll with 41 points and now faces a major offensive overhaul, as its three leading scorers have exhausted their NCAA eligibility.

Spearheading the Black Bears’ departees is two-time AE Player of the Year Adrianna Smith, who averaged 22.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game last season. 2025-26 third-team All-AE honoree Sarah Talon also left, taking 8.9 points per game with her. The Black Bears will look for a significant increase in contributions from sophomore guard Lala Woods, who was named to the AE all-rookie team after averaging 8.4 points per game and sinking 34 three-pointers on 34.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, senior forward Kaliyah Sain returns after also averaging 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds across eight starts before a season-ending injury, while sophomore guard Olivia Alvarez brings back 23 starts and senior center Lizzy Gruber offers size in the frontcourt at six-foot-four. The lone transfer addition is junior guard Taylor Schwab, who averaged a whopping 16.3 points per game at Arizona Christian. Vachon must also address an AE-worst rebounding margin and maintain its AE-leading assist/turnover ratio if she hopes to keep Maine in contention for the conference title.

5. Bryant University (18-12, 8-8 AE)

Following a 2025-26 campaign that included a first-ever victory over a Power Four opponent in Boston College and two separate seven-game winning streaks, Bryant was surprisingly selected fifth in the preseason poll with 40 points. The Bulldogs finished one point behind Maine in the voting after closing last year with a 45-44 overtime quarterfinal defeat at No. 4-seeded Binghamton.

Bryant’s returning squad is headlined by a pair of preseason all-conference selections in senior guard Mia Mancini and senior forward Nia Scott. The 2025-26 AE t third-team honoree and senior guard Mia Mancini averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game last season, while fellow AE third-team member Nia Scott started all 30 matches for Bryant and posted 11.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game with 11 double-doubles. The Bulldogs will, however, be without Mimi Rubino and Maranda Nyborg, who both averaged double figures.

Head coach Lynne-Ann Kokoski added a conference-leading seven newcomers, spearheaded by Siena transfer senior guard Genevive Wedemeyer, who averaged 9.1 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. Siblings sophomore forward Ndebele Astou Ndiaye and junior guard Ndate Ndiaye also joined from Florida International University. Bryant’s prospects again rest on the three-point shooting disparity they force, as they finished third in the conference shooting 33.1 percent, while holding opponents to just 24.6 percent from beyond the arc.

6. New Jersey Institute of Technology (19-13, 9-7 AE)

After a record-setting campaign in which NJIT won an all-time high of 19 games while securing the program’s first Division I postseason victory, the Highlanders were selected sixth in the preseason poll with 29 points. The Highlanders must reckon with the graduation of all-time program scoring leader Alejandra Zuniga and the transfer of Olivia Kulyk to Fordham after she averaged 14.6 points per game last season.

NJIT’s most significant returner is senior guard Marissa Gingrich, who averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and two assists per game last season. Junior guard Allison Cannon also returns, as well as junior forward Ava Locklear, who contributed 8.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

The Highlanders supplemented that core with Southern New Hampshire transfer graduate student guard Matilde Baron and a three-player freshman class led by freshman guard Kate Donovan. After leading the conference with 65.4 points per game last season, NJIT will need significant offensive jumps from its returning contributors if it hopes to compensate for the departure of arguably the greatest player in program history.

7. University of Albany (14-16, 4-12 AE)

After establishing themselves as AE powerhouses with a regular-season championship win in 2024-25, the Great Danes fell to 4-12 in AE play last year and were selected seventh in the preseason poll with 25 points. Kelly Morrone enters her first season at the helm of the struggling program after Colleen Mullen departed for Rhode Island, with seven players leaving the program to join Mullen and only two remaining on the roster.

Morrone’s rebuilt squad is headlined by a transfer from her former Merrimack squad, senior forward Madison Roman, a unanimous first-team All-MAAC selection who averaged 13.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game with 18 double-doubles last season. Junior guard Daria Shishkina and junior forward Cadence Johnson also joined Morrone from Merrimack. The Great Danes’ two returners consist of senior guard Lara Langermann, who made 22 starts last season, alongside sophomore forward Emma Zuccon. Although Albany has found significant success in 2024-25, this season’s roster proves more difficult to project on account of its radical year-to-year transformation.

8. University of New Hampshire (10-20, 4-12 AE)

After earning the No. 7 seed in the AE championships and an early exit in the quarterfinals to No. 2-seeded Maine, New Hampshire was selected eighth in the preseason poll. The Wildcats’ most significant departure is Eva DeChent, who transferred to San Diego State after averaging 18.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and earning second-team All-AE honors.

UNH must also replace graduated starters Lucia Melero Sabat and Kenzie Matulonis, as well as senior captain and former Bearcat Camryn Fauria, leaving junior guard Elizabeth Lavoie as its lone returning starter. Lavoie averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds after starting all but two matches for the Wildcats, while returning senior guard Maggie Cavanaugh contributed 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and finished second on the squad in minutes. Rounding out the returners is graduate student guard Sophia Sabino, who averaged 7.2 points per game and appeared in 30 contests at Bucknell in the 2024-25 season.

Head coach Megan Shoniker added significant reinforcements with three transfers and five freshmen to the roster. The Wildcats’ season will depend on how well they can replace lost production and leadership.

9. University of Massachusetts Lowell (8-21, 2-14 AE)

Finishing unanimously in ninth place in the preseason poll with just eight points is UMass Lowell. The River Hawks enter the campaign with their third head coach in three seasons. Brianna Finch, previously an assistant at George Washington University, has been appointed to lead the program.

UMass Lowell reckons with the departures of three of its leading scorers, including Jaini Edmonds, who averaged 8.2 points per game, and Sabrina Larsson, who contributed 5.6 points per game before graduating in the spring. Senior guard Paris Gilmore also transferred after averaging 8.4 points per game last year. The River Hawks will look for another offensive jump from senior guard Maddie Rice and sophomore guard Tyanna Medina, who averaged a combined 14.6 points per game last year.

The most notable newcomer is Peru State College transfer senior forward Kylie Diaz, who averaged 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game last season while earning second-team NAIA All-America honors. Finch and the River Hawks will hope to prove the rest of the conference wrong by outperforming their last-place prediction this season.