BY Poll: What's YOUR top 10?

[Vowelguy]

Last year I did a BY preseason poll. The consensus pick was of course UConn. Followed by Duke, ND, MD, Tenn, Stan, Lou, KY, Cal, UNC.

Reviewing the ballots at the end of the year JOHNNYC and SVETBIRD did the best. Kudos!

Let's do it again. Give me your top 10, plus your next 5 in any order.

Here's mine:

1. UConn
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4. Tennessee
5. Texas
6. Texas A&M
7. North Carolina
8. Cal
9. Kentucky
10. Maryland

Next 5: DePaul, Louisville, Stanford, Baylor, Michigan St

 

[stwainfan]

1 UConn
2 Notre Dame
3 Tennessee
4 South Carolina
5 Texas A&M
6 Maryland
7 North Carolina
8 Texas
9 Baylor
10 Kentucky

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

My picks:
1. UCONN
2. SoCar
3. ND
4. TXa&m
5. TX
6. TN
7. CAL
8. NoCar
9. Mich.St.
10. Baylor
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MD, L'ville, Stanford, DePaul, KY

 

[johnnyc]

01. UConn
02. SC
03. ND
04. Texas A&M
05. Baylor
06. Tenn
07. West Virginia
08. Texas
09. NC
10. Maryland

 

[bballnut90]

1. Uconn
2. Notre Dame
3. South Carolina
4. Texas A&M
5. North Carolina
6. Tennessee
7. Kentucky
8. Texas
9. Maryland
10. Michigan State

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

1) UCONN
2) South Carolina
3) Tennessee
4) Maryland
5) Texas A&M
6) North Carolina
7) Maryland
8) Louisville
9) Kentucky
10) Stanford

 

[Sonny44]

I agree with all of these.

 

[easttexastrash]

1) UCONN
2) South Carolina
3) Tennessee
4) Maryland
5) Texas A&M
6) North Carolina
7) Maryland
8) Louisville
9) Kentucky
10) Stanford

Notre Dame is not in your top 10?

 

[Bayareahusky]

I do not agree with SC at #2..... they have yet to bring it..... and if handicapping and promise were measuring sticks of accuracy, then Elizabeth Williams and Mercedes Russell would have already brought their teams to the Promised Land....... Also, I must say Tenn at 3 or 4 seems too high for me...... I still do not think they will end up following Holly's direction..... at least by midseason I see a disjointed nucleus there.

 

[Vowelguy]

I do not agree with SC at #2..... they have yet to bring it..... and if handicapping and promise were measuring sticks of accuracy, then Elizabeth Williams and Mercedes Russell would have already brought their teams to the Promised Land.. Also, I must say Tenn at 3 or 4 seems too high for me. I still do not think they will end up following Holly's direction..... at least by midseason I see a disjointed nucleus there.

And your top 10 is ... ?

 

[Orangutan]

Notre Dame is not in your top 10?

Given that Maryland is in there twice, I'm guessing one of those is supposed to be ND.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

There are really 3 groups:
1. UCONN
--------------------------------------------
2. SoCar
3. ND
4. TX a&m
--------------------------------------------
5. TX
6. TN
7. CAL
8. NoCar
9. Mich. St.
10. Baylor
MD, L'ville, Stanford, DePaul, KY
----------------------------------------------
After UCONN each group can change among the group, #2, #3, #4 for example can windup in any order.
The 3rd group, #5 to #15 can windup in any order.
There is a clear difference between groups 1, 2, and 3.

 

[bballnut90]

There are really 3 groups:
1. UCONN
--------------------------------------------
2. SoCar
3. ND
4. TX a&m
--------------------------------------------
5. TX
6. TN
7. CAL
8. NoCar
9. Mich. St.
10. Baylor
MD, L'ville, Stanford, DePaul, KY
----------------------------------------------
After UCONN each group can change among the group, #2, #3, #4 for example can windup in any order.
The 3rd group, #5 to #15 can windup in any order.
There is a clear difference between groups 1, 2, and 3.

