Very preseason 2014-15 Poll!

[Vowelguy]

(my final 2014 ranking in parenthesis)

1. UConn (1) - Lose Dolson & Hartley, but return NPOY Stewart, AA KML, MoJet. Top frosh will provide depth, but return of Tuck key for thin post.
2. UNC (7) - Return everyone from E8 team including Deshields. Probable addition of Aja Wilson gives them dynamite lineup.
3. ND (2) - Lose of McBride & Achonwa huge, but gap between #2 & rest was pretty wide this year. Plus Loyd is superstar, Allen was great as a frosh, and #2 HS Turner will help reload.
4. SC (9) - Return everyone including SEC POY. Top 10 HS class.
5. Tenn (8) - Lose Simmons but return Harrison. Add Massengale back, redshirt Tucker, 2 top 30 HS.
6. Texas (17) - Lose #3 scorer Fussell but return everyone else. Add 2 top 10 HS. Should be tops in B12.
7. Texas A&M (10) - Lose #3 scorer but return everyone else from E8 team.
8. Duke (14) - Lose a bunch of seniors but EWilliams & Wells back + top 5 HS class.

Also:
UCLA (-) - Blockbuster HS class with 3 top 10 kids and 5 in top 35
Cal (-) - Lose Brandon & Jemerigbe but return Boyd & Gray + 2 top 20 HS
USC (-) - Return 7 of top 9 from team that was starting to come together under Cooper
Maryland (4) - Lose Thomas, but return Lexie Brown. Easier road in BiG will help.
Louisville (6) - Big losses but return Hammond & Bria Smith. #3 HS class.
Kentucky (12)- Lose 3 starters but they play a lot of players so ample bench.
DePaul (18) - Return 5 of top 6 from S16 team.

Further down:
Stanford (3), Baylor (5), Ohio St (-), Rutgers (-)

 

[bballnut90]

(my final 2014 ranking in parenthesis)

1. 
   [ ]UConn (1) - Lose Dolson & Hartley, but return NPOY Stewart, AA KML, MoJet. Top frosh will provide depth, but return of Tuck key for thin post.
   [ ]UNC (7) - Return everyone from E8 team including Deshields. Probable addition of Aja Wilson gives them dynamite lineup.
   [ ]ND (2) - Lose of McBride & Achonwa huge, but gap between #2 & rest was pretty wide this year. Plus Loyd is superstar, Allen was great as a frosh, and #2 HS Turner will help reload.
   [ ]SC (9) - Return everyone including SEC POY. Top 10 HS class.
   [ ]Tenn (8) - Lose Simmons but return Harrison. Add Massengale back, redshirt Tucker, 2 top 30 HS.
   [ ]Texas (17) - Lose #3 scorer Fussell but return everyone else. Add 2 top 10 HS. Should be tops in B12.
   [ ]Texas A&M (10) - Lose #3 scorer but return everyone else from E8 team.
   [ ]Duke (14) - Lose a bunch of seniors but EWilliams & Wells back + top 5 HS class.

Also:
UCLA (-) - Blockbuster HS class with 3 top 10 kids and 5 in top 35
Cal (-) - Lose Brandon & Jemerigbe but return Boyd & Gray + 2 top 20 HS
USC (-) - Return 7 of top 9 from team that was starting to come together under Cooper
Maryland (4) - Lose Thomas, but return Lexie Brown. Easier road in BiG will help.
Louisville (6) - Big losses but return Hammond & Bria Smith. #3 HS class.
Kentucky (12)- Lose 3 starters but they play a lot of players so ample bench.
DePaul (18) - Return 5 of top 6 from S16 team.

Further down:
Stanford (3), Baylor (5), Ohio St (-), Rutgers (-)

Nice list. I'd still put ND at 2 considering the players they have returning/coming in. Allen was arguably the top freshman point guard this year, Loyd could be a POY candidate next year, Reimer will be much better next year, and Turner is a top 2 recruit. A&M is a team that could be very, very good next year if they can hit a 3pt shot. All that said, I'd bet good money on another undefeated season for UCONN and a rematch with ND in the Final Four.

 

[msf22b]

I think A&M is going to be right up there.

