espnW's Creme, Voepel, Lobo, Hays: UConn Is #1

[JavaMan]

Now this feels familiar. After winning an unprecedented four consecutive NCAA titles, Connecticut remains on top of our preseason top 25, as voted by espnW.com's Charlie Creme, Graham Hays and Mechelle Voepel, and ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo.

While the Huskies graduated three starters, including three-time national player of the year Breanna Stewart, we've learned you just can't count out UConn -- at least until another team beats the Huskies.

Creme provides the analysis for each team below.

1. Connecticut Huskies
2015-16 record: 38-0; national champion
Points (highest/lowest vote): 95 (1/4); two first-place votes
Notable returners: Kia Nurse (9.3 PPG, 2.7 APG); Gabby Williams (8.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG); Katie Lou Samuelson (11.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG)

A new era is dawning in Storrs, but that doesn't mean the level of success will... [MORE]

​

 

[Kaizen]

A new era is dawning in Storrs, but that doesn't mean the level of success will change. The Huskies have won 75 consecutive games and four straight NCAA titles and, despite significant losses, are among the favorites to win again. Gone are Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck, but just as they grew from young players to dominant leaders, coach Geno Auriemma will be counting on elevations from Nurse, Williams, Samuelson and Napheesha Collier. Depth and youth could be an issue against the customary challenging early season schedule that includes road games at Florida State, Notre Dame and Maryland. How freshman and highly recruited point guard Crystal Dangerfield develops, or how Auriemma and his staff work around the loss of Jefferson at the point, could be the key to how far the Huskies go in 2017 and whether they reach a 10th consecutive Final Four.

 

[Kaizen]

1. Connecticut Huskies
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
3. South Carolina Gamecocks
4. Baylor Lady Bears
5. Louisville Cardinals
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
7. Maryland Terrapins
8. Texas Longhorns
9. UCLA Bruins
10. Florida State Seminoles
11. Stanford Cardinal
12. Mississippi State Bulldogs
13. Syracuse Orange
14. (tie) Tennessee Lady Vols
14. (tie) Arizona State Sun Devils
16. Oklahoma Sooners
17. Kentucky Wildcats
18. Miami Hurricanes
19. Washington Huskies
20. (tie) Oregon State Beavers
20. (tie) DePaul Blue Demons
22. Florida Gators
23. Indiana Hoosiers
24. Missouri Tigers
25. South Dakota State Jackrabbits

 

[BroadwayVa]

A new era is dawning in Storrs, but that doesn't mean the level of success will change. The Huskies have won 75 consecutive games and four straight NCAA titles and, despite significant losses, are among the favorites to win again. Gone are Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck, but just as they grew from young players to dominant leaders, coach Geno Auriemma will be counting on elevations from Nurse, Williams, Samuelson and Napheesha Collier. Depth and youth could be an issue against the customary challenging early season schedule that includes road games at Florida State, Notre Dame and Maryland. How freshman and highly recruited point guard Crystal Dangerfield develops, or how Auriemma and his staff work around the loss of Jefferson at the point, could be the key to how far the Huskies go in 2017 and whether they reach a 10th consecutive Final Four.

No one is going to REPLACE Moriah Jefferson--but Geno has spoken to the "work around" by using Kia/Chong at point until Crystal is good to go--Geno has high expectation for Crystal.

No player to play at Uconn has ever had more experience than KIA. Katie Lou was among the
"big girls" and played in Big GAmES--she's experienced. Collier n Gabby as Frosh played lots of minutes in big games and small. Butler played in lots of games--admittedly not the win or lose type but she is not without experience.
Crystal has played a lot of BB--no Div 1 yet--and she is no Moriah--she's a great Crystal.
Geno is fielding a DIFFERENT team--but one with talent and experience.
The ride may be bumpy but the NCAA will be smooth.

 

[iamcbs]

Hard to argue with the rankings at this point, the homer in me says the Lady Bucks should be ranked ahead of L'ville, but does it really matter at this point....

