OSU goes down!!

[cockhrnleghrn]

What's the toughest true road game that South Carolina will face this season? A severely overrated Maryland? Kentucky?

Kentucky. Baylor was a neutral site.

 

[Huskie02]

I think Baylor and South Carolina should at least leap frog over UConn since Baylor defeated UConn by a dozen or so on UConn’s and South Carolina defeated Baylor. Granted Cox didn’t play for Baylor in that game.

 

[connboy77]

I think Baylor and South Carolina should at least leap frog over UConn since Baylor defeated UConn by a dozen or so on UConn’s and South Carolina defeated Baylor. Granted Cox didn’t play for Baylor in that game.

If Cox had played do you think South Carolina would have beat Baylor?

 

[mbr33ct]

So the top 3 teams all lost this week.
I want to see how Charlie Creme put the Oregon State in his bracketology ...

Wasn't ESPN, when UConn took over the #1 spot, came out and said something to the effect..."Oregon State and not UConn should be at #1".

 

[NWHoopFan2]

Oregon and Oregon State lost on the road -- but to a previously unranked team with some bad losses. (And though they would like you to, you can't forget the Ducks home loss to Louisville.)

Oregon’s loss to Louisville was a neutral site game at the Paradise Jam.

 

[maccca3232]

Oregon and Oregon State lost on the road -- but to a previously currently unranked team with some bad losses. (And though they would like you to, you can't forget the Ducks home loss to Louisville.)

Oregon’s loss to Louisville was a neutral site game at the Paradise Jam.

Slight correction as Arizona St. were ranked in both the AP & Coaches Preseason Poll and at #19 in Week 2 of the AP.

 

[FridaFriend]

I think Baylor and South Carolina will share the first place votes. I think the ranking order will be: Baylor, South Carolina, UCONN, Stanford, Oregon State, Oregon, Louisville, and UCLA.

 

[Figurehead]

And also Oregon just beat Arizona today.

Thanks I forgot about that

 

[azfan]

Oregon and Oregon State lost on the road -- but to a previously unranked team with some bad losses. (And though they would like you to, you can't forget the Ducks home loss to Louisville.)

Oregon’s loss to Louisville was a neutral site game at the Paradise Jam.

ASU was ranked in the preseason and early in the year. Coach CTT said in her presser today after the win over Oregon State it took the team time to come together for three reasons. First like many teams are she was dealing with injuries..Jamie Ruden, a major factor in both wins this weekend, missed the first 9 games of the year. For all those games she was in a boot and she has struggled with back challenges over her entire career.

Robbi Ryan and Kiki Russell missed this one and three games respectively. These three seniors along with Relli Richardson form the senior leadership of this team. Finally it took a while to integrate grad transfer La'Tavia Tapley into the max.

ASU has lost two games in conference to UCLA on the road by two points and what I agree is a tough loss a 5-point defeat by UofA at home. Their other losses were to two Big Ten teams Purdue and Minnesota on the road.

Oregon and Oregon State are outstanding teams playing on an outstanding conference. In the post-game interview with Jeff Munn coach CTT said she certainly hoped that the storyline after this weekend would be the ASU is a strong team and not that the two Oregon schools are overrated. They're not.

The conference of champions is very, very good this year in women's basketball. And ASU can now join the top tier of that excellent conference.

 

[GameReadyGC]

If Cox had played do you think South Carolina would have beat Baylor?

Yes! Te'a was not playing well early in the season. Te'a is the key. If you shut Cooper down you have a chance to win against Baylor.

This is one of my favorite SC teams. They play hard and play together. The freshmans are very smart.
if we stay healthy. We have a chance to go to final 4 and win it all. I love the fact we are so underrated. Dawn is a really great coach. I really don't care about the ranking and I believe- dawn doesn't care about ranking. I Just hope wE stay healthy.

 

[ReadR00ster]

If Cox had played do you think South Carolina would have beat Baylor?

Who knows? They certainly COULD in my opinion. I feel they are evenly matched teams.

 

[Bayloralum]

It shouldn't matter; Cox wouldn't have made a 16 point difference.

Ummm really!? I know that Boston wouldn’t have scored 20 with cox in the lineup and cox would’ve scored in double digits! Just saying

 

[DaBball]

The difference between Cox and Bickle is definitely >16 points.

 

[Bear11]

The difference between Cox and Bickle is definitely >16 points.

