Seems like this board hardly mentions the number one team in the nation

[VA Huskie]

I think they're well coached and the pieces are good, but I'm not sure about the fit. They haven't been tested and likely aren't as good as their record indicates.

Also, I am not a fan of Cotie McMahon.

Why not a fan of Cotie?

 

[WBBTakeover]

Why not a fan of Cotie?

I'm not a fan of her style of play. Also, she didn't exercise the best judgment/restraint at certain times last season (e.g., the Iowa road game last season). I do blame her coaches for not challenging her to dial it back emotionally.

I did like her as a freshman.

 

[Darwin]

Good luck to everyone tonight with their fav teams, plenty of great games about to begin

 

[BruinGold]

Ohio State coming to Pauley Pavilion tonight. Biggest test (by ranking, at least) for the Bruins in some time.

The early start time and current rainy conditions do not bode well for crowd size, but we shall see.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Ohio State coming to Pauley Pavilion tonight. Biggest test (by ranking, at least) for the Bruins in some time.

The early start time and current rainy conditions do not bode well for crowd size, but we shall see.

If tOSU plays like they did on Sunday against Washington, UCLA should cruise to a 15-20 point win. Buckeyes were awful, but Dawgs even worse.

 

[WBBTakeover]

At this point, the only thing that will get people talking about UCLA is wins (or losses) over Southern Cal/JuJu. The media (and women's basketball viewers as a whole) just does not care at this moment. The South Carolina game was too long ago, and it's apparent that the Gamecocks have improved since then.

 

[cancontent]

Ohio State coming to Pauley Pavilion tonight. Biggest test (by ranking, at least) for the Bruins in some time.

The early start time and current rainy conditions do not bode well for crowd size, but we shall see.

I'll be checking out the first half, at least. I'm curious to see whether tOSU sticks to their pressing approach with this UCLA roster. Along with who will McMahon be matched up against.

 

[BruinGold]

I'll be checking out the first half, at least. I'm curious to see whether tOSU sticks to their pressing approach with this UCLA roster. Along with who will McMahon be matched up against.

UCLA struggled against the press for much of the game. However, the press is only put on after made baskets or end-line fouls. After tying the game at 44 near the beginning of the 4th quarter, Ohio State started to miss shots (this might have had to do with the their best players never subbing out, and UCLA subbing liberally), so... no press. Bruins went on a 19-1 tear and only got pressed once in that stretch that I can recall.

 

[Stagnant]

I heard the crowd wasn’t very big for the Ohio State game.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I'm an east coast girl.

There's that whole east coast/west coast thing..lol

 

[JstVisiting]

Corrected from earlier post where I grabbed the wrong screenshot from Massey.

I that there are a couple of reasons that UCLA doesn’t get the discussion that they deserve. The first is that people perceive Lauren Betts as fragile. She’s an undeniable force and when playing well makes UCLA pretty much unstoppable. The second thing that seems to show consistently on fan boards (and not just this one) is that Cori Close may not be able to coach in the big game situations well enough to deliver a championship. I don’t think either one of those things are concrete metrics that should keep UCLA from being ranked number one, but it changes the perception of fans. If I were voting on straight up facts, clearly UCLA is number one. If I were voting with a forward thinking “what are teams going to look like at the end of the year”, right now I think that Notre Dame is the team to beat.

Every computer model has bias built into it. Massey has bias towards recent winners. At the beginning of the year, it was far too far skewed to the teams that had won a lot last year and didn’t seem to reflect conference realignment and coaching changes.