 

[Vowelguy]

SEC - #3, #12, #14, #17, #22, #24
PAC - #9, #11, #14, #19, #20
ACC - #2, #5, #10, #13, #18
B12 - #4, #8, #16
BiG - #6, #7, #23
other - #1, #20, #25

 

[CL82]

No one is going to REPLACE Moriah Jefferson--but Geno has spoken to the "work around" by using Kia/Chong at point until Crystal is good to go--Geno has high expectation for Crystal.

No player to play at Uconn has ever had more experience than KIA. Katie Lou was among the
"big girls" and played in Big GAmES--she's experienced. Collier n Gabby as Frosh played lots of minutes in big games and small. Butler played in lots of games--admittedly not the win or lose type but she is not without experience.
Crystal has played a lot of BB--no Div 1 yet--and she is no Moriah--she's a great Crystal.
Geno is fielding a DIFFERENT team--but one with talent and experience.
The ride may be bumpy but the NCAA will be smooth.

Moriah wasn't "Moriah" her freshman year. She worked on her game, especially her three and became one the best players in college basketball. I would guess that Crystal Dangerfield will have an impact but it unfair to expect her to be the dominent player we think that she'll evolve into in her freshman year.

 

[bags27]

The picture of Kia at the top of the article is priceless. Looks like she's a star graduate of the Diana Taurasi school of "putting up" with Geno.....

 

[bags27]

Where is Duke on this list? Being redshirted on the UConn bench.

 

[CocoHusky]

The Lady Vol's ranking 13th is based on "Keeping the entire roster healthy, and improvement from Cooper at the point, will go a long way to the Lady Vols having the kind of regular season to which they are more accustomed." Mid summer it was reported by Holly? that Cooper would be out all season and was awaiting knee surgery.
Lady Vol Fans any update on Te'a Cooper?

 

[Nuyoika]

I thought Cooper was out for the season...

 

[triaddukefan]

Where is Duke on this list? Being redshirted on the UConn bench.

 

[CocoHusky]

I thought Cooper was out for the season...

As did I. If you and I know that Cooper is out, I'm just surprised that no one on the ESPN staff appears to know this.

 

[JavaMan]

As did I. If you and I know that Cooper is out, I'm just surprised that no one on the ESPN staff appears to know this.

If you don't know what you don't know, how would you know if you do or don't know?

 

[VFLfan]

The first thing I asked after I read this was "When was this written?" Te'a is indeed out for the year...She tore her ACL this summer and surgery was delayed when a blood clot was discovered in her leg as reported by Te'a herself at UT media day. So dunno why ESPN doesn't know that. Gonna be an interesting season for us for sure.

 

[CocoHusky]

The first thing I asked after I read this was "When was this written?" Te'a is indeed out for the year...She tore her ACL this summer and surgery was delayed when a blood clot was discovered in her leg as reported by Te'a herself at UT media day. So dunno why ESPN doesn't know that. Gonna be an interesting season for us for sure.

ACL tear sucks bad enough. Blood clot sounds very ominous. Best of luck to her on a speedy & full recovery.

 

[Nuyoika]

Now I'm more confused doesn't ESPN own the SECN and wasn't this discussed on there? Get it together ESPN...

 

[Vowelguy]

My guess is that the team profiles were written by an ESPN staffer and not any of the experts.

Or that this was all done in April, and is just being reposted now.

 

[Alydar]

Last year Tenn was picked 3rd in the country based on overly optimistic expectations of the additions of DeShields and Russell. The 14 losses have been forgotten due to their advance to the E8 game but anyone who followed the team last year saw the uneven play.

This season the LV's lose their McDAA forward and 2 of their 3 top guards. They add a recruit and a 5th year transfer. I expect that their unchallenging Nov schedule will move them into the top 10 due to losses to those above them, but I see them wearing down as the season progresses. Russell will need to play long minutes and be the primary rebounder. DeShields will still be the scorer of last resort and her 25% 3 pt shooting needs to improve. She has yet to be able to stay healthy for an entire season.

I doubt if the 4th best team in the SEC will be the 13th best in the country.

