ESPN Top 25

[Vowelguy]

No big surprises tho Tenn with a generous #10

Notre Dame leads way in espnW's preseason top 25 poll

 

[ucbart]

The list looks good and I'm surprised we are that high.

 

[Fightin Choke]

The list looks good and I'm surprised we are that high.

I'm not at all!

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Looks accurate to me. For arguments sake i would probably switch South Carolina and Tennessee.

Lots of question marks this season. I’m looking to see how Mississippi State looks. They have McGowan but they lost a significant amount. There were games last season that they do not win without Vivian’s scoring. They don’t have that scoring on the outside as of yet.

How will Oregon do with a target on their back and a short bench? Looks like Ionescu will add to her triple double numbers just by virtue of having to stay on the court.

Pac-12 will be a 3 horse race with Stanford, Oregon State and Oregon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oregon isn’t 1st by seasons end. Look for the Beavers or Cardinal to be in the top spot.

 

[LoTrader]

Looks accurate to me. For arguments sake i would probably switch South Carolina and Tennessee.

Lots of question marks this season. I’m looking to see how Mississippi State looks. They have McGowan but they lost a significant amount. There were games last season that they do not win without Vivian’s scoring. They don’t have that scoring on the outside as of yet.

How will Oregon do with a target on their back and a short bench? Looks like Ionescu will add to her triple double numbers just by virtue of having to stay on the court.

Pac-12 will be a 3 horse race with Stanford, Oregon State and Oregon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oregon isn’t 1st by seasons end. Look for the Beavers or Cardinal to be in the top spot.

Agree, that the PAC-12 is going to be brutal this year. Looking forward to seeing the ASU vs Baylor game this coming Sunday, and, the Baylor vs Stanford on December 15. This will be a great benchmark for PAC-12, and, Baylor.

 

[wallman]

At least I won't have to worry about the Bruins underachieving this year.

 

[Vowelguy]

At least I won't have to worry about the Bruins underachieving this year.

Fear not, they could always start off with losses to LMU and Rice ....

 

[Plebe]

Looks accurate to me. For arguments sake i would probably switch South Carolina and Tennessee.

Lots of question marks this season. I’m looking to see how Mississippi State looks. They have McGowan but they lost a significant amount. There were games last season that they do not win without Vivian’s scoring. They don’t have that scoring on the outside as of yet.

How will Oregon do with a target on their back and a short bench? Looks like Ionescu will add to her triple double numbers just by virtue of having to stay on the court.

Pac-12 will be a 3 horse race with Stanford, Oregon State and Oregon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oregon isn’t 1st by seasons end. Look for the Beavers or Cardinal to be in the top spot.

I agree about the question marks. It feels like every good team except Notre Dame and Oregon took major hits to graduation.

I actually think Maryland may do even better than #9 this year, and will again be the clearly dominant team in the Big Ten. Lots of talented pieces to work with (plus, so many other of the strong teams from last year are in rebuilding mode).

Breaking down ESPN's rankings by conference:

• ACC (5): Notre Dame (1), Louisville (4), NC State (18), Syracuse (21), Duke (22).
• Pac-12 (5): Oregon (3), Oregon St (7), Stanford (8), Arizona St (23), Cal (25).
• SEC (5): Mississippi St (6), Tennessee (10), South Carolina (11), Georgia (13), Missouri (16).
• Big 12 (3): Baylor (5), Texas (12), West Virginia (20).
• AAC (2): UConn (2), South Florida (19).
• Big Ten (2): Maryland (9), Iowa (17).
• Big East (2): DePaul (14), Marquette (15).
• MAC (1): Central Michigan (24).

 

[WestsideWaltz]

At least I won't have to worry about the Bruins underachieving this year.

I didn't think they looked at all good against Westmont but Coach Close is the one who might live up to her #3 "overrated" title without Canada and Billings. I'm skeptical about Cal as well. One more injury to Oregon and that should be it. Let the season begin!

 

[DaBball]

I don’t think UCLA will be as bad as many to think... at least on paper, they have a decent 5: Dean, Horvat, Onyenwere, Burke, and Drummer. They may be lacking a strong post at this point, but it is easy to see why people don’t think they will be good after years of underachieving despite the nation’s top class.

Howard looked good in Mississippi State’s scrimmage. Central Missouri is a solid D2 team (reigning national champ FWIW). 6-1 Xaria Wiggins looked really good, better than Danberry. She will steal a lot of her minutes.

