Athletic ranks UCONN as #13?!

[Big12wbbFan]

Virginia Tech and Indiana didn't make the list and I think they could be really good. Oregon got no love but I actually think in their case less may be more this season. I also think they have 2 really good freshman coming in who should be able to contribute right away. I'm sortve surprised how cool ppl are on Baylor. They did bring in two of the better forwards in the SEC. I think they had decent guard play last season and I think if Van Gytenbek gets minutes she will contribute.

I think UConn's depth even though they lost a lot this off season is somewhat underrated. I get it's only ten ppl total but everyone can really play. I think Lou, Amari, and Aubrey (if healthy) are starters. The two freshman r probably that caliber as well

 

[Big12wbbFan]

I am also surprised rankings for Baylor are so low. They are returning some very good players and as you said they got 2 excellent forwards from the portal.

I am also surprised Texas is being ranked so high after losing Allen-Taylor, Ebo, Warren and Matharu. They got some good players in portal but one of them, Taylor, is coming off of major injury. Texas may end up being great but I think there are definitely some unanswered questions about this year’s team.

 

[socal613ws]

I agree. If Caitlin Clark suffered an injury comparable to what Paige has, Iowa’s season would be ruined. They’d probably end up with a losing record. By contrast, even without Paige, we’ll probably end up with 30 wins or more.

yes usually a team that has 5+ top 10 recruits will do well over a team who prob has 0 top 100 recruits on their roster.

 

[jdote33]

This is definitely clickbait. I've seen lists in different categories such as music and movies where someone purposely omit something so they can get clicks on their twitter or Instagram pages

Also, there is no way Maryland is 8th. They have no post players and also trying to incorporate 9 new players on the team.
NC State is way better than #14. UConn will drop some because of Bueckers but not that far.

I was just looking at Maryland's roster and you're right in a lot of ways. In the Big ten, when you have to face Czinano, Holmes, and Markowski, they really are in a need of atleast one traditional big. I also think it is hard to incorporate 9 new players. On the other hand, I think they are super talented. It is the age old question for some of the transfers, how they will adjust from being the focal point on a lesser talented roster to joining a stacked roster in a tougher conference. But they picked up some really versatile players. Kubek from Townson moves like a guard and shoots comfortably from the outside. Then on the flip side Brinae Alexender is sort of like Owusu because she can bring the ball up like a point, but post up when she has a size mismatch. Most of their transfers are upper classmen who really haven't won much (respectfully) so I'd imagine that they will buy in. If they are winning I could see them being a really fun team who plays a lot of players and everyone contributes. If they struggle (and they do have a tough OOC schedule with some heavy hitters early) I can see them being a team with the a lot of players frustrated about their limited opportunities.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think Texas is for real and Indiana is clearly underated. Indiana might win the big 10 over Iowa.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think Texas is for real and Indiana is clearly underated. Indiana might win the big 10 over Iowa.

I like Indiana too. They lost some important pieces who had been with the team for a long time. They picked up some good ones too. But mainly Terri Moran is an excellent coach. She’s been building a program, not just a team. This is her biggest challenge yet, putting the team together after losing so many key players. If she can pull it off and return to the tournament, it will strengthen her recruiting hand. She could make it a lot harder for Geno to recruit players like Ayanna, KK, and Ashlynn in the future.

As for Texas, Vic has always coached a scrappy style of play, and they still have a core of the scrappiest kids around. They don’t have much size, but with Harmon at the point most teams still have something to fear from them.

 

[Longtime fan]

Why does it matter?? It's not where you start. It's where you end.

"What does it matter??" That is the correct and appropriate answer.

 

[Alydar]

Click bait or total ignorance. Probably some of both.

Hypothetical: Boston is out for the season. Where is SCar ranked at the start? Remember, UConn finished 2nd in the country last year, losing in the final with a heavily damaged roster. I'd guess 2nd or third, behind Stanford & someone else.

