AP Preseason Poll Thread - Revisited

[UConnCat]

[Note: This is the thread from last October, revisited with new posts. - JS]

1. Baylor (33)
2. Notre Dame (6)
3. Tennessee
4. UConn
5. Stanford
6. Texas A&M (1)
7. Miami
8. Duke
9. Louisville
10. Georgetown
11. Maryland
12. Penn State
13. Georgia
14. Florida State
15. Oklahoma
16. Rutgers
17. Purdue
18. Kentucky
19. DePaul
20. North Carolina
21. LSU
22. UCLA
23. So California
24. Texas
25. St John's

• 4 Big East Teams in the Top 10
• 7 Big East teams in the Top 25.
• UConn plays 12 teams in Top 25
• UConn plays 8 games against Top 10 (counting ND 2X)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...5F_9aw?docId=5b683ea6a3184b9090838c5dc084820f

 

[MilfordHusky]

Not too surprising. I'd have UConn at 2, then Stanford, Tennessee, and ND.

But I like our kids being #4. KML and the others did not go to UConn to be 4, 3, or even 2.

 

[alexrgct]

Id consider finishing as one of the top four teams a pretty successful season for this UConn squad.

Baylor and ND figure to play early this season. That will be a huge early game for both teams. Don't think ND has any answer at all for Griner, so they better be lights out shooting.

 

[VAMike23]

I did have us at #4, but I had Tenn and Stanford flipped (#3 vs. #5) compared to AP. I also had Miami and Duke flipped (#7 vs. #8). I'll bet most of the major polls are pretty close this year. We shall see

 

[UConnCat]

Great thing about this season will be games between Top 10 teams in November and December. This poll will change early and often.

Tenn v Miami
UConn v Stanford
Notre Dame v Baylor (expected in WNIT finals)
Tenn v Baylor
Duke v Notre Dame (expected Bahamas)
UConn v Texas A&M
UConn v Baylor
Tenn v Stanford
Georgetown v Miami

Others ?

 

[connboy77]

Still say that UCONN should be #2 followed by ND, Stanford, Duke, and Tennessee at #6.

 

[Vowelguy]

UConn plays 8 games against Top 10 (counting ND 2X)

WOW.

 

[Vowelguy]

LOL - The 2 CT voters put Tenn ahead of UConn; the 2 TN voters put UConn ahead of Tenn.

 

[EricLA]

UCONN always has one of the toughest schedules. Geno schedules the best because he is the best. the last few years, UCONN has played the toughest schedule. this year will be no different...

 

[semper]

Tenn should not be no. 3.

 

[MilfordHusky]

LOL - The 2 CT voters put Tenn ahead of UConn; the 2 TN voters put UConn ahead of Tenn.

Very interesting, indeed. I'm not quite sure what it says other than both teams have some question marks.

 

[Dawson]

Ok, now I'm offically way too excited for the start of the season. It's great to have another top 5 ranking, and to be on the precipice of such a competitive season. Can't wait to see what our amazing freshman class can do!

 

[intlzncster]

Id consider finishing as one of the top four teams a pretty successful season for this UConn squad. Baylor and ND figure to play early this season. That will be a huge early game for both teams. Don't think ND has any answer at all for Griner, so they better be lights out shooting.

Some disparate thoughts (excuse the lack of grammar):

• I'm not sure it's that difficult to finish Top 4 imo (talking regular season here). Stanford, and TN are the only true competition for that spot. I'm not even sold on ND being better than us.
• TN with a freshman PG. Still uncertain regarding injuries, if past results are taken into account. Questions with how Simmons will integrate at the two guard. Are they a team? Offensively, I question if this is so.

(cont'd below because of stupid character limit...)

 

[intlzncster]

• Stanford lost their best (read: most important) player imo from last year in Pohlen, who was also their emotional/spiritual leader. They lost a ton of experience and outside scoring as well (Pohlen, Pederson). They lose the Pederson mismatch which was huge in matching up against other teams. Can Nneka or some of their lesser perimeter players step up in the leadership front?
• Regarding ND, the results last year did not indicate (3-1 in favor of UConn) that ND was the superior team. I feel the NCAA run was ND getting hot at the right time (not even mentioning the foul situation in our last match up). We've added significant perimeter defense with Banks and Doty, in addition to much more experience at the point (between Doty and Bria). Depth in the post too. I think those were our biggest weaknesses against ND. Yes we lost the great Maya Moore, but we've become a much more balanced (key), talented team overall. We were just so thin last year, and that is what killed us.

(cont'd below because of stupid character limit...)

 

[intlzncster]

• This team does have a lot of questions, but I do not think said questions are that difficult to answer (if that makes sense). I personally believe this team will be better than people think, but of course, that has to play out on the court.

 

[intlzncster]

UCONN always has one of the toughest schedules. Geno schedules the best because he is the best. the last few years, UCONN has played the toughest schedule. this year will be no different...

Don't tell Tenn fans...

 

[Justavisitor]

Great thing about this season will be games between Top 10 teams in November and December. This poll will change early and often.

Tenn v Miami
UConn v Stanford
Notre Dame v Baylor (expected in WNIT finals)
Tenn v Baylor
Duke v Notre Dame (expected Bahamas)
UConn v Texas A&M
UConn v Baylor
Tenn v Stanford
Georgetown v Miami

Others ?

