Given how ardently I've rooted for Connecticut, it's really hard to imagine. But if I try, I'd root for an underdog. So Princeton and their UConn alumna coach. I'd like to see them break out.
I'm always partial to the way UConn plays basketball, which reminds me so much of the greatest Dean Smith teams at North Carolina. It is difficult for me to admit, but when they're "on," the team that most plays like Coach Geno-coached teams is Notre Dame. I have an antipathy to MM. But her teams play a fine game of basketball.
Were there no UConn, I think it would be very interesting to follow Oregon. They've come out of nowhere to produce three of the top eight players selected in the WNBA draft. That's reminiscent of the great teams at UConn that included Sue Bird and others. I would like to see how they follow the Ionesco Era. Now they've recruited about half a dozen kids, all of whom are the best in their respective states. It will be interesting to see if they have established themselves on the top rung of WCBB.
There are the two great recruiter teams: Baylor and South Carolina. But I'm not all that enamored of their style of play. They manage to attract great raw talent, especially dominating bigs, and their coaches apply that talent effectively to win games. But they do not play with the panache, the aesthetic pleasure of Geno Auriemma teams. Just mostly raw power.
But I'll stick with Connecticut...
