Charlie Creme's Way-Too-Early Top 25

[Ozimoto]

Of course, the whole point of the article was to generate discussion and interest in next season, so in that respect, mission accomplished.

 

[meyers7]

Not surprised that Charlie Creme doesn't give UCONN much love. He never does unless we're coming off a Natty and have nearly everyone returning. I believe the 2024 - 2025 version of UCONN will be heard from ALL season long... including the National Championship.

He had UCONN #1 in his last year's way to early. That was coming off a S16 exit.

 

[meyers7]

I haven’t been able to open Charlie’s list yet so I don’t know what rational, if anything, he wrote about Iowa falling out of the top 25. But aside from the obvious loss of Clark, Iowa won’t be able to enjoy the romp through the B10 they had last year. USC and UCLA, et all, will make winning the conference more difficult. Also, Michigan is adding two high level recruits and has a top level coach in Kim Barnes Arico. Trouble is looming for the Hawkeyes

They didn't actually romp. They were 15-3 and ended up in 2nd place. behind Ohio St.

 

[meyers7]

How accurate was Charlie's predictions this time last year?

Charlie's initial Way Too Early last year was

1. UCONN
2. Utah
3. LSU
4. Iowa
5. Indiana
6. UCLA
7. S. Carolina
8. Ohio St
9. Stanford
10. Notre Dame
11. Tennessee
12. Maryland
13. Texas
14. Virginia Tech
15. Ole Miss
16. Duke
17. Baylor
18. Oregon
19. Florida St
20. Colorado
21. USC
22. Louisville
23. Creighton
24. UNC
25. Washington St.

 

[browns]

Hmmm...South Carolina #1 and UConn #4...let me think on this one.

Ashley Watkins - 6'3...Ice Brady - 6'3"
Raven Johnson - 5'9"....Ashylynn Shade- 5'10"
Cloe Kitts - 6'2"....Ice Brady - 6'3" or Caroline Ducharme - 6'2"
Malaysia Fulwiley - 5'10"...KK Arnold - 5'9"
Te-Hina Paopao - 5'9"...Azzi Fudd - 5'11"
Tessa Johnson - 6'0"...Paige Bueckers - 6'0"
Bree Hall - 6'0"...Aubrey Griffin - 6'1" or Morgan Chelli - 6'2"
Sania Feagin - 6'3"...Jana El-alfy - 6'5"
Adel Tac - 6'5"...Ayanna Patterson - 6'2" / 6'3" or Amari DeBerry - 6'6"
Joyce Edwards - 6'2"...Sarah Strong - 6'2"
Madison McDaniel - 5'9"...Allie Ziebel - 6'0" maybe 6'1"

I think we got it covered...

Maybe #2 preseason is accurate but come January..

A few reasons why we should ranked #2 in the preseason polls:

1. With Paige, KK, Ash and Q returning; Azzi and Caroline coming back from injury; and Morgan and Allie coming in as highly ranked guards we may have the deepest and most talented back court in the country. Only Notre Dame and South Carolina are a close second.

2. We are bringing in the #1 recruit in the country (Sarah) whose exceptional skills at shooting, passing and court IQ will allow Geno to plug her in at PF, SF, SG, and maybe occasionally in the post. Odds on BE ROY and maybe national ROY.

3. The return of Ice, Aubrey, Ayanna and Jana will allow us to play a variety of defensive styles: full court pressure defense with multiple talented subs, half court big girl style with Jana, Ice, Sarah and Ayanna, or sticky half court defense with enough depth to minimize fouling concerns.

4. Who will have a better shooting team than us? Paige, Azzi, Ash and Caroline are proven snipers. KK and Q are streaky but can knock down shots. And we are adding two of the best FR shooters in the class in Allie and Sarah. Again only Notre Dame and South Carolina are close.

5. We have a bunch of multi-talented players that give us a lot of flexibility on offense and defense: Paige, Caroline, Aubrey, Sarah and Morgan can all play multiple positions.

Who is going to rebound the ball? Jana is unproven.Ice was not a good rebounder..Aubrey will give you 8 or 9 tops but they miss AE and her rebounding..Sara possibly but she can't do everything
As far as shooters.. on paper it looks great but how will they play defense with Nika gone..KK was allright but certainly not in Nika's class..look what happened when Nika fouled out against ND
Rebounding and defence is where Geno is going to have to figure things out

 

[Veteran]

Meh. Useless at this point. The "expert" Creme had LSU on top last year and South Carolina as 8th.

 

[itsasport]

Until all the injured players are actually performing again on court next year, and Azzi and Aubry probably will be given part of the season to fully recover, the #4 makes sense.

But, if the injured players are able to return as did Paige, UConn will clearly be the #1 team. And, there are some new openings in the roster.

USC is losing Cordoso, the only player that UConn would have had a match up difficulty with. I think that the incoming UConn class will be a monster- even better than last years, which is saying a lot.