I'm thinking the groups will be:
1. UCONN
2. Notre Dame
3. Everyone else 3-10

If you look at women's basketball from 2012-2014, here were the group breakdowns:
2012:
1. Baylor
2. Stanford, Notre Dame, UCONN
3. Everyone else

2013:
1. Baylor/UCONN/Notre Dame
2. Everyone else

2014:
1. UCONN
2. Notre Dame
3. Everyone else

Notre Dame is coming off an incredible season where they entered the title game 37-0 against the #4 schedule in the country. 35/37 wins were won by double digits and they were clearly a cut above everyone in the nation not named UCONN. They still have a LOT of talent in Loyd, Allen, Mabrey, Reimer, etc. and they bring in an impact recruit in Turner. McGraw is one of the top coaches in the nation, I just don't see a team like South Carolina who didn't have any strong wins and badly underperformed in the NCAA tournament competing with the juggernaut that is Notre Dame. USC lost to North Carolina twice last year, the same team that was throttled by Notre Dame. I don't see Notre Dame putting together another undefeated run heading into the title game, but I still think they strongly cement themselves as the 2nd best team in the nation.

 

[EricLA]

I tend to agree with the Tennessee poster (OMG I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...!). No disrespect meant to any of the other teams, but only UCONN and ND have not only "been there" before, but also bring back a ton, and bring a ton in.

Tennessee has lost Russell for the year (they still do have a lot). SC had a cream puff schedule and backed into the 1 seed only to get blown out by UNC and severely under-perform in the NCAA's. L'ville lost a lot in Schimmell and they have no one to replace her. UNC lost Deshields. aTm, Texas, Cal and Baylor are teams on the rise. Hard to know what to expect from them. It's going to be an interesting season, but I'd be surprised to see anyone besides ND and UCONN in the NC game.

As for the other teams in the final 4, at this point I really have no idea. Too many unknowns...

 

[alexrgct]

I'd also be inclined to think Texas has a shot at the top 10, but isn't Imani Stafford still at risk due to surgery on her tibia? If so, it hurts their chances significantly...

And yes, I could have the entire list 1-10 being UConn, with the next five being UConn as well. Sometimes, I don't post just for the "likes", though.

 

[Orangutan]

There, I gave you one whether you "like" it or not.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Vowelguy.... I don't profess to be an expert on the full rankings..... that is partly because I am a skeptic of the depth of WCBB...... I just do not think it is that competitive and hence that interesting after #5 or 6...... the chance for a Belmont to trip up a Duke as happened in last years mens tourney could never happen in WCBB...... and even when a mammoth upset does come like a louisville over Baylor couple of years back ,... they shot some astronomical percentage...... ...... on the top of the rankings.....though..... I see ND as #2..... they just have shown it in practice too much the last several years..... SC would have 4 or 5...... and I would have LVille and KY up there because largely of coaching..... Stanford for kinda the same reason..... and what about Duke..... the recruits have to show their mettle at some point...... I would pick all these guys before I ever would pick Cal or any of the Texas teams..... oh yes Tenn I forgot.... maybe #6 would be a good projection..... I just do not see them in the upper echelon yet..... all depends on Holly I think.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Notre Dame is not in your top 10?

I meant to put them at 4th.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I tend to agree with the Tennessee poster (OMG I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...!). No disrespect meant to any of the other teams, but only UCONN and ND have not only "been there" before, but also bring back a ton, and bring a ton in.

Tennessee has lost Russell for the year (they still do have a lot). SC had a cream puff schedule and backed into the 1 seed only to get blown out by UNC and severely under-perform in the NCAA's. L'ville lost a lot in Schimmell and they have no one to replace her. UNC lost Deshields. aTm, Texas, Cal and Baylor are teams on the rise. Hard to know what to expect from them. It's going to be an interesting season, but I'd be surprised to see anyone besides ND and UCONN in the NC game.

As for the other teams in the final 4, at this point I really have no idea. Too many unknowns...

USC didn't lose anyone off last season's team (except for 1 senior who seldom played) and added the number 2 class, including the number 1 player. Yes, I think they'll be special this year.

 

[EricLA]

USC didn't lose anyone off last season's team (except for 1 senior who seldom played) and added the number 2 class, including the number 1 player. Yes, I think they'll be special this year.

That's really super great. Seriously. SC should be a good team. Problem is, they just weren't that good last year. I get that they bring everyone back and I can see why their fans are enthused. In a way, and I'm going to use this as an extreme example, it's like saying Delaware was going to be great last year because they had 5 juniors coming back and all were going to be seniors. I understand that it's not an exact example, but my point is just because you bring everyone back does not make you a great team.

Cream puff schedule is actually an insult to cream puffs. The only legit top 10 team they played all year was Tennessee and they lost. Lost to UNC twice. Lost to aTm. Beat teams like Wintrop by 8, Arkansas by 4, Mississippi State by 7, Georgia by 11, and Auburn by 6. In the NCAA's they "squeaked" past CS Northridge, a 16 seed, by 15. Oregon State was an 11 point win. Most of those relatively close games were against teams that did not even sniff anywhere near the top 25.

