Preseason coaches polls
AVCA TOP 25
First-place votes in parenthesis with 2012 record and final poll ranking:
| SCHOOL | POINTS | RECORD | FINAL | |
| 1. Texas (55) | 1,490 | 29-4 | 1 | |
| 2. Penn State (3) | 1,425 | 33-3 | 3 | |
| 3. Stanford (2) | 1,379 | 30-4 | 4 | |
| 4. USC | 1,307 | 30-6 | 6 | |
| 5. Washington | 1,167 | 25-7 | 9 | |
| 6. Minnesota | 1,140 | 27-8 | 8 | |
| 7. Michigan | 1,120 | 27-12 | 5 | |
| 8. Oregon | 1,020 | 30-5 | 2 | |
| 9. Florida | 996 | 27-5 | 10 | |
| 10. Nebraska | 962 | 26-7 | 7 | |
| 11. Hawaii | 825 | 27-3 | 11 | |
| 12. UCLA | 791 | 23-8 | 13 | |
| 13. BYU | 728 | 28-4 | 12 | |
| 14. Michigan State | 676 | 25-10 | 16 | |
| 15. Iowa State | 650 | 22-8 | 14 | |
| 16. Purdue | 585 | 23-11 | 15 | |
| 17. Kentucky | 504 | 22-11 | 20 | |
| 18. Florida St. | 479 | 28-4 | 18 | |
| 19. Louisville | 389 | 30-4 | 17 | |
| 20. Kansas | 304 | 26-7 | 25 | |
| 21. Western Kentucky | 262 | 33-4 | 21 | |
| 22. Dayton | 229 | 27-5 | 19 | |
| 23. Ohio State | 202 | 23-11 | 22 | |
| 24. Wichita State | 172 | 24-10 | 23 | |
| 25. Creighton | 133 | 29-4 | 24 |
Others Receiving Votes: San Diego 101; North Carolina 68; Pepperdine 65; Illinois 49; Miami (Fla.) 41; Oklahoma 35; Kansas State 32; Long Beach State 30; St. Mary’s (Cal.) 27; Texas A&M 20; Wisconsin 17; California 16; Colorado State 15; Notre Dame 6; San Diego State 6; Northern Iowa 3.
BIG WEST
First-place votes in parenthesis with 2012 conference record:
| SCHOOL | POINTS | RECORD |
| 1. Hawaii (9) | 81 | 18-0 |
| 2. Long Beach State | 72 | 13-5 |
| 3. CSU Northridge | 59 | 12-6 |
| 4. UC Davis | 43 | 11-7 |
| 5. UC Irvine | 40 | 9-9 |
| 6. UC Santa Barbara | 36 | 9-9 |
| 7. CSU Fullerton | 35 | 8-10 |
| 8. Cal Poly | 28 | 3-15 |
| 9. UC Riverside | 11 | 2-16 |