 

[VA Huskie]

I feel like he has Notre Dame entirely too high. By the time the season starts it will have been almost a year and a half since Olivia Miles has played a basketball game. It remains to be seen how her and Hidalgo will fit together. Also, losing Bransford from their guard core will hurt. I also feel like aside from Hidalgo and Miles they have a bunch of good but not great players.

I think they have a top big coming in. Can’t remember her name.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Meh. Useless at this point. The "expert" Creme had LSU on top last year and South Carolina as 8th.

With all due, South Carolina lost five starters. Who expected the team to go undefeated?
And per @meyers7 's post above (link), Creme had three 2024 Final Four teams in the top seven of his post-2023 NCAAT "too early rankings".

Again, it is a projection for next year. He is not advertising himself as The Amazing Kreskin or claiming to have the ability to see into the future.

 

[reelfan]

After today Charlie needs to reboot his Ouija board

 

[maple]

I feel like he has Notre Dame entirely too high. By the time the season starts it will have been almost a year and a half since Olivia Miles has played a basketball game. It remains to be seen how her and Hidalgo will fit together. Also, losing Bransford from their guard core will hurt. I also feel like aside from Hidalgo and Miles they have a bunch of good but not great players.

I honestly can't believe it's been that long. But if HH and Miles can find some chemistry, they will be a very strong team. Not sure how far that pair can take them, though.

 

[Veteran]

With all due, South Carolina lost five starters. Who expected the team to go undefeated?
And per @meyers7 's post above (link), Creme had three 2024 Final Four teams in the top seven of his post-2023 NCAAT "too early rankings".

Again, it is a projection for next year. He is not advertising himself as The Amazing Kreskin or claiming to have the ability to see into the future.

I absolutely understand where you're coming from on this. But my point is that it's simply useless to make predictions at this junction or to believe them. Nobody knows how things are going to develop. He had UConn as #2 last year and look what happened. Creme makes his living making predictions which is a pretty good gig if you can get it. But it means nothing. I barely pay attention to mock drafts for the same reason.

And your point that South Carolina lost 5 starters perfectly illustrates my own point. Nobody knows anything concrete the day after the championship game about how things will be a year later. Creme certainly didn't last year. Or this year, in all likelihood. I'm not knocking anyone who enjoys the predictions. Just take them with a grain of salt.

 

[FormerCTrez]

To your point above it’s very much not an open field next year with South Carolina likely going undefeated back to back lol

With your team winning it all this year, that’s a reasonable goal for next year. But, did you know it’s very hard to win back-back championships? If you doubt me, just ask UConn, even though the championship has been missing from the women’s side of things since 2016. And you can also ask someone with closer ties to the SCAR Gamecocks, Aliyah Boston.
Anyway, congrats to the SCAR Gamecocks on their successful year. A job well done!

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

I absolutely understand where you're coming from on this. But my point is that it's simply useless to make predictions at this junction or to believe them. Nobody knows how things are going to develop. He had UConn as #2 last year and look what happened. Creme makes his living making predictions which is a pretty good gig if you can get it. But it means nothing. I barely pay attention to mock drafts for the same reason.

And your point that South Carolina lost 5 starters perfectly illustrates my own point. Nobody knows anything concrete the day after the championship game about how things will be a year later. Creme certainly didn't last year. Or this year, in all likelihood. I'm not knocking anyone who enjoys the predictions. Just take them with a grain of salt.

The flip side is that ESPN is treating women's basketball with the same interest (analysis, immediate coverage, etc.) as men's basketball after the national title game. Having year-round coverage is a testament to the growth of the sport over the last several years.

 

[Veteran]

The flip side is that ESPN is treating women's basketball with the same interest (analysis, immediate coverage, etc.) as men's basketball after the national title game. Having year-round coverage is a testament to the growth of the sport over the last several years.

Totally agree that the increased coverage of WCBB is welcome. But I think that's more about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark hype than it is about Creme these days. Hopefully it continues now that they've moved on. I imagine that Paige Bueckers and maybe even Sarah Strong will help with that.

 

[LETTERL]

Charlie's initial Way Too Early last year was

1. UCONN
2. Utah
3. LSU
4. Iowa
5. Indiana
6. UCLA
7. S. Carolina
8. Ohio St
9. Stanford
10. Notre Dame
11. Tennessee
12. Maryland
13. Texas
14. Virginia Tech
15. Ole Miss
16. Duke
17. Baylor
18. Oregon
19. Florida St
20. Colorado
21. USC
22. Louisville
23. Creighton
24. UNC
25. Washington St.

 

[jdote33]

Ronsiek wants to play one season with her sister, who I think is at Colorado State. One of the Creighton parents told me that at the Big East tournament. All the other Creighton seniors are coming back for a fifth year.

I knew I saw this on the Boneyard. "Insiders" just read posts here. Shout out to this site.

