BY Poll: What's YOUR top 10?

[UcMiami]

On SC - I do think teams need to 'learn how to win' and SC was a very young team last year that learned how to win and is bringing in a very good freshman class. And they have a good coach, how good is yet to be determined. (Totally agree about the cream puffs!)
BBallnut - nice analysis of the last few years - I would just just change 2014 to Uconn/ND followed by everyone else. ND without Natalie in the final was not quite fair and it would have been a closer game if she was out there. Based on the year they had they deserve to be on the same line with Uconn. Agree that there is definitely a hierarchy every year. And I think this year is pretty wide open beyond the top end.
I just don't trust TN coaching or players - Graves who I think could be a monster player seemed to be completely frustrated last year and disappeared, can they get her back?
ND - love the coaching and some really good players but who takes over for Natalie and Kayla I do not know. Those two were the heart of the team and I don't know that they are replaceable. Hard to bet against MM figuring it out but it will take some big freshman contributions and some major improvement from the bench.

So - my guess:
1. Uconn
2. Notre Dame
3. South Carolina
4. Texas A&M
5. Tennessee
6. North Carolina
7. Kentucky
8. Texas
9. Cal
10. Baylor
Others: Duke, MD, L'ville, Stanford, DePaul

 

[EricLA]

Great points, UCM, about SC being young and needing to learn how to win. I did not mean my posts to be bashing SC, but was just trying to point out that aside from their outstanding record, because they played no real top 10 teams and had close games against teams that should have been completely overmatched, I do not think they are as good as their record and losing in the sweet 16 was about right for them.

So I guess I should give my guess as to the top 10, or what I think it should be...

1. UCONN
2. Notre Dame
3. Tennessee
   
4. Baylor
   
5. aTm
6. South Carolina
7. Maryland
   
8. Kentucky
   
9. Louisville
   
10. UNC

I put Baylor so high because even tho they lost Sims, they get Prince back and I think they really surprised a lot of folks last year, myself included. While I'd love to see Tennessee lose to everyone, even without Russell (she wasn't going to start anyway), Tennessee has what it usually has - ON PAPER, one of the strongest teams in the nation. Having said that, players like Burdick who were top 5 coming out of HS simply have not developed the way people expected. But a core of Massengale, Carter, Burdick, Graves and Harrison with Tucker, Jones, Moore, Reynolds, and then Nared, Dunbar and Middleton, they are super deep.

I dropped Duke out because of all they lost. No one on here has given L'ville much "respect" in the top 10 polls, but I think even tho they lost Schimmel, they bring back a lot, but are still in desperate need for some post strength. I'm also not sold on Texas being a top 10 team - they played Maryland tough and only lost Fussell to graduation. They could sneak in there...

But outside of the top 2, it's a mishmash and you could move a lot of teams up or down depending on how they develop. Some teams will rely more on freshmen than others (OSU and UCLA come to mind). It will be an interesting year for sure...

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

That's really super great. Seriously. SC should be a good team. Problem is, they just weren't that good last year. I get that they bring everyone back and I can see why their fans are enthused. In a way, and I'm going to use this as an extreme example, it's like saying Delaware was going to be great last year because they had 5 juniors coming back and all were going to be seniors. I understand that it's not an exact example, but my point is just because you bring everyone back does not make you a great team.

Cream puff schedule is actually an insult to cream puffs. The only legit top 10 team they played all year was Tennessee and they lost. Lost to UNC twice. Lost to aTm. Beat teams like Wintrop by 8, Arkansas by 4, Mississippi State by 7, Georgia by 11, and Auburn by 6. In the NCAA's they "squeaked" past CS Northridge, a 16 seed, by 15. Oregon State was an 11 point win. Most of those relatively close games were against teams that did not even sniff anywhere near the top 25.

Seriously, there was nothing impressive about HOW they beat teams last year. Sure the record was terrific. But I don't feel the TEAM is impressive. And those examples I used are not outliers. It's not like had one "bad" game. There were tons of them that a final 4, or elite 8, team should simply not have. Even some of the UCONN fans on our board have bought into the hype of SC - probably because they backed into a 1 seed and had a terrific record last year. Smoke and mirrors IMHO.

And they simply have no one even close as good as Jefferson, Stewart or KML. Seriously - not even close. Honestly, I'd be utterly shocked if they lose to UCONN by less than 20-25. They simply have no one who can match up with UCONN's big 3. And Ibiam and Coates are going to be in for a rude awakening when they go up against Stokes.