 

[Vowelguy]

Nice list. I'd still put ND at 2 considering the players they have returning/coming in. Allen was arguably the top freshman point guard this year, Loyd could be a POY candidate next year, Reimer will be much better next year, and Turner is a top 2 recruit. A&M is a team that could be very, very good next year if they can hit a 3pt shot. All that said, I'd bet good money on another undefeated season for UCONN and a rematch with ND in the Final Four.

Ok.
I had them at #2 & UNC at #3 before the Wilson news.

 

[bballnut90]

Ok.
I had them at #2 & UNC at #3 before the Wilson news.

Good point--if Wilson commits it could shake things up. That said, Notre Dame was 25 points better than UNC this year. I don't think the addition of Wilson/loss of McBride and Achonwa makes up that difference, but I understand your perspective.

 

[Vowelguy]

Good point--if Wilson commits it could shake things up. That said, Notre Dame was 25 points better than UNC this year. I don't think the addition of Wilson/loss of McBride and Achonwa makes up that difference, but I understand your perspective.

Frosh-laden team for NC; I figure they'll be a bunch better next year now that they've gotten some experience.

 

[Sonny44]

Hmmm. No respect for Baylor.

 

[Vowelguy]

Hmmm. No respect for Baylor.

A lot of respect for Sims.
You think they should be higher?

 

[Suebird10fan]

Tier 1--uconn ... 3 of the best 5 players in wcbb, the beat goes on
Tier 2--nd, unc ... Probably in that order but if Wilson is TBS good could flip
Tier 3--tn ... Addition by subtraction plus Russell and Carter improve
Tier 4--sc, duke, baylor, stfd in no particular order ... BYers tend to overestimate the impact of a top 5 team losing an AA. Great respect for chiney and odyssey but their teammates will return to e8.

 

[Bayareahusky]

I have more confidence in Muffet's ability to coach B Turner than I had for Holly and Coach P with Mercedes and Williams..... and ND returns Loyd, who is incredible.... and the rest of the entourage.... I expect them to be right there....

How good is Wilson? Dunno..... but everyone expects #1 recruits to be instant game changers, and typically they take a bit of time to settle in..... we will see

 

[bballnut90]

Tier 1--uconn ... 3 of the best 5 players in wcbb, the beat goes on
Tier 2--nd, unc ... Probably in that order but if Wilson is TBS good could flip
Tier 3--tn ... Addition by subtraction plus Russell and Carter improve
Tier 4--sc, duke, baylor, stfd in no particular order ... BYers tend to overestimate the impact of a top 5 team losing an AA. Great respect for chiney and odyssey but their teammates will return to e8.

I think Stanford/Baylor will struggle next year. Stanford doesn't have an All-American caliber player--something they'll be without for the first time in 15 years (since 2001 they've had Powell/Wiggins/Appel/Pohlen/Ogwumike/Ogwumike) and I don't think they have the talent to keep up with some other teams, plus the Pac-12 is getting stronger and stronger.

Baylor will plummet without Sims in my opinion. As good as Davis was this year, I'm not sold on the fact that she'll transition well into a go to player for Baylor. Mulkey is a good coach but I don't think they have the horses to get past the Sweet 16 next year.

 

[pvdoggy]

I have more confidence in Muffet's ability to coach B Turner than I had for Holly and Coach P with Mercedes and Williams..... and ND returns Loyd, who is incredible.... and the rest of the entourage.... I expect them to be right there....

How good is Wilson? Dunno..... but everyone expects #1 recruits to be instant game changers, and typically they take a bit of time to settle in..... we will see

B Turner is the Gatorade Girl BB POY for this year, and she outplayed Wilson at the McDonald AA
game as far as I remember. ND is going to be right there again. Don't know about NC even if they
sign Wilson even though I think Deshields is super athletic and not really selfish as people here say.

 

[Sonny44]

I haven't seen any indication that AW performed well in that game. Of course it was an exhibition, but I still expected more.

 

[Suebird10fan]

I think Stanford/Baylor will struggle next year. Stanford doesn't have an All-American caliber player--something they'll be without for the first time in 15 years (since 2001 they've had Powell/Wiggins/Appel/Pohlen/Ogwumike/Ogwumike) and I don't think they have the talent to keep up with some other teams, plus the Pac-12 is getting stronger and stronger.

