Another preseason team ranking NCAA top 10

[Stoli]

Women's basketball rankings: Preseason Power 10 for 2021-22 season

Iowa's Caitlin Clark takes us through her 35-point game against Kentucky in the second round of the 2021 NCAA tournament.

www.ncaa.com

2. UConn​

The Huskies haven't hoisted the national trophy since 2016, but bringing back their starting five puts this program in a great position to bring the title back to Storrs. The beauty in last year's roster was that its veteran leadership — Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Evina Westbrook — were only juniors, so they will all return in their last run. Plus, National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers will look to top her impressive freshman season, sweeping the Big East Player and Freshman of the Year awards. Aaliyah Edwards was another star for UConn last season. Her X-factor paired with Bueckers' fire power helped lead the Huskies to the Final Four.

In consecutive years, UConn coach Geno Auriemma is bringing in two top five recruits, including the No. 1 overall recruit — Azzi Fudd, who already has chemistry with Bueckers, and No. 5 Caroline Ducharme. Fudd is Bueckers' long-time best friend and they have played with each other on Team USA. They will make a scary backcourt together.

 

[veryolddog]

I, for one, am excited to begin this season and see how these highly rated players will mesh with this year's team. Certainly, a lot of new and existing talent. Probabilities are good for a winning season and playing for a National Championship. However, there are also bumps in the road. I am glad that Geno has the job of sorting all of this out because the thought of this is overwelming. As usual, what happens in practices will manifest itself on the game floor.

 

[CBus13]

This will be an exciting season. Kind of wild for a defending National Champion to return 12 of 13 players and be a preseason No. 3, but the top 2 are loaded and reloaded. I'd have to agree with majority of the top 10 here. But Oregon and Baylor feel too high considering the questions surrounding both teams.

Maybe Michigan, they just about beat a pretty strong Baylor team, without their starting point guard, and return Hillmon and Brown, and I imagine Dilk is back full time this season. I know they lost all of their Assistant Coaches in the off season, but it's still a strong team.

Maybe Georgia? They bring back Staiti and Morrison for another season with a solid enough supporting cast that's now more seasoned.

Maybe UCLA, they brought in a lot of transfers and still have a strong guard in Osborne to lead them [I know a lot on the board question Close as a coach].


Ready for the season! The cool air mornings aren't helping with my patience for the new season to start.

 

[TheFarmFan]

This will be an exciting season. Kind of wild for a defending National Champion to return 12 of 13 players and be a preseason No. 3, but the top 2 are loaded and reloaded. I'd have to agree with majority of the top 10 here. But Oregon and Baylor feel too high considering the questions surrounding both teams.

Agree with all of this - including that Oregon has some major question marks - and I'd say there's a pretty big drop off after the top few teams. And among those, whoever wins the national championship will be the team that is clutch, lucky, and injury-free in late March and early April, because there's so much talent on all those teams that just a few lucky breaks will probably make the difference. So in my mind, it doesn't really matter to me who is #1 and who is #3 in September. Should be a really fun season given how stacked the big three are.

 

[Happydad745]

Too many question marks in preseason picks....how well a team works together; injuries; who shows up with the big game; and a huge group of unproven freshman, who look great on paper, anything can change when the show starts.

 

[DEpup]

I think Iowa is under valued in this top 10. Agree with others on Baylor being hyped on this list...

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Baylor @ 10? I would have slid in maybe N. Carolina or Tennessee (yea...them). Glad MD was mentioned. They have been overlooked in many a conversation.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I think Iowa is under valued in this top 10. Agree with others on Baylor being hyped on this list...

I would move Iowa to 6 or 7. I'm not sure they are better than Louisville. They can beat them, but they would have to make a lot of deep balls. Louisville is a decent defensive team.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I think you give the Cardinals the nod at #1 with all those returners. They beat SC last year and I don't see any freshman on SC making up for the Cardinal experience. Cardoso is a good post and big for certain, but I need to see more consistency from her...and I'm saying this as a Syracuse Alum. If SC is truly a better team...they need to beat Stanford. If Stanford lost 5 starters or something similar, I could see giving SC the nod. I love Uconn at 3....LURKING.

 

[Vowelguy]

I’d have Ga over Baylor.

 

[huskyd]

Well, I might just get it off my chest: UConn is the best team in the country; it may be the best Husky model evah. The team will win all of its games w/out a serious challenge and raise the NC trophy. It is a group w/out a weakness, buoyed by the additions of Dorka and Azzi. Unstoppable.
And, no, I am not channeling Tony C. Where are you, Tony?

 

[Bigboote]

The defending champions should be #1 unless they graduate a lot and/or there's a team that's clearly better. Neither of those is the case.

That said, I'm with huskyd. I do think UConn is the best team, but not by a lot. And I'm with pretty’s much everyone, Baylor doesn't belong on this list.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think the top 3 are head and shoulders above everyone else, though Maryland is elite on the offensive end. In fact, the rosters for UConn, Stanford, and South Carolina are among their best ever. Lots of talent and lots of depth.

 

[letsgogirls]

I think the top 3 are head and shoulders above everyone else, though Maryland is elite on the offensive end. In fact, the rosters for UConn, Stanford, and South Carolina are among their best ever. Lots of talent and lots of depth.