Seriously, there was nothing impressive about HOW they beat teams last year. Sure the record was terrific. But I don't feel the TEAM is impressive. And those examples I used are not outliers. It's not like had one "bad" game. There were tons of them that a final 4, or elite 8, team should simply not have. Even some of the UCONN fans on our board have bought into the hype of SC - probably because they backed into a 1 seed and had a terrific record last year. Smoke and mirrors IMHO.

And they simply have no one even close as good as Jefferson, Stewart or KML. Seriously - not even close. Honestly, I'd be utterly shocked if they lose to UCONN by less than 20-25. They simply have no one who can match up with UCONN's big 3. And Ibiam and Coates are going to be in for a rude awakening when they go up against Stokes.

Now I get that you will totally disagree. It's your right of course. But this year you have another cream puff schedule. Duke and UCONN are the only potential top 25 teams outside of who they face in their conference. Some big'ish name schoolsl (USC, Clemson, SDSU, Syracuse and Wisconsin) but none of those will be top 25 schools (with the exception of USC who I think is barely in the top 25 at the moment, or just outside of it)...

Go out and schedule Baylor, Maryland, Notre Dame, Louisville, Stanford, etc. and then see how you look. I'd be surprised if your team loses by less than 10 to Tennessee.

 

[bbsamjj]

um... Tiffany Mitchell was an All American last year. And even if you think Jefferson is better than her, you don't think she can cause problems for the team?

And please tell me why Stokes, who has proven nothing as a starter, will be a "rude awakening" to Ibiam and Coates, who combined averaged 21ppg and 14.5rpg last year.

 

[EricLA]

um... Tiffany Mitchell was an All American last year. And even if you think Jefferson is better than her, you don't think she can cause problems for the team?

And please tell me why Stokes, who has proven nothing as a starter, will be a "rude awakening" to Ibiam and Coates, who combined averaged 21ppg and 14.5rpg last year.

Um because Stokes was the backup and a better defender than Dolson in limited minutes. She's a much better athlete than Dolson and stronger too. That is my point. People like you who say "Stokes has proven nothing as a starter" - if the post players from SC have that 'tude as well, they will be in for a rude awakening. You seem to be under the delusion that because Stokes did not start last year, she's not that good.

I'm guessing Mitchell is the 2G, so I will gladly give her the nod in head to head over Nurse, Williams, Chong, or whoever UCONN starts as their 2G. But Moriah is going to be spectacular this year. But glad you cherry picked my post and completely ignored how, with all that "talent", SC managed to squeak past a bunch of teams who ranged from average to bad. Even at the end of the season, beating the 16 seed by 15 points, and the 8/9 seed by 11? And by the way, Jefferson was one of 5 finalists for the Lieberman award, which was ultimately, and deservedly so, won by Sims. IMHO, Jefferson is the odds-on favorite to win it this year. As a junior. Yeah, she's that good.

At the very least I'd put UCONN, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Baylor ahead of SC. It wouldn't surprise me if aTm, and maybe a few others ended up better them when all is said and done. As several have pointed out, after UCONN and ND, there is a pretty substantial drop off. SC gets a chance to play Duke so there is that to compare...

 

[sivad40]

USC didn't lose anyone off last season's team (except for 1 senior who seldom played) and added the number 2 class, including the number 1 player. Yes, I think they'll be special this year.

The freshman class, A'ja Wilson in particular, is the primary reason the Gamecocks think they can make a deep run in the NCAAT. Wilson has the potential to be an automatic mismatch for opposing teams. From what I've seen of her so far, she's more a finesse 4 than the 3 that she considers herself to be.

Can this freshmen class put USC over the top? They struggled against the pace of uptempo teams, was a mediocre 3pt shooting team, and had trouble spacing the floor. None of thse freshmen comes in with the reputation of being a good 3pt shooter, and Dawn needs to adjust her in game coaching to correct the other two problems.

 

[UConnCat]

1. UConn
2. ND
3. Texas A&M
4. SCarolina
5. Baylor
6. Tenn
7. Texas
8. Maryland
9. North Carolina
10. UCLA

 

[ochoopsfan]

1) UConn
2) Notre Dame
3) South Carolina
4) North Carolina
5) Oregon State
6) Gonzaga
7) Fresno State
8) Butler
9) Georgia
10) Yale

1-5 are my top picks. After that I think I have a bunch of Dogs.