A Note About Rankings: While I agree that preseason rankings are dubious, they aren't meaningless. They form the baseline for the season. Get a high ranking and you'll stay there or rise if you win your games, even if they are cupcakes. If your team is outside the top 25 you only move up if those above you in the rankings lose. And if you get a preseason ranking of 3rd, you can lose 6 games in a row and still stay in the top 25, based solely on your inflated preseason ranking. A couple of years ago Georgia won their first 12 games against crap and moved up to 13th. Then they went 7-12 the rest of the way but stayed in the top 25 until very late in the season, when it was obvious that they sucked. And yet a lot of SEC teams were able to list their victories vs Georgia as top 25 wins and use that stat to claim a better NCAA seed.

 

[BroadwayVa]

The Lady Vol's ranking 13th is based on "Keeping the entire roster healthy, and improvement from Cooper at the point, will go a long way to the Lady Vols having the kind of regular season to which they are more accustomed." Mid summer it was reported by Holly? that Cooper would be out all season and was awaiting knee surgery.
Lady Vol Fans any update on Te'a Cooper?

\

I know it heresy to say this--but you don't get permission you get absolution--I'd like to see Uconn meet the Vols in the NCAA's --.
I've let be known here that I'm no fan of Holly. She has had loads of talent recruited and transfers--I surprised she still has a job. Can you imagine what Pat would have done with that talent??

 

[Vowelguy]

And yet a lot of SEC teams were able to list their victories vs Georgia as top 25 wins and use that stat to claim a better NCAA seed.

Victories vs the AP top 25 is not a stat the NCAA committee uses.

 

[Plebe]

1. Connecticut Huskies
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
3. South Carolina Gamecocks
4. Baylor Lady Bears
5. Louisville Cardinals
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
7. Maryland Terrapins
8. Texas Longhorns
9. UCLA Bruins
10. Florida State Seminoles
11. Stanford Cardinal
12. Mississippi State Bulldogs
13. Syracuse Orange
14. (tie) Tennessee Lady Vols
14. (tie) Arizona State Sun Devils
16. Oklahoma Sooners
17. Kentucky Wildcats
18. Miami Hurricanes
19. Washington Huskies
20. (tie) Oregon State Beavers
20. (tie) DePaul Blue Demons
22. Florida Gators
23. Indiana Hoosiers
24. Missouri Tigers
25. South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Overall there's not a whole lot to quibble with. I myself would put Baylor ahead of South Carolina because SC lost almost its entire backcourt, including Tiffany Mitchell, whereas Baylor only loses Niya Johnson. I'm also a bit more skeptical than the ESPN panel about Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Miami; I would certainly rank Oregon State and Washington ahead of each of them. And I would also have South Dakota State -- a team that returns pretty much everyone from a near-Sweet 16 team -- several spots higher than 25th.

And though I'm a UConn fan through and through, I honestly wouldn't have them ranked 1st, because I don't subscribe to the idea that last year's champion should by default start the year at #1. I'd much rather see UConn start the year down around #4 or #5 and then, hopefully, work their way up. But I think ESPN likes it this way because, from a publicity and a ratings point of view, it makes a better story if UConn remains #1 until someone beats them.

 

[chuck.r]

The USA Today Coaches Pre-Season Poll:
1 Connecticut (18) 0-0 755
2 Notre Dame (8) 0-0 739
3 South Carolina (3) 0-0 712
4 Baylor (2) 0-0 709
5 Maryland 0-0 603
6 Ohio State 0-0 594
6 Texas (1) 0-0 594
8 Louisville 0-0 586
9 UCLA 0-0 481
10 Stanford 0-0 467
11 Mississippi State 0-0 446
12 Florida State 0-0 431
13 Syracuse 0-0 394
14 Tennessee 0-0 360
15 Washington 0-0 352
16 Arizona State 0-0 321
17 Oregon State 0-0 255
18 Oklahoma 0-0 235
19 Kentucky 0-0 227
20 Miami 0-0 179
21 DePaul 0-0 173
22 Michigan State 0-0 167
23 Texas A&M 0-0 123
24 Florida 0-0 101
25 West Virginia 0-0 76

USF is #26, South Dakota State is #28.

 

[cbraarj]

If you don't know what you don't know, how would you know if you do or don't know?

I dont know!