I know, I know - “rankings don’t matter”

[JstVisiting]

But it irks me they named and quoted the guy who voted Indiana #1 in the AP story on the latest poll. No disrespect to Indiana, but there’s no rational justification* for that. It’s the sort of “look at me! Imma contrarian over here!” nonsense that should be derided rather than promoting some otherwise anonymous local journalist across the country.

*Yes. The top of the big ten is better than the SEC this year, and Indiana’s having a great season. That’s why they have their highest ranking in program history. Their SOS is still worse than Carolina’s, they have a loss, and they aren’t the defending champion. They aren’t even second in most of the reputable rating systems.

South Carolina needed OT to beat a top 40 team on the road. Big deal. It’s not like we lost to Michigan State.

The only consolation is Dawn will seize on this in the locker room to tell the girls, “They still don’t believe in us! They don’t want us to win! They’d never do this to UConn!” And you know that last part is absolutely right.

Hate to think what will be said behind closed doors if they give POY to Clark too. (And by “hate”, I mean love.)

 

[bballnut90]

If 1 voter not thinking SC is #1 is upsetting you (after they almost lost to an unranked team) then you’re in for a world of hurt once Boston leaves.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Indiana is undefeated with Grace Berger. Not that crazy to think they are the best team in the country. I do.

 

[triaddukefan]

If 1 voter not thinking SC is #1 is upsetting you (after they almost lost to an unranked team) then you’re in for a world of hurt once Boston leaves.

Thin skinned fried chicken aint a good thing.

 

[JstVisiting]

If 1 voter not thinking SC is #1 is upsetting you (after they almost lost to an unranked team) then you’re in for a world of hurt once Boston leaves.

I don’t think we’ll be 27-0 with three top ten road wins next year, but if we are, I assure you it will irk me if someone moves us down from 1 to 2 for a close road win over a good team.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

But it irks me they named and quoted the guy who voted Indiana #1 in the AP story on the latest poll. No disrespect to Indiana, but there’s no rational justification* for that. It’s the sort of “look at me! Imma contrarian over here!” nonsense that should be derided rather than promoting some otherwise anonymous local journalist across the country.

*Yes. The top of the big ten is better than the SEC this year, and Indiana’s having a great season. That’s why they have their highest ranking in program history. Their SOS is still worse than Carolina’s, they have a loss, and they aren’t the defending champion. They aren’t even second in most of the reputable rating systems.

South Carolina needed OT to beat a top 40 team on the road. Big deal. It’s not like we lost to Michigan State.

The only consolation is Dawn will seize on this in the locker room to tell the girls, “They still don’t believe in us! They don’t want us to win! They’d never do this to UConn!” And you know that last part is absolutely right.

Hate to think what will be said behind closed doors if they give POY to Clark too. (And by “hate”, I mean love.)

To be fair, great UConn teams wouldn’t have gone to overtime against an unranked team, if they had they’d get the same treatment. Some great UConn teams didn’t even have single digit victories so let’s not compare apples to oranges.

 

[donalddoowop]

I don’t think we’ll be 27-0 with three top ten road wins next year, but if we are, I assure you it will irk me if someone moves us down from 1 to 2 for a close road win over a good team.

I don’t think we’ll be 27-0 with three top ten road wins next year, but if we are, I assure you it will irk me if someone moves us down from 1 to 2 for a close road win over a good team.

Mississippi is not a good team.

 

[triaddukefan]

Mississippi is not a good team.

They have to be good, they are in 4th place in the powerful SEC.

 

[Bigboote]

The only consolation is Dawn will seize on this in the locker room to tell the girls, “They still don’t believe in us! They don’t want us to win! They’d never do this to UConn!” And you know that last part is absolutely right.

"They don't believe in us" because there's been ONE vote all year for a team other than South Carolina out of around 1000 votes cast between the two polls? Really?

 

[GoChips20]

It makes sense to me. Indiana beat two ranked teams while SC went to overtime against an unranked one. I don’t think Indiana would beat SC if they played tomorrow but fact of the matter is Indiana is undefeated with Berger in the lineup. Feasible to view them as #1 at this point.