I think the more important comparison is between Cox and Queen Egbo, who replaced her in the starting lineup. Egbo still has work to do on defense, and tends to get in foul trouble. This happened against South Carolina, when she only played 14 minutes. With no real backup on the post, South Carolina's bigs went wild in a way that just doesn't happen against Baylor. Cox, who is the premier defensive post player in the country, would have totally changed the complexion of that game. For further confirmation, compare the performances of Aliyah Boston and Olivia Nelson-Ododa against Baylor.

 

[Reypl21]

Its too bad Cox was injured in that first matchup. Cox is definitely as impactful as a 16 point difference, probably even more. She would stop Boston from scoring 20, she would probably chip in her own modest 12, and she would get assists. I think Boston would fair better against her than ONO though, so she wouldn't shut Boston out.

But yeah, Baylor wins if Cox was playing. And they would have dominated UConn even more or she was never injured. Cox is going to be a monster by the NCAA if she can stay healthy. There's not a player that can shut down everything she does

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

If Cox had played do you think South Carolina would have beat Baylor?

It's a moot point.

 

[jumpstart]

If Cox had played do you think South Carolina would have beat Baylor?

I will answer that with a...then...maybe...but now...at this point of the season...South Carolina would beat Baylor for sure with Cox playing. This team has gotten much better since that game and with Amihere now picking up steam, this team is loaded. I don't think anyone has a true answer for a team that has that many unstoppable players. That team has turned into a machine. They are playing the same level as UCONN teams have in the past and that is a team of freshmen.

 

[Boreifs]

Arizona State will be ranked tomorrow. There will be a lot more attrition as all of these Pac 12 teams knock each other off. The Pac 12 could wind up not getting any #1 seed. UCLA had a close call with Colorado today which will give the pollsters pause, and Oregon had a dogfight with Arizona.

Looks like SC #1 tomorrow and Baylor #2. (Both put a big hurt on their opponents today.) Anybody's guess after that. It all depends on whether you rank teams based on how bad their loss was, versus the quality of their wins. Stanford has a couple of good home wins, but that road loss to Texas hurts. Oregon and Oregon State lost on the road -- but to a previously unranked team with some bad losses. (And though they would like you to, you can't forget the Ducks home loss to Louisville.) UConn lost to a highly-ranked team -- but on their home court, and they haven't beaten a top 15 team. UCLA is undefeated, but struggled with an unranked team today and has no impressive out-of-conference wins and hasn't played either Oregon team or Stanford yet (though they did manage to beat Arizona State by 2 at home). And where do Louisville, West Virginia and NC State figure in, each having some decent wins but each with a loss to an unranked team? And how about a shout out for Princeton -- one loss by two points to Iowa (who just beat Indiana to make them co-leader in the Big Ten). Princeton will probably run the table and be the #5 seed in the NCAA Tourney that nobody wants to face.

Notre Dame lost by 34 at home today. I don't think they'll even make the NIT this year.

DePaul is a Top 15 team, at least according to Massey.

 

[TheFarmFan]

It's a moot point.

Why? It's literally the main question I asked myself in deciding whether to rank Baylor or South Carolina #1. I went with the former, because I think the answer is yes. To me, rankings are only useful if they project the future - providing a capstone of past wins in the form of a numerical list really doesn't add much value.

 

[jumpstart]

Why? It's literally the main question I asked myself in deciding whether to rank Baylor or South Carolina #1. I went with the former, because I think the answer is yes. To me, rankings are only useful if they project the future - providing a capstone of past wins in the form of a numerical list really doesn't add much value.

South Carolina has become a much better team than when they played Baylor. I will say South Carolina would win by double digits with Cox in the Baylor line up. Amihere had 11 yesterday as a reserve and that has been the missing link in this freshman class. She has taken it slow in the early games but she seems to be coming into her own at this point. Amihere was the No.1 high school player before her injury...she still hasn't shown what she is capable of. Nah...South Carolina is No. 1

 

[TheFarmFan]

South Carolina has become a much better team than when they played Baylor. I will say South Carolina would win by double digits with Cox in the Baylor line up. Amihere had 11 yesterday as a reserve and that has been the missing link in this freshman class. She has taken it slow in the early games but she seems to be coming into her own at this point. Amihere was the No.1 high school player before her injury...she still hasn't shown what she is capable of. Nah...South Carolina is No. 1

Happy to reasonably disagree, and I think it's closer either way. My point is simply that taking hypothetical matchups into account is, for me, part of the decision making process when trying to break ties between otherwise comparable teams, especially when adjusting for injured players who are now back in the lineup and playing well. ASU's past weekend shows how much returns from injuries can affect outcomes...

