BY25 poll #5: Results are in (and there's a new #1)

[Plebe]

... unfortunately, Chris Dailey didn't turn in her ballot on time

Also receiving votes (on at least two ballots): Northwestern 25, Rutgers 19, Minnesota 18, Texas 10, Colorado 7, LSU 4.

The following teams appeared on only one ballot: Miami, Kansas, Marquette, Georgia Tech.

Thank you to all who voted in the last BY25 poll of this decade. The next poll will be Monday, Jan. 13, 2020.

 

[DefenseBB]

This is great, I get to criticize my peers on their lack of thought!!!!
Ok, having watched both Stanford and Louisville play inconsistent and uninspired basketball these past few weeks, they are garnering more respect than they have earned. While I have some doubts about FSU, they have been more consistent and look much better in most of their games than either of the two Cardinals. NC State also keeps winning though not in as dominating fashion as a deep team should. Adding in UCLA to this 5 team grouping mix (23 points separate them) is curious as I am not sure who UCLA has beaten to garner such respect. That was a nice victory over arch rival USC Trojans yesterday, but still the next huge gap to the Maryland Terps is very surprising. I think the BY animas towards Brenda is showing itself in the voting, especially considering that Chennedy U is right behind them and I doubt ANYONE on this board would bet on Texas A&M to beat Maryland. I also don't get all the Hoosier doubters. I mean come on, we here on the Boneyard have to be rooting for Ali Patberg to lead this team and become the pre-eminent state of Indiana Hoop Queen! I am also disappointed that we still have too many LV Kool-Aid drinking members-26 points on 16 voters? This is not a top 25 team. I mean come people they just lost to Texas who also happened to beat Stanford...

And this group is supposed to be rationale and logical...

Come on! We can do much better than this....

 

[Lorcan]

This is great, I get to criticize my peers on their lack of thought!!!!
Ok, having watched both Stanford and Louisville play inconsistent and uninspired basketball these past few weeks, they are garnering more respect than they have earned. While I have some doubts about FSU, they have been more consistent and look much better in most of their games than either of the two Cardinals. NC State also keeps winning though not in as dominating fashion as a deep team should. Adding in UCLA to this 5 team grouping mix (23 points separate them) is curious as I am not sure who UCLA has beaten to garner such respect. That was a nice victory over arch rival USC Trojans yesterday, but still the next huge gap to the Maryland Terps is very surprising. I think the BY animas towards Brenda is showing itself in the voting, especially considering that Chennedy U is right behind them and I doubt ANYONE on this board would bet on Texas A&M to beat Maryland. I also don't get all the Hoosier doubters. I mean come on, we here on the Boneyard have to be rooting for Ali Patberg to lead this team and become the pre-eminent state of Indiana Hoop Queen! I am also disappointed that we still have too many LV Kool-Aid drinking members-26 points on 16 voters? This is not a top 25 team. I mean come people they just lost to Texas who also happened to beat Stanford...

And this group is supposed to be rationale and logical...

Come on! We can do much better than this....

UCLA did beat Indiana by double digits, so if you’re praising Indiana, it would make sense to rank UCLA higher based on that win.

 

[Plebe]

Ok, having watched both Stanford and Louisville play inconsistent and uninspired basketball these past few weeks, they are garnering more respect than they have earned. While I have some doubts about FSU, they have been more consistent and look much better in most of their games than either of the two Cardinals. NC State also keeps winning though not in as dominating fashion as a deep team should. Adding in UCLA to this 5 team grouping mix (23 points separate them) is curious as I am not sure who UCLA has beaten to garner such respect. That was a nice victory over arch rival USC Trojans yesterday, but still the next huge gap to the Maryland Terps is very surprising. I think the BY animas towards Brenda is showing itself in the voting, especially considering that Chennedy U is right behind them and I doubt ANYONE on this board would bet on Texas A&M to beat Maryland. I also don't get all the Hoosier doubters. I mean come on, we here on the Boneyard have to be rooting for Ali Patberg to lead this team and become the pre-eminent state of Indiana Hoop Queen! I am also disappointed that we still have too many LV Kool-Aid drinking members-26 points on 16 voters? This is not a top 25 team. I mean come people they just lost to Texas who also happened to beat Stanford...