Now I get that you will totally disagree. It's your right of course. But this year you have another cream puff schedule. Duke and UCONN are the only potential top 25 teams outside of who they face in their conference. Some big'ish name schoolsl (USC, Clemson, SDSU, Syracuse and Wisconsin) but none of those will be top 25 schools (with the exception of USC who I think is barely in the top 25 at the moment, or just outside of it)...

Go out and schedule Baylor, Maryland, Notre Dame, Louisville, Stanford, etc. and then see how you look. I'd be surprised if your team loses by less than 10 to Tennessee.

I can see why you'd have doubts and you have every right to your opinion. As someone else noted, we had a young team last year and I'll add that we didn't have a lot of quality depth. We will actually have a senior and junior-laden team this season with excellent and talented depth provided by strong freshman and sophomore classes. Did we blow a lot of teams out last season? No, but the victory is much more important than the margin. We blew out Southern Cal on the road and Kentucky on the road, so there were some big margins against NCAAT teams. The reason I think we'll be better this season is that we will have much more depth and quality of depth. The lack of quality depth is why I think we ran out of gas towards the end of the season. That won't be a problem in 2014-15. You talk about the schedule, but the SEC is one of the best WBB conferences in the country, so you are not as desperate to schedule OOC powerhouses as are some other schools. With UCONN and Duke on the road this year I think we have a good OOC schedule. I'm not saying we'll win the national championship this season, but I think we do have a good chance of the Final Four for the first time since 1981.

 

[EricLA]

I can see why you'd have doubts and you have every right to your opinion. As someone else noted, we had a young team last year and I'll add that we didn't have a lot of quality depth. We will actually have a senior and junior-laden team this season with excellent and talented depth provided by strong freshman and sophomore classes. Did we blow a lot of teams out last season? No, but the victory is much more important than the margin. We blew out Southern Cal on the road and Kentucky on the road, so there were some big margins against NCAAT teams. The reason I think we'll be better this season is that we will have much more depth and quality of depth. The lack of quality depth is why I think we ran out of gas towards the end of the season. That won't be a problem in 2014-15. You talk about the schedule, but the SEC is one of the best WBB conferences in the country, so you are not as desperate to schedule OOC powerhouses as are some other schools. With UCONN and Duke on the road this year I think we have a good OOC schedule. I'm not saying we'll win the national championship this season, but I think we do have a good chance of the Final Four for the first time since 1981.

Fair enough and good points! Fortunately, our opinions mean little and we will have a full season of 6 months to watch it all play out!!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Fair enough and good points! Fortunately, our opinions mean little and we will have a full season of 6 months to watch it all play out!!

The anticipation of a new basketball season is wonderful. Even though I'm a fan of a school where football is the most popular sport, I personally prefer basketball. I love football, but basketball really gets my blood moving.

 

[Vowelguy]

No need to defend. SC received a #1 seed last year. No one worth their salt disputes that they were a top 10 team. And there's no doubt that they will better this year, with the #1 and #14 HS recruits.

 

[meyers7]

I think SC will be better this year and have a pretty good shot at being a FF team. But to me, that's their jump. It's a whole 'nother level to get up with ND and UCONN. But we'll see.

 

[Zorro]

I think only two groups.
1) UConn, (wire to wire)
2-10) the pack (strung out along the track. A lot of shifting rankings during the season, with no clear #2 emerging, unlike last season.)

 

[triaddukefan]

1) Connecticut
2) South Carolina
3) Notre Dame
4) Tennessee
5) TAMU
6) UNC
7) Texas
8) Kentucky
9) Baylor
10) California

The next five in no particular order: Louisville, Michigan State, Nebraska, Maryland, Depaul

 

[triaddukefan]

The anticipation of a new basketball season is wonderful. Even though I'm a fan of a school where football is the most popular sport, I personally prefer basketball. I love football, but basketball really gets my blood moving.

Conversely, Though Im a fan of a school where basketball is the most popular sport, my first love was Duke football.

Basketball season will get here eventually, but right now its Duke Football that has me

 

[sivad40]

1) Connecticut
2) South Carolina
3) Notre Dame
4) Tennessee
5) TAMU
6) UNC
7) Texas
8) Kentucky
9) Baylor
10) California

The next five in no particular order: Louisville, Michigan State, Nebraska, Maryland, Depaul

Where do your rank your team which is conspicuously not on your list?

 

[triaddukefan]

Where do your rank your team which is conspicuously not on your list?

I would put them in the 16-20 range..... they havent been that low since probably 1997-98

I plan to attend the Blue-White game this coming Sunday... and the exhibition the following Sunday. I'll get a better feel for things then.