 

[Alydar]

But it irks me they named and quoted the guy who voted Indiana #1 in the AP story on the latest poll. No disrespect to Indiana, but there’s no rational justification* for that. It’s the sort of “look at me! Imma contrarian over here!” nonsense that should be derided rather than promoting some otherwise anonymous local journalist across the country.

*Yes. The top of the big ten is better than the SEC this year, and Indiana’s having a great season. That’s why they have their highest ranking in program history. Their SOS is still worse than Carolina’s, they have a loss, and they aren’t the defending champion. They aren’t even second in most of the reputable rating systems.

South Carolina needed OT to beat a top 40 team on the road. Big deal. It’s not like we lost to Michigan State.

The only consolation is Dawn will seize on this in the locker room to tell the girls, “They still don’t believe in us! They don’t want us to win! They’d never do this to UConn!” And you know that last part is absolutely right.

Hate to think what will be said behind closed doors if they give POY to Clark too. (And by “hate”, I mean love.)

I'm sure Staley will try and convince the team they are victims. But the reality is that they are the defending champs and are undefeated. SOS is all about the whole season while the AP is about who is playing the best RIGHT NOW. So someone voted for Indiana and now Staley thinks it's insulting? She had no problem accepting the No 1 ranking back in 2015 when Stanford beat UConn in early November and the voters made SCar No 1. Luckily UConn was able to correct that miss-judgement (and insult to UConn if Staley is to be believed) later in the season. South Carolina vs. UConn - Women's College Basketball Box Score - February 9, 2015 | ESPN

 

[nwhoopfan]

"They don't believe in us" because there's been ONE vote all year for a team other than South Carolina out of around 1000 votes cast between the two polls? Really?

I believe it. She'll do anything to play the chip on the shoulder, us against the world card. 2 Championships later and wire to wire #1 and she's still doing it.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Yeah you're not going to garner much sympathy here about a unanimous votes as it pertains to rankings. I don't think it's the biggest of deals but I do think the voter in question was looking for attention.

Indiana is a great team and could very well be the #1 team but I don't think the reasoning made much sense. He wants to reward them for a stronger conference but totally disregards the weaker non-conference as it relates to SC.

They also mentioned the top 10 wins throughout the season but if you look at this week's current rankings (which should hold more weight imo), SC has the lead on both current top 5 and top 10 team wins. SC has wins over #3, #4, #5 and #7 (3 of 4 on the road). Whereas Indiana has wins over #6 and #7. Even on his ballot they're tied on top 5 wins and SC leads with top 10 wins.

I know SC is enemy #1 right now, but the logic just doesn't add up to me. You add to it that most of the rating systems have the SEC as a better conference overall compared to the Big10 the metrics don't match up to the results.

On a side note I'm also skeptical of him having Iowa as the #3 team in the country as well, that's probably more newsworthy to me than the #1 ranking.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I believe it. She'll do anything to play the chip on the shoulder, us against the world card. 2 Championships later and wire to wire #1 and she's still doing it.

That doesn’t bode well for the future. If you need to be in the underdog mindset to be great you’ll never really be top dog.

 

[shiverz45]

I'm sure Staley will try and convince the team they are victims. But the reality is that they are the defending champs and are undefeated. SOS is all about the whole season while the AP is about who is playing the best RIGHT NOW. So someone voted for Indiana and now Staley thinks it's insulting? She had no problem accepting the No 1 ranking back in 2015 when Stanford beat UConn in early November and the voters made SCar No 1. Luckily UConn was able to correct that miss-judgement (and insult to UConn if Staley is to be believed) later in the season. South Carolina vs. UConn - Women's College Basketball Box Score - February 9, 2015 | ESPN

Memories. Those were the days UConn won championships.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Mississippi is not a good team.

That's not true they're a solid team. Outside of an OT loss to Auburn they played a pretty good season. They've been competitive in all but one game all season and has one of the top defenses in the country. They are definitely a team you don't want to meet in the tournament, especially when they play inspired basketball.

 

[Alydar]

Memories. Those were the days UConn won championships.

Championships aren't the same to me after watching UConn win a whole bunch. I enjoy watching great teams play and UConn gives me more of that than any fan deserves. Last year and this year have been marred by injuries but I hope things work out better in that regard in the future. I hope you stick around when that happens.