UConn is by far the most popular team on social media so anything that has #UConn attached is read a lot. I can see the season's storyline already. How a talent-poor roster of role players rallied behind their fallen champion and over-achieved their way to another FF. The truth is that the UConn roster minus Bueckers is still among the most talented in the country. Talent+motivation+coaching= a title contender.

 

[Bone Dog]

SC without Boston would fall further than that. She's at least as important to them as Paige is to us. Either we shouldn't fall so far, or they would have to fall at least as far.

 

[Alydar]

I doubt the author could list just the transfers in for the top 10. There have to be 100 tranfers in the top 25, so how can anyone rank teams right now? Sure, I can name 30 teams and get 20-24 of the preseason top 25 but where they fall among themselves is guesswork. Look at Creighton. Elite 8, which means they were top 16 in the country. They beat a couple of NCAA regulars from P5 schools and lost to the eventual champs. They get everyone back. They'll get maybe 35 votes at most from the AP while Kentucky will be top 25. I doubt the author ever heard of Creighton.

As far as it being a meaningless exercise I see mine will be post No 60. Every discussion in August is meaningless speculation but when that's all you have to talk about then .....

 

[KingKong139]

You need to consider the source. Chantel Jennings never played basketball or college sports of any kind. Her undergraduate degree from MI is in Spanish & English, not journalism She was the ESPN stringer in MI for several years before they let her go, covering football, MBB & WBB. After ESPN let her go she secured a fellowship at MI, her alma mater. About a year ago, the Athletic hired her to cover the W and college basketball.

Ya this is a terrible take. You don’t need to play in college to have an expertise in it. Just ask Mike McDaniel…

 

[oldude]

Ya this is a terrible take. You don’t need to play in college to have an expertise in it. Just ask Mike McDaniel…

That’s a terrible analogy. McDaniel put in 17 years learning the ropes before he earned his opportunity as a HC with Miami, working his way up from a coaching intern, through 9 different jobs. He also played college football at Yale.

Jennings was basically a sideline reporter for a few years on ESPN, chosen as much because of how she looked as what she knew. She never played sports in college. The Athletic is losing money hand over foot. They picked up Jennings from grad school on the cheap to cover WBB.

 

[Waquoit]

My point should be pretty obvious. The author of this article is an inexperienced journalist lacking the requisite knowledge or experience to rank WBB teams.

Is there a licencing program here we should know about? You are killing the messenger. UConn has a ton to prove with Paige on the sideline.

 

[oldude]

Is there a licencing program here we should know about? You are killing the messenger. UConn has a ton to prove with Paige on the sideline.

No licensing program. But there is certainly a hierarchy that starts with blogging on line at the bottom and tops off with Pulitzer Prize winning journalists. Jennings is much closer to a blogger, and that’s probably unfair to bloggers, many of whom are exceptionally knowledgeable.

Of course UConn has much to prove, as they do every season. As information, the last time UConn ended up outside of the Top 10 teams in WBB was 1993, 30 years ago. No reasonably competent journalist who covers WBB would ever suggest that this UConn team should be ranked 13th, even without Paige on the court.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’m with @oldude on this one. I think we’re all a bit shellshocked from last year’s many injuries and can’t feel confident in all the awesome talent on this team.

 

[sun]

I think the shock that UConn fans have about the low preseason ranking is not only because of uncertainties about many UConn players of which there's only 10, but because it's popular to kick UConn when they are down.
It's not unlike how the media treats the Green Bay Packers who have consistently made deep playoff runs but haven't won a Superbowl since 2011.
Sure the Packers have had injuries, coaching changes and adversity, but after so many failures the glamor fades away and many more media outlets criticize the team for failing under pressure.
The Athletic won't be the only media outlet to doubt the Huskies, they're only the first until the rest of the pre-season polls come out.
The uncertainties are real and based on UConn's recent track records until UConn can prove otherwise.
All the new & returning players need to gain respect.
With WCBB parity it doesn't really matter if they're ranked 8th or 13th, it still means that UConn has fallen to the back of the top 10 pack for now.