Oregon State is going to be interesting. Their leading returning scorer has become their sixth man and their leading 3pt % shooter has become their 7th. They are really, really deep at guard.... but they don’t have a great C. Jo Grymek is tall at 6-8, and has improved but still isn’t mobile like Gulich or Hamblin was.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I didn't think they looked at all good against Westmont but Coach Close is the one who might live up to her #3 "overrated" title without Canada and Billings. I'm skeptical about Cal as well. One more injury to Oregon and that should be it. Let the season begin!

Cal is an interesting team to me. They could go either way. I’ve always felt they are stacked with positions 3-5 but lack 1-2’s. Anigwe could be a real force if Cal had players around her. Asha Thomas will have help in the backcourt with Reece Caldwell. That could be a tipping point if they gel. If you have shooters on the floor Anigwe will have her way in the post. Again IMO Cal could go either way.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

Cal still lacks an outside shooter and if Anigwe still gets into foul trouble, Cal only has Celeste West, which brings a completely different dynamic. They often played a four guard lineup against Vanguard so we'll see how they do in the season.

 

[j66kicker]

Agree, that the PAC-12 is going to be brutal this year. Looking forward to seeing the ASU vs Baylor game this coming Sunday, and, the Baylor vs Stanford on December 15. This will be a great benchmark for PAC-12, and, Baylor.

I’m going to that ASU-Baylor game Sunday - will be interested to see how many fans show up, as it’s being played in a 6400-seat arena on an Indian reservation WAY out in the desert (5-hour drive from Phoenix).

 

[BobbyJ]

I’m going to that ASU-Baylor game Sunday - will be interested to see how many fans show up, as it’s being played in a 6400-seat arena on an Indian reservation WAY out in the desert (5-hour drive from Phoenix).

I'd be interested in your reviews or opinions on that big Nike TOC event coming next month. I'm assuming they have to use multiple gyms to fit all the games into 4 days and nights. Is it difficult to get around to see the games you're interested in?

 

[j66kicker]

I'd be interested in your reviews or opinions on that big Nike TOC event coming next month. I'm assuming they have to use multiple gyms to fit all the games into 4 days and nights. Is it difficult to get around to see the games you're interested in?

They use multiple high school gyms all over the place. But I’m only ever interested in the highest class, and they try to keep the individual class levels close together with the semis & finals in one gym.

 

[BobbyJ]

They use multiple high school gyms all over the place. But I’m only ever interested in the highest class, and they try to keep the individual class levels close together with the semis & finals in one gym.

Thanks. Do the gyms get filled, especially in the semis and finals?

 

[Vowelguy]

Cal still lacks an outside shooter and if Anigwe still gets into foul trouble, Cal only has Celeste West, which brings a completely different dynamic. They often played a four guard lineup against Vanguard so we'll see how they do in the season.

Welcome to the board Jeff!

 

[LoTrader]

I don’t think UCLA will be as bad as many to think... at least on paper, they have a decent 5: Dean, Horvat, Onyenwere, Burke, and Drummer. They may be lacking a strong post at this point, but it is easy to see why people don’t think they will be good after years of underachieving despite the nation’s top class.

Howard looked good in Mississippi State’s scrimmage. Central Missouri is a solid D2 team (reigning national champ FWIW). 6-1 Xaria Wiggins looked really good, better than Danberry. She will steal a lot of her minutes.

Oregon State is going to be interesting. Their leading returning scorer has become their sixth man and their leading 3pt % shooter has become their 7th. They are really, really deep at guard.... but they don’t have a great C. Jo Grymek is tall at 6-8, and has improved but still isn’t mobile like Gulich or Hamblin was.

Rueck didn't start Kat Tudor & Aleah Goodman (both 3-point assassins), but that means little as Rueck is going to experiment in these early games with lineups--he has to! Tudor and Goodman played as many minutes as the rest of their team members. The BIG question will be the "5". We saw 6'8" Patricia Morris (freshman) get on the court, but not enough minutes to make any sort of assessment on her ability to contribute. Hoping to see 6'9" Andrea Aquino get on the court Friday. Will be at the game and will report back any significant developments.

 

[j66kicker]

Thanks. Do the gyms get filled, especially in the semis and finals?

Not even close. Maybe a couple hundred for semis & finals.