Notre Dame vs. KY (not a top 10 team, but could be interesting game since KY won it last year)
TN vs. Notre Dame (not until late Jan, but could have significant impact on tourney brackets)
UConn vs. UNC (not a top 10 team, but could also be an interesting Jan. game)
Stanford vs. Texas (not a top 10 team, but could be interesting due to it being the first game of the season for a very young Stanford backcourt)
Tex A&M vs. Louisville (2nd game of the season for defending champs minus Colson and Adams)
Maryland vs. Gtwn (2nd game of the season. While not top 5 ranked teams, both teams (#11 and #10 have the ability to climb the rankings)

 

[Sonny44]

Don't tell Tenn fans...

To be the best you have to play the best.
The only ranking that counts comes after the NCAA tournament; UCONN #1.

 

[Vowelguy]

With dates attached ...

NOV15 -- #7 Miami @ #3 Tenn
NOV15 -- #9 Louisville @ #6 Tx A&M
NOV20 -- #2 Notre Dame v #1 Baylor (expected in WNIT finals)
NOV21 -- #5 Stanford @ #4 UConn
NOV27 -- #1 Baylor @ #3 Tenn
Duke v Notre Dame (expected Bahamas)
DEC06 -- #6 Tx A&M @ #4 UConn
DEC18 -- #4 UConn @ #1 Baylor
DEC20 -- #3 Tenn @ #5 Stanford
DEC21 -- #7 Miami @ #10 Georgetown

------------------------------
Top10 vs other top 25:

11/11: #5 Stanford @ #24 Texas
11/13: #10 G'town @ #11 Maryland
11/16: #10 G'town @ #16 LSU
11/25: #23 USC v #2 ND
11/25: #9 Louisville @ #14 Fla St.
11/26: #10 G'town vs #13 Georgia
12/1: #17 Purdue @ #8 Duke
12/4: #24 Texas @ #3 Tenn
12/4: #9 Louisville @ #18 Kentucky
12/4: #6 Tx A&M @ #17 Purdue
12/10: #2 ND @ #17 Purdue
12/11: #19 Depaul v #3 Tenn
12/11: #1 Baylor @ #25 St John's
12/13: #3 Tenn @ #16 RU
12/17: #3 Tenn @ #22 UCLA
12/18: #18 Kentucky @ #2 ND
12/18: #23 USC @ #6 TX A&M
12/29: #5 Stanford @ #23 USC
12/31: #5 Stanford @ #22 UCLA

 

[doggydaddy]

UCONN always has one of the toughest schedules. Geno schedules the best because he is the best. the last few years, UCONN has played the toughest schedule. this year will be no different...

Spot on Eric. Tennessee used to have that distinction and well earned. Their schedule in the past has been FAR better than anyone elses. Almost too difficult.

As you said, UConn has had the toughest over the last couple of years. This year appears to be the same story.

Tennessee and UConn both have 13 games against top 25 teams. But Tennessee has only 4 games against top 10 teams while UConn plays 8 games against top 10 teams.

 

[UConnCat]

Thanks Vowelguy. That's a nice lineup of Top 25 match-ups in Nov and Dec before conference play kicks off. We know that once January rolls around, UConn will be really tested against Big East teams and of course against Duke and, to a lesser extent, Oklahoma and North Carolina.

 

[UConnCat]

Their schedule in the past has been FAR better than anyone elses. Almost too difficult.

As you said, UConn has had the toughest over the last couple of years. This year appears to be the same story.

Agreed. And I know I'm a broken record on this point, but UConn continues to schedule challenging OOC games in the middle of its conference schedule. As far as I know, UConn is the only team that has scheduled 3 OOC games in the middle of conference play. All 3 games are on Monday nights following Saturday conference games and 2 of the 3 are on the road this year. Excellent preparation for the tournament.

Notre Dame and Tennessee play each other in mid-January, though according to Muffet the original plan was to play the game in Dec until ESPN stepped in to make in a Big Monday game. Muffet says she doesn't like to schedule OOC games during conference play.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I agree with Intl. I usually agree with Alex, but I think he's being too cautious here. If we are ranked 4 going into the NCAAs, I'll be disappointed. I think for us to be as low as 6, we would have to have major problems and issues.

We have a very tough schedule, but we have Geno and no one else does. I think Tiff will be great, Kelly will be even more reliable, Bria and Stef will be among the best in the country, and Kaleena may be the best player on the team. It's still early, and I may reconsider after the Stanford or Baylor game, but I think Geno is building another juggernaut. Will they be NC ready this year? Not sure. Next year, they will be WNBA ready.

 

[Coler]

I personally can't wait until the 12/13 game between Tenn & Rutgers at the RAC. It's gonna be good!

 

[doggydaddy]

I agree with Intl. I usually agree with Alex, but I think he's being too cautious here. If we are ranked 4 going into the NCAAs, I'll be disappointed. I think for us to be as low as 6, we would have to have major problems and issues.

We have a very tough schedule, but we have Geno and no one else does. I think Tiff will be great, Kelly will be even more reliable, Bria and Stef will be among the best in the country, and Kaleena may be the best player on the team. It's still early, and I may reconsider after the Stanford or Baylor game, but I think Geno is building another juggernaut. Will they be NC ready this year? Not sure. Next year, they will be WNBA ready.

THAT is "reason"? I'm sure there are many posters here that would think you are posting "pie in the sky" stuff.

That being said, I totally agree with you. I would add that I am of the mind that Doty will contribute 20+ minutes a game, between Buck, Johnson and Stokes, the backup for the 4/5 when Uconn needs to go big will be handled well, and Banks will give KML a run for BE FOY.