UConn, Stanford, and South Carolina are all gonna be scary this season! I'm hoping they all make it to the final four so I can see them in person for the first time.

 

[donalddoowop]

A team can have a lot talent and not be one of the top five teams in the country. I believe that UConn will be very good but in no will they go undefeated and not be seriously challenged. Stanford and South Carolina are too talented to not seriously challenge UConn. What weaknesses do they have? UConn has South Carolina on its schedule and I believe will have to play Stanford on the way to winning the NC. I see big time challenges and not just from those two teams.

 

[Drew8]

Iowa and Maryland have the style of a team that can upset anyone, but not likely to win consistently enough because of an average defense and reliance on outside shooting.

 

[triaddukefan]

Baylor @ 10? I would have slid in maybe N. Carolina or Tennessee (yea...them). Glad MD was mentioned. They have been overlooked in many a conversation.

I had to look at that twice. Say what??? The 8th best (?) team in the ACC isn't worthy of a top 10 ranking. They might not even be in the top 4 teams in the state of North Carolina.

 

[jchusky]

gotta say am surprised that Uconn was #2 thought they'd be put 1, no complaints on that list tho. Top 10 seems very accurate. I must admit I did not know much about Indiana as I never see their games on tv and I don't really watch big 10 network, their resume the past few years reeks of Arizona and we saw how they did past year. Might be a team to avoid in the elite 8 if ur a 1

 

[visitingcock]

Can programs be too loaded?

UConn and SCar return pretty much everybody from Final Four teams and both add large classes of major talent with the incoming frosh. Stanford only loses one major asset and has "only" a couple of talented frosh coming in.

Question: Do the incoming frosh disrupt the chemistry that SCar and UConn teams had last March. Would a starter or 6th woman Azzi Fudd disrupt Uconn's chemistry? Would a Rivers disrupt SCar's?

This board has had a lot of discussion about spreading the minutes. Does that have a potential to disrupt chemistry? South Carolina has the two super classes of 2019 and 2021. The 2019 class has been the backbone of the team for the past two years. Does contentiousness develop between the two super classes? Does a veteran who is beloved by her teammates lose many or most of her minutes to Azzi?

Stanford has more flexibility of working a young star like Demetre into the rotation. I don't see how their chemistry will change much.

Can a person be too rich?

(I agree with others questioning Oregon and Baylor. I disagree with those who would put Tennessee in the Top Ten. I predict Georgia as the second best SEC team this year.)

 

[SCspur]

I think Arizona belongs in the top 10 over Baylor and Michigan over Indiana. I like the additions Barnes made with Chavez, Love, and Copeland. Chavez gives them a perimeter shooter, Love an all around versatile playmaker, and Copeland can rebound and score inside. Losing McDonald hurts but I think they’ll be good again with their defense and core returning players along with the newcomers.

As for Michigan they should be very good again this year and will challenge Maryland and Iowa for the Big10 title. They have just about everyone back with Brown, Dilk, Hillmon and has a solid core around them. I think they’ll beat some teams unexpectedly this year.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Louisville will be interesting to watch. From a productivity standpoint, losing Evans is similar to Arizona having to replace McDonald. You could say they have more returning talent than UA does, but it will be a very different team. Who knows, maybe they will actually be better w/ various players taking on bigger roles and not being so dependent on one player. We'll see.

 

[Vowelguy]

Can a person be too rich?

It would be quite a burden to disrupt my life but I humbly volunteer to be the test subject for this experiment.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I think the top 3 are head and shoulders above everyone else, though Maryland is elite on the offensive end. In fact, the rosters for UConn, Stanford, and South Carolina are among their best ever. Lots of talent and lots of depth.

I think Maryland and NC State can hang with the big boys. Duke, Texas, North Carolina, Notre Dame are my sleepers. Oddly...I can't come to a conclusion regarding Louisville. Talent and coaching is there, but I feel something is MISSING.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Louisville will be interesting to watch. From a productivity standpoint, losing Evans is similar to Arizona having to replace McDonald. You could say they have more returning talent than UA does, but it will be a very different team. Who knows, maybe they will actually be better w/ various players taking on bigger roles and not being so dependent on one player. We'll see.

This is an interesting point I was looking at with Louisville (Evans) and Arizona (MacDonald) and who steps in those shoes. I would also add Tennessee and Reina Davis. Those 3 players saved their teams from some L’s. Who steps up in those specific moments. Dana Evan’s owned 4th quarters and saved the Cardinals in several games.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I think Arizona belongs in the top 10 over Baylor and Michigan over Indiana. I like the additions Barnes made with Chavez, Love, and Copeland. Chavez gives them a perimeter shooter, Love an all around versatile playmaker, and Copeland can rebound and score inside. Losing McDonald hurts but I think they’ll be good again with their defense and core returning players along with the newcomers.

As for Michigan they should be very good again this year and will challenge Maryland and Iowa for the Big10 title. They have just about everyone back with Brown, Dilk, Hillmon and has a solid core around them. I think they’ll beat some teams unexpectedly this year.

I’m hoping Michigan will be better if they can figure out their PG spot. Dilk is not a PG. I’m hoping Wiggins steps in as a freshman and takes that spot.