Baylor will plummet without Sims in my opinion. As good as Davis was this year, I'm not sold on the fact that she'll transition well into a go to player for Baylor. Mulkey is a good coach but I don't think they have the horses to get past the Sweet 16 next year.

Most of the BY doubted that Baylor could be a top 10 team this year without Griner and look what happened. The gulf between a F4 (or F4 caliber) team and a #15 or #20 team is larger than folks appreciate. That's why a top 5 team losing one player, no matter how good, usually doesn't have as much impact as expected. This year Stanford and Baylor are also helped by the fact that a lot of teams will be down next year.

 

[Vowelguy]

Most of the BY doubted that Baylor could be a top 10 team this year without Griner and look what happened. .

Baylor still had Sims to carry them. They have no great player left. Nor does Stanford.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Baylor still had Sims to carry them. They have no great player left. Nor does Stanford.

You don't need a great player to be in top 8. But Orrange and Nina Davis are darned good.

 

[jsloanjr]

Good job, IMO, UCONN exposed Loyd by not letting her get to her comfort spots and the more athletic and longer UCONN team. Against the ACC teams, she will be a super star. But against an elite team like UCONN, she will need to change her game a little...She is a tremdous talent and she will learn not to challenge the tall trees inside.....

 

[UcMiami]

Most of the BY doubted that Baylor could be a top 10 team this year without Griner and look what happened. The gulf between a F4 (or F4 caliber) team and a #15 or #20 team is larger than folks appreciate. That's why a top 5 team losing one player, no matter how good, usually doesn't have as much impact as expected. This year Stanford and Baylor are also helped by the fact that a lot of teams will be down next year.

The teams that tend to surprise when losing an AA do so because they played great team ball and had other AAs or players that were on their way to that status. Baylor lost a boat load last year and lived and died with Sims providing between her scoring and assists around 50% of the offense and another 25 percent came from rebounding Sims misses that was made a lot easier because she had drawn two or more defenders to her. The same can be said for Stanford and their success this year - Chiney got so much defensive attention from opponents that she made life much easier for the other players - when they played Uconn who could guard her straight up, the whole team struggled. They will be fine because they have good coaches, but I will really surprised if either team really challenges for a FF.
I think Rutgers could surprise - after years of being incapable of the most essential thing in basketball - putting the ball through the hoop - they seem to have solved that issue this year. Give CVS another year to get them to buy into her defense and they could easily climb into that third tier of S16 E8 contenders.

 

[Ctpaul0825]

I'll go with my top 5 coaches and rank them this way for National Championship contendors.

1. Geno
2. Muffet
3. Mulkey
4. Waltz
5. Blair

Unprovens, Staley-Hatchell-Warlick..............

 

[triaddukefan]

I'll go with my top 5 coaches and rank them this way for National Championship contendors.

1. Geno
2. Muffet
3. Mulkey
4. Waltz
5. Blair

Unprovens, Staley-Hatchell-Warlick....

Hatchell unproven ???

 

[Vowelguy]

I'll go with my top 5 coaches and rank them this way for National Championship contendors.

4. Waltz

Dont forget Jitterbug. He's a good coach too. Not as good as Polka & Waltz though.

 

[Ctpaul0825]

I stand Corrected, Hatchell has been there 3x and won 1x

 

[UcMiami]

Hatchell unproven ???

I think 'unproven' in the sense of 'within the context of the modern era of WCBB where simply putting talent on the floor and letting them run is likely not enough.' You need to teach defense and good half court offense to get to the top unless you have absolutely the best talent on the floor.

 

[Vowelguy]

I stand Corrected, Hatchell has been there 3x and won 1x

Which makes her just 1 of 7 active coaches with an NC.
(Geno x9, Mulkey x2, Tara x2, Muffet, Frese, Blair, Hatchell)

 

[easttexastrash]

I have to put Baylor in the top 10. They showed several times that they could compete without Sims on the floor. I am hopeful that Prince returns and is able to have a full season, but who knows. With Prince in the lineup, Baylor will have a very nice group of guards to use: Johnson, Prince, Small, and Wright. Davis will continue to improve, as will the post group of Agbuke, Cave and Higgins. I am also hopeful that #40 ranked Dekeiya Cohen will be a good one.

Of course, the loss of Chandler is going to hurt a lot.