Some of the strength of schedule ratings were way off at the beginning of the year and still seem to be suspect. Strength of schedule has to factor into rating because otherwise you reward teams far too much the play cupcakes. The problem with this is that as conference realignment has concentrated a lot of the best teams together (for example OU now being in the SEC), you get a modeling effect that starts introducing bias, simply based on the effect of good teams playing each other. it isn’t as simple as “who did you play“ it’s also who did the teams you played play. I think that when good teams are all bunched together, and they all have to play each other, it starts to cause bias. While I used to think that Massey ratings were really good, lately, I’ve been taking them with a grain of salt.
View attachment 106222

There is "bias" in Week 1 because people want to see something somewhat reliable rather than Podunk Tech #1 because they blasted East Bumble Teaching College by 80. There is no bias at this point because those preseason ratings diminish as a factor in the calculations as the season goes on until they eventually are not considered at all. This method has been common knowledge for a literal generation, and people still get confused.

Notre Dame is 5th because they are 4-2 against Massey Top 25 with a 40 minute point differential of +2.5 per game. It's not (mostly) because they haven't played as many good teams; it's because other teams have been more dominant in their games against the top 25 teams and in their games against non-top 25.

 

[bballnut90]

Honestly, who should've been the #2 recruit? In a deep recruiting class, she wouldn't have been the #2 recruit, but in that one, maybe she should be. That's shaping up to be one of the worst recruiting classes in a very long time.

Disagree—it’s a very good recruiting class.

Other big names: Flaujae Johnson, Taniya Latson, Cotie McMahon, Raegan Beers, Ashlyn Watkins, Talaysia Cooper, and Grace VanSlooten. It’s stronger than the 2021 class.

 

[bballnut90]

Speaking of not being tested: Ohio’s State has played only one quad one opponent all year. One!

UCLA has played four. Even Kim has played three.

TOSU’s schedule is ranked 110. They might be really goood, but who knows?

Their game coming up against USC will be massive. Their loss to Penn State who is 1-11 in conference play might haunt them for seeding purposes. That is a BAD loss.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I heard the crowd wasn’t very big for the Ohio State game.

Not surprising. Let's see what the crowd looks like for the Southern Cal game.

As for this thread, I don't understand why we, the fans, get called out for not talking enough about UCLA when those who live in the area aren't being called out for their lack of support. If the team is what everyone says they are, why not attend the games?

And for those who say, "well, there's tons to do in LA", sure. I'm sure that the "tons to do" is far more expensive than a handful of UCLA women's basketball games. It's okay to admit that people just don't care about the team in that way and won't unless they achieve something great this season or next.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

LA struggles to fill arenas for most sports.

Expecting college women's basketball to be an exception at a place that hasn't won a title is unrealistic, I think.

 

[BruinGold]

LA struggles to fill arenas for most sports.

Expecting college women's basketball to be an exception at a place that hasn't won a title is unrealistic, I think.

UCLA could win the next two NCAA Championships in a row and wouldn't average more than 6000. That said, attendance is up significantly from past years... even for early games on rainy Wednesdays in a place that treats drizzle like others do blizzards.

But, seriously, we've got two MLB teams, two NBA teams, two NFL teams, two major Universities, dozens of smaller colleges, and high schools that supply talent for teams all over the country. The bar for what constitutes "a compelling sports story" is pretty high, here.

We've also got gridlock that makes a trip across town a multi-hour adventure.

 

[visitingcock]

A one loss team with a respectable Quad One sehedlle is still numer one to me.

The close win against Iowa is still a Quad one win.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Texas is #1 now. Anyone here want to talk about them?

 

[jdote33]

Texas is #1 now. Anyone here want to talk about them?

I think them being number 1 is a credit to how good a coach Vic Schaefer is. Before the season I really thought they could be the best team in the country but for 3 primary reasons. 1. Laila Phelia 2. Rori Harmon and Aaliyah Moore, seniors with W aspirations. 3. Madison Booker sophomore jump. I was dead wrong on all 3. I really think they are number 1 because of their defense and their twin towers. Booker has been good. Rori is still a good two way player. But their biggest wins have really hinged on the good play of their centers. I'll be interested to see how they fare against a good 3 point shooting team. Hopefully they don't get nc state again in their bracket. I could also see Baylor who is sneakily climbing up the rankings, could be a dangerous 1-4 matchup.