 

[JellyBean]

Coach Staley probably saw the rankings and did what the majority of us folks do when we see the rankings; just laugh, shrug the shoulders, and went on about the day. South Carolina players or Coach Staley don't need any additional motivation or speeches about focus. They learned last year after the loss to Missouri and Kentucky. If that loner voter felt Indiana was worthy of their vote. Fine. That is awesome. South Carolina moving on. Same with Indiana.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

It makes sense to me. Indiana beat two ranked teams while SC went to overtime against an unranked one. I don’t think Indiana would beat SC if they played tomorrow but fact of the matter is Indiana is undefeated with Berger in the lineup. Feasible to view them as #1 at this point.

You could see the Indiana narrative forming a mile off.

One guy doing it to sell books is no big deal.

 

[tigers4ever]

So they lost one vote, big deal. Problem for Gamecock fans is they been doggin the #2 team in SEC all year saying they haven't played anyone. If all those SEC wins don't count for anything for LSU, then they don't count for anything for SCar. It's BS cuz SEC is tough league but thems the apples.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I'm sure Staley will try and convince the team they are victims. But the reality is that they are the defending champs and are undefeated. SOS is all about the whole season while the AP is about who is playing the best RIGHT NOW. So someone voted for Indiana and now Staley thinks it's insulting? She had no problem accepting the No 1 ranking back in 2015 when Stanford beat UConn in early November and the voters made SCar No 1. Luckily UConn was able to correct that miss-judgement (and insult to UConn if Staley is to be believed) later in the season. South Carolina vs. UConn - Women's College Basketball Box Score - February 9, 2015 | ESPN

I really didn't follow the thread of this post.

As far as I know Staley isn't insulted.

Not sure what UConn losing a gane in 2015 has to do with an undefeated SC team in 2023 or anything else in particular.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

So they lost one vote, big deal. Problem for Gamecock fans is they been doggin the #2 team in SEC all year saying they haven't played anyone. If all those SEC wins don't count for anything for LSU, then they don't count for anything for SCar. It's BS cuz SEC is tough league but thems the apples.

I think the wins against UConn, Stanford, Maryland etc are more the argument than anything else.

No one is asking for a lot of credit for the SEC wins.

 

[tigers4ever]

Agreed. You are not asking for a lot of credit for beating SEC teams and you are not getting any from one voter. If you knock 14 games out of your season, then it's not nearly as impressive. Fwiw, I think SCar should be unanimous number 1 but constant disrespect of SEC wbb this season is not helpful.

 

[TC22]

I'm sure Staley will try and convince the team they are victims. But the reality is that they are the defending champs and are undefeated. SOS is all about the whole season while the AP is about who is playing the best RIGHT NOW. So someone voted for Indiana and now Staley thinks it's insulting? She had no problem accepting the No 1 ranking back in 2015 when Stanford beat UConn in early November and the voters made SCar No 1. Luckily UConn was able to correct that miss-judgement (and insult to UConn if Staley is to be believed) later in the season. South Carolina vs. UConn - Women's College Basketball Box Score - February 9, 2015 | ESPN

The difference is that UConn lost. If Dawn uses it to get her team’s attention she’s just doing what any good coach would do. We have 2 tough games this week. Getting past those will tell us a lot about this team. I know Tennessee has had its struggles but they are very, very talented. The Georgia game is Senior day and will be in front of a sold out CLA. I don’t think they have the talent to beat us, but it will be a very physical game.

 

[mbr33ct]

Agreed. You are not asking for a lot of credit for beating SEC teams and you are not getting any from one voter. If you knock 14 games out of your season, then it's not nearly as impressive. Fwiw, I think SCar should be unanimous number 1 but constant disrespect of SEC wbb this season is not helpful.

It's not "disrespect of the SEC" if it's the truth for this year. If I recall there are only two SEC teams on the AP/Coaches Polls and two others deep into the "others receiving votes", unlike past years.

By all Rankings available out there the SEC is:

#3 best conference in the NET Ranking (WarrenNolan)
#3 Massey Power ranking
#4 in RPI (WarrenNolan)
#4 in ELO ranking (WarrenNolan)
#5 in SOS. (Massey), (probably owe this ranking to LSU's OOC schedule)