 

[Vowelguy]

StillTimetoVote!StillTimetoVote!StillTimetoVote!StillTimetoVote!

So we've got 11 voters, but not from these participants from last year:

• VOLFAN
• RBLACK335
• CALPEDALER
• SVETBIRD
• LATIONE2009
• MARLBOROUGHMIKE
• KAT0189
• ICEBEAR
• ALLHUSKY529
• DOGGYDADDY

StillTimetoVote!StillTimetoVote!StillTimetoVote!StillTimetoVote!

 

[mtsuraider06]

UConn
Notre Dame
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Baylor
UNC
Texas
Maryland
UCLA

 

[LadyVols9]

UCONN
ND
TN
SC
TEXAS AM
UNC
TEXAS
MARYLAND
KY
UCLA

 

[CBus13]

1. Uconn
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas A&M
4. USC
5. Texas
6. Baylor
7. UNC
8. Louisville
9. Tennessee
10. Cal
Others: Maryland, UK, WVU, PSU, FSU

Hopefully adds Ohio St. to the top 20.

 

[easttexastrash]

I think SC will be better this year and have a pretty good shot at being a FF team. But to me, that's their jump. It's a whole 'nother level to get up with ND and UCONN. But we'll see.

Did anyone think that Baylor was going to beat three number 1 seeds in 2005 and win a National Championship? Did Baylor show anything the year before that would indicate that they were ready to make that leap?

Did anyone think that Maryland was going to win their championship with a bunch of young players?

Did TAMU show any sign the year before their championship that they were ready to take that leap?

It can happen...

 

[easttexastrash]

South Carolina has quite a few future WNBA players: Welch, Mitchell, Ibiam, Coates, Wilson and probably White. That is a LOT of talent to be dismissing as a team that has no shot at a National Championship.

 

[John Glass]

#1 UConn
#2 UConn subs
#3 Notre Dame
#4 South Carolina
#5 Texas

everyone else

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I'm in!!!!


1. UCONN
2. ND
3. South Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. TAMU
6. Oregon State
7. Maryland
8. Baylor
9. West Virginia
10. Rutgers

 

[easttexastrash]

How many future WNBA-type players does Notre Dame have? Allen, Lloyd and Turner, I know of, but I am not sure how many other players from that team have WNBA-type talent. I didn't see anything from Reimer that would point to WNBA talent at this point.

It just seems to me that SC has a lot more talent than ND. And how is ND going to compete with SC in the paint? Who is going to contain Ibiam, Coates, Wilson and White and compete on the boards?

 

[HuskyFan1125]

How many future WNBA-type players does Notre Dame have? Allen, Lloyd and Turner, I know of, but I am not sure how many other players from that team have WNBA-type talent. I didn't see anything from Reimer that would point to WNBA talent at this point. It just seems to me that SC has a lot more talent than ND. And how is ND going to compete with SC in the paint? Who is going to contain Ibiam, Coates, Wilson and White and complete on the boards?

All true statements, but ND has good players and
Muffet knows how to coach. For the past 3 seasons I have second guessed them and got burnt. So until they prove me wrong I'm sticking with them.

South Carolina has a great post game but I wonder how their guards will be. Mitchell was SEC POY but she needs to hit another level to take SC further.

 

[easttexastrash]

All true statements, but ND has good players and
Muffet knows how to coach. For the past 3 seasons I have second guessed them and got burnt. So until they prove me wrong I'm sticking with them.

South Carolina has a great post game but I wonder how their guards will be. Mitchell was SEC POY but she needs to hit another level to take SC further.

I will take 6 future WNBA players, and possibly 7 with Dozier, to ND's 3. I hope this is just not a case of burying heads in the sand as not to admit how scary good SC may be. This team is absolutely loaded with talent.

 

[John Glass]

How many future WNBA-type players does Notre Dame have? Allen, Lloyd and Turner, I know of, but I am not sure how many other players from that team have WNBA-type talent. I didn't see anything from Reimer that would point to WNBA talent at this point.

It just seems to me that SC has a lot more talent than ND. And how is ND going to compete with SC in the paint? Who is going to contain Ibiam, Coates, Wilson and White and compete on the boards?

Notre Dame has a great coach, they destroyed a more talented Maryland team in the final four

 

[easttexastrash]

Notre Dame has a great coach, they destroyed a more talented Maryland team in the final four

Yes, Muffett is a great coach. But talent wins basketball games most of the time. I just don't think ND has the talent to compete with SC. I think they are the only team in the nation that has enough talent to compete with UCONN.

I guess we will know in February, and then April. What a fun season it should be!