 

[southofnorth]

South Carolina has become a much better team than when they played Baylor. I will say South Carolina would win by double digits with Cox in the Baylor line up. Amihere had 11 yesterday as a reserve and that has been the missing link in this freshman class. She has taken it slow in the early games but she seems to be coming into her own at this point. Amihere was the No.1 high school player before her injury...she still hasn't shown what she is capable of. Nah...South Carolina is No. 1

It would probably be competitive, but I doubt either team wins by double digits in the end unless either team had a breakdown in a quarter similar to UConn in the final 4 minutes. Lauren Cox is a tremendous defender and her length alters everyone’s shots—not just the player she’s guarding. When Cox is in the paint on defense, it makes it incredibly difficult for guards to drive and get their shots up. Boston has made her living thus far by out-muscling or by getting a few feet free of her defender. That doesn’t really work against Lauren Cox. I know who wins in a single game matchup come March, but it most likely won’t be decided by more the 5-6 points.

 

[azfan]

Happy to reasonably disagree, and I think it's closer either way. My point is simply that taking hypothetical matchups into account is, for me, part of the decision making process when trying to break ties between otherwise comparable teams, especially when adjusting for injured players who are now back in the lineup and playing well. ASU's past weekend shows how much returns from injuries can affect outcomes...

Coach Turner Thorne touched on this issue in her post game presser. After talking about the early-season challenges faced by the ASU Sun Devils involving both injuries, incorporating freshmen and supporting sophomore growth, and incorporating a grad transfer CTT said that conference play begins to show who's for real and who's not.

CTT did not mention that Colorado was undefeated prior to entering conference play. ASU suffered two non conference losses. ASU's losses were on the road to Big Ten teams. What I'm saying is that the type of non-conference schedule a team selects and how the team and coach manage that non-conference schedule goes a long way to determining what's going to happen in March which is really what this is all about.

ASU matured and grew through the process of working through injuries, allowing freshmen and sophomores to develop, and facilitating the integration of their grad transfer. All major D1 programs face these challenges. An outlier is what's happening at Notre Dame. I think one could argue that program has faced catastrophic changes. Our Connecticut Huskies are also working through the process that CTT indicated is important for performance in March.

While the advantage of being one of the top eight teams going into the tournament is obvious I think a focus on week-by-week rankings distracts from considering the process each team going through.

I know Geno emphasizes that each season as a process. I've watched CTT apply that philosophy over her 20-plus years at ASU to success.

I'll repeat what CTT hoped for in the postgame presser after OSU. She said that she would hope the narrative would focus on the fact that ASU is a fine team rather than the Oregon schools being overrated. I think this is a reflection of her philosophy of process over looking at a point in time evaluation particularly very early in the season.

 

[Bayloralum]

I will answer that with a...then...maybe...but now...at this point of the season...South Carolina would beat Baylor for sure with Cox playing. This team has gotten much better since that game and with Amihere now picking up steam, this team is loaded. I don't think anyone has a true answer for a team that has that many unstoppable players. That team has turned into a machine. They are playing the same level as UCONN teams have in the past and that is a team of freshmen.

Yeah no! T’ea Cooper has said it best! Baylor is at 75-80 percent right now and they still beat UConn by 16 on their home court! Let’s see if South Carolina can do the same in the next month! Baylor and South Carolina have improved from that game but let’s be real! Cox is the best 2 way player in the nation! She’s a beast defensively in the paint and once she gets her offense back watch out!!! She also is the heart and soul of Baylor! She gives everyone confidence just like Sabrina does for her team! So yeah Lauren cox would’ve made a huge difference if she had played!

 

[Plebe]

Yeah no! T’ea Cooper has said it best! Baylor is at 75-80 percent right now and they still beat UConn by 16 on their home court! Let’s see if South Carolina can do the same in the next month! Baylor and South Carolina have improved from that game but let’s be real! Cox is the best 2 way player in the nation! She’s a beast defensively in the paint and once she gets her offense back watch out!!! She also is the heart and soul of Baylor! She gives everyone confidence just like Sabrina does for her team! So yeah Lauren cox would’ve made a huge difference if she had played!

Has anyone ever told you that you can simply use a period to end a sentence?