 

[BRS24]

HerHoopStats Way Too Early Top 25

UConn comes in at #3 in this WTE poll.

 

[Vowelguy]

Nobody knows anything concrete the day after the championship game about how things will be a year later. Creme certainly didn't last year. Or this year, in all likelihood. I'm not knocking anyone who enjoys the predictions. Just take them with a grain of salt.

"grain of salt" is true with ANY poll or prediction, of course.

By your argument, one could argue that a preseason poll is pointless. Or that the final regular season poll is useless since the #10 and #11 teams made the final 4.

99% of sports discussion is about speculation. If you don't like year-ahead polls, then don't read em. For the rest of us, they are useful list of the top teams to pay attention to in the offseason.

 

[BRS24]

We have the end of the season AP poll, which is just that. ESPN & The Athletic doing a "way to early poll", and then we'll have all the portal movement, which will definately impact the pre season polls. What interests me will be the swing from these very early WTE polls, to the results of portal player movement, and then the pre-season polls as we get closer to November.

 

[Veteran]

"grain of salt" is true with ANY poll or prediction, of course.

By your argument, one could argue that a preseason poll is pointless. Or that the final regular season poll is useless since the #10 and #11 teams made the final 4.

99% of sports discussion is about speculation. If you don't like year-ahead polls, then don't read em. For the rest of us, they are useful list of the top teams to pay attention to in the offseason.

Perhaps you missed my reply to a comment from CamrnCrz1974 on Monday where I said, "I'm not knocking anyone who enjoys the predictions. Just take them with a grain of salt." Scroll up several comments and you can read it for yourself if you'd like.

And maybe you also failed to notice my point that a prediction the day after the championship game was meaningless. I noted in my Monday reply that it was impossible to know how things would be a year after this week's championship game. And I said absolutely nothing about the final regular season poll, which I think is valid and useful as one gauge of what to expect by then.

And finally, I said nothing about speculation among fans. I have no problem with that at all. I do it, myself on many things. All I said was to take the opinion of so-called experts with a grain of salt so soon after the end of the season. Or am I missing something else that seems to have offended you?

 

[LETTERL]

For the rest of us, they are useful list of the top teams to pay attention to in the offseason.

Then bitch and complain to anybody who will listen!

 

[DrummerDee]

The biggest question mark for both UConn and Notre Dame is the all-important post play.

The portal may provide some answers.

Well, Nat Marshall of ND entered the portal today.

 

[Tonyc]

You've got to be kidding me. UConn goes to the FF this year without. the injured and incoming class and the prediction is UConn is preseason 4?????????? Kinda silly. Barring injuries it should be SC and UConn and everybody else. TX and ND will be very good however the mention of their guards vs UConns Paige and Azzi I dont think so. First of all UConns defense carried them to the FF. Even with Nika graduating you still have KK and Aubrey. Alot depends on alot. That being those coming back from injuries. With our loaded roster everybody demands play time but only those who earn it. We have top recruits all looking for the same thing. Be developed and win championships Geno will see to it that that happens and it will happen on each players pace of development.

To get as far as we did this past season is nothing short of remarkable. With everybody healthy and the freshman class coming in UConn will be crazy good.

 

[cohenzone]

The thing about a way too early ranking is that it is, well, way too early. Guy has nothing else to do.

 

[VaConnFan11]

A #4 ranking to start the season is about right. As many have said on this board, UConn will not be at full strength on Day 1 and that it may be after the new year before they are. Since UConn always plays a difficult schedule early in the season, there could be a couple of early losses.

I think a lot of you are forgetting UConn is going from a Senior Big to a RS Sophomore and a Freshman Big. That's a big gap in talent level.

I personally would have waited until the transfers were done before releasing an early ranking.

 

[ERWUC65]

The thing about a way too early ranking is that it is, well, way too early. Guy has nothing else to do.

It (Way to Early) has become a ritual in most all sports, amateur or pro, so on it goes regardless of the possible effect of league changes and influences. That said, however, it now is almost complete irrelevant due to NIL and the Portal.

 

[cohenzone]

It (Way to Early) has become a ritual in most all sports, amateur or pro, so on it goes regardless of the possible effect of league changes and influences. That said, however, it now is almost complete irrelevant due to NIL and the Portal.

Exactly. It’s a useless zero. Start rankings after say 8 games.

 

[BRS24]

Today's update - Stanford and Oregon State drop out:

Women's NCAA basketball's Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2024-25

With just over a month left until the season begins, where the best teams fall in behind the Gamecocks -- including the Terrapins.

www.espn.com

I'm a very visual person, so here's what it looks like (and yes, this is what all my WBB stat spreadsheets look like)

 

[yhun89]

I'm putting SOCAL lower until their mainly all freshman roster proves themselves; sometimes it takes a while. With only Rayah and Juju as non freshmen starters, who knows. SC, ND, Texas, UCONN, SOCAL for me.