Just a few points:

• UCLA just beat Indiana in Bloomington before Christmas. Based on our rankings ,this is the best true road win by any team so far this season. (Louisville's win at Kentucky and UConn's win at DePaul would be close runners-up.)
• Florida State has three "name" wins, but all 3 came at home or on a neutral court. And the Seminoles have been less than convincing against some lesser teams, including in a 4-point win over St. John's at home.
• From a resume standpoint, TAMU has at least beaten several top 50-ish teams. Maryland's only win that's been close to noteworthy was over James Madison, and that required an epic choke job by the Dukes to blow a huge lead down the stretch.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I'm expecting Louisville to fall farther. That Oregon win is looking more and more like a fluke.

Surprising lack of consistency from Walz. But I'm expecting more of the same.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Nice to see Princeton and FGCU getting some love!!! Guessing that Northwestern will be in the T25 very soon.

 

[Plebe]

I'm expecting Louisville to fall farther. That Oregon win is looking more and more like a fluke.

Surprising lack of consistency from Walz. But I'm expecting more of the same.

FWIW, the points gap between Louisville and FSU has closed considerably. Two weeks ago, Louisville was 41 points ahead of FSU, now only 6.

 

[meyers7]

I am also disappointed that we still have too many LV Kool-Aid drinking members-26 points on 16 voters? This is not a top 25 team. I mean come people they just lost to Texas who also happened to beat Stanford...

It's damn embarrassing. On a UCONN board. smh.

 

[Plebe]

Nice to see Princeton and FGCU getting some love!!! Guessing that Northwestern will be in the T25 very soon.

Northwestern missed it by just one measly point, behind Tennessee.

While there was *a lot* of variability in spots 19-25, most ballots listed either Northwestern or Tennessee somewhere in that range, but very few (only 3) listed both and even fewer (only 2) listed neither.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

but still the next huge gap to the Maryland Terps is very surprising. I think the BY animas towards Brenda is showing itself in the voting, especially considering that Chennedy U is right behind them and I doubt ANYONE on this board would bet on Texas A&M to beat Maryland. .

And this group is supposed to be rationale and logical...

Come on! We can do much better than this....

I still didn't vote Maryland in the top 10. I saw the entire game on Saturday and I noticed several things. First I thought the defensive intensity of the Terps was outstanding. Best I've ever seen in a Terps team since Brenda started coaching them. This will be their calling card until the other problems are fixed. The three point shooting was terrible again even though they came into the game #1 in the Big 10. They didn't hit a three point shot until it was 5 minutes left in the game. Mikesell was terrible shooting the ball again. That's 4 games and counting that she couldn't hit shots. Other good things were Charles finally playing like an All American (all the seniors who played did very well) and the rebounding was really good. They still has a ways to go before I put them in the top 10.

 

[DefenseBB]

UCLA did beat Indiana by double digits, so if you’re praising Indiana, it would make sense to rank UCLA higher based on that win.

Let's parse that shall we? UCLA won by 10 points (exactly the double digit win you reference) however is was a 3 point game at 4:45 and a 6 point game just under 2 minutes. That does not justify an 84 point gap between the two. Indiana is their only top 50 win. That said, I like UCLA but they haven't earned anything yet unlike the ones above them. Indiana should be right with Maryland and ahead of Texas A&M.

 

[triaddukefan]

Just looked at MY preseason top 25. 8 teams I had ranked... Notre Dame, Texas, Miami, Syracuse, Michigan State, Drake, duke, and Rice........ nowhere to be found currently

 

[MSGRET]

Just looked at MY preseason top 25. 8 teams I had ranked... Notre Dame, Texas, Miami, Syracuse, Michigan State, Drake, duke, and Rice........ nowhere to be found currently

I got my magnifying glass out to see who was after Drake, then I realized that it wasn't needed after seeing who the poster was. @triaddukefan would never leave Duke off a poll at the beginning of the season.

 

[willtalk]

Let's parse that shall we? UCLA won by 10 points (exactly the double digit win you reference) however is was a 3 point game at 4:45 and a 6 point game just under 2 minutes. That does not justify an 84 point gap between the two. Indiana is their only top 50 win. That said, I like UCLA but they haven't earned anything yet unlike the ones above them. Indiana should be right with Maryland and ahead of Texas A&M.

It is too late to double back on your initial statement. Remember you said " I am not sure who UCLA has beaten to garner such respect". Locan and others were only responding to your own statement, nothing more. Your "parsing" is nothing more than rationalization on your part. It was a double-digit win on Indiana's home court. Oh and not very many teams have earned much via there records this season. We are comparing undefeated records here. Being undefeated has to mean something. Many teams this year were knocked from the undefeated ranks by teams they were expected to beat easily and had close games with others they were expected to blow out. UCLA is being ranked appropriately based on roster talent, an undefeated record and teams that they have played.

