Next yrs #1

[GamecockFam]

Now that the championship has been decided, I'll cast my vote: UConn. Presumably the voters have seen the last four games including a cumulative 71 points victory against three #1 seeds.

In crunch time today, they had a freshman and two sophomores in the game. They lose Paige, Kaitlyn, and Aubrey. Paige is huge, and Kaitlyn and Aubrey have both been really good. But the voters can't ignore the core of Strong, Fudd, Arnold, and Shade along with other significant contributors and freshmen who will have a year under their belts at the beginning of next season. And a couple of the recruits could be immediate contributors.

First, congrats on the win. Part of me feels like you'll be facing the same issue as South Carolina did this year...predicted to repeat because of the returning talent, yet the loss of Paige left a larger hole than initially thought (i.e., the loss of Cardoso with this year's South Carolina team). It's probably going to be another year with a spinning carousel of teams at #1. But no matter who is ranked #1 in November, I expect both teams in the final four again next year.

 

[YoDore]

Oops! I thought the thread title was asking who would be #11 next season. My bad.

 

[Jim R]

I could see Oklahoma sneaking into the top 5 if Chavez lives up to her #1 ranking. I'm not exactly sure who they retain but a core of Chavez/Beers is something to build around.

Great observation - they’ve got talent around those two - believe they and two or three other SEC teams will give USC a run for their money, and don’t see USC’s future as bright next year as many (unless they add some shooters from the portal)…but, time will tell.