 

[LETTERL]

I should have included West Virginia on my ballot but did not; I have made myself a note to monitor them and include them on my next ballot.

I did consider Rutgers...but they have played a relatively weak schedule to date.

I see, now, the difficulty faced by those who vote in the national polls. There are not enough slots for all the teams worthy of being "ranked". But I will not apologize at all, or to anyone, for placing the teams that I did on my ballot. It's an opinion...and we are all welcome to our opinions.

With many people also contributing, any corrections that need to be made on my own personal decisions usually get cancelled out by others who vote in the poll.

 

[DefenseBB]

It is too late to double back on your initial statement. Remember you said " I am not sure who UCLA has beaten to garner such respect". Locan and others were only responding to your own statement, nothing more. Your "parsing" is nothing more than rationalization on your part. It was a double-digit win on Indiana's home court. Oh and not very many teams have earned much via there records this season. We are comparing undefeated records here. Being undefeated has to mean something. Many teams this year were knocked from the undefeated ranks by teams they were expected to beat easily and had close games with others they were expected to blow out. UCLA is being ranked appropriately based on roster talent, an undefeated record and teams that they have played.

My point back is not so much that UCLA is at #10 but that Indiana is so far behind that grouping of 4 when they have a better signature win over SC. UCLA's signature win is Indiana and NC State's signature win thus far is Maryland yet there NC State is right with FSU, UCLA and Louisville. Maryland and Indiana belong in with that grouping, not 84 points behind them.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Just looked at MY preseason top 25. 8 teams I had ranked... Notre Dame, Texas, Miami, Syracuse, Michigan State, Drake, duke, and Rice........ nowhere to be found currently

But personal bonus points for painful honesty!!

 

[KY Card Fan]

This Louisville fan thinks that you have the Cardinals ranked way too high. I think we are a Top 15 team right now, not Top Ten. Team needs a reliable second scorer after Evans and better three point shooting.

Right now I'm not thinking about FL ST or NC ST (both of whom I would put ahead of Louisville). I'm worried about the road game at Clemson on Thursday.

 

[newfrontier]

All the top 10 teams have struggled in 2 or more games where they should have blown away the opponent. Even Oregon State has had some bad or mediocre quarters or even halves against 2-3 crap teams. Lots of room for improvement all up and down the board.

 

[TheFarmFan]

TBH, my conclusion about this season so far is that almost every top team from last season has regressed this year, which makes a lot of sense, because if you look at last season's WNBA draft, a significant chunk of future WNBA starters were wrapping up their college careers last season.

Probably the only top 16 teams that look meaningfully better than last year right now are Oregon State, South Carolina, NC State, Maryland, Indiana, and Florida State, and what they all have in common is bringing almost everyone significant back from last season. Notably, none of those teams were Elite Eight teams last season, and so even improvement doesn't necessary make them a "top team." (with Oregon State and South Carolina benefiting from really strong frosh contributions.)

Among the Elite Eight from last season, Oregon is the only team bringing back almost all of their talent, but even they lost a starter, and for whatever reason, Oregon doesn't seem to be jelling as much as they did this time last year. There are dents in the armor of basically every other Elite Eight team from last season, because UConn, Baylor, Louisville, Stanford, Notre Dame, Iowa, and Miss. St. all lost at least one (Stanford and Iowa), and as many as five (Notre Dame) reliable game-winning stars.

So expect more parity and less quality play. And so far, that's exactly what we've gotten...

 

[Cedar]

There’s no logical way that Tennessee should be ranked above Texas. The Longhorns beat the Lady Vols in Knoxville, and the Longhorns also beat a very good Stanford team that clobbered Tennessee.

Kudos to Princeton for being ranked in the top 25. Some of the other Ivies have surprised me: Yale beat UNC in Chapel Hill, and Cornell just lost by only 6 points to #19 West Virginia in Morgantown.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Northwestern just clobbered Maryland. So Northwestern should be ranked not just in T25, but possibly in top 15.

 

[Plebe]

Northwestern just clobbered Maryland. So Northwestern should be ranked not just in T25, but possibly in top 15.

And/or perhaps Maryland should not be ranked?

 

[triaddukefan]

And/or perhaps Maryland should not be ranked?

Who are Maryland's best wins? James Madison and Michigan?

 

[Plebe]

Who are Maryland's best wins? James Madison and Michigan?

The surging ACC power Clemson?