SI WBB experts predictions

[Shorty Dee]

Women’s college basketball preseason predictions - Sports Illustrated

Which teams will clinch a spot in the Final Four? Who will be named National Player of the Year? SI writers make their picks.

www.si.com

 

[Bone Dog]

I like the lockstep predictions for the final four: all of the staff thought SC Stanford Texas; Tennessee also figured in one of them, who took Louisville.

What a yawn. I get that they don't see UConn making it that far again. We must look star-crossed to outsiders. But is the final four really gonna be that boring. I hope more than one of these predictions blows up in the SI staff's faces. Maybe Iowa and Creighton surprise everyone. Or Indiana. It's time to knock the favorites off their pedestals.

Here's my off-kilter final four prediction: UConn (of course) Texas UCLA Indiana. That'd be a hoot.

 

[socal613ws]

I like the lockstep predictions for the final four: all of the staff thought SC Stanford Texas; Tennessee also figured in one of them, who took Louisville.

What a yawn. I get that they don't see UConn making it that far again. We must look star-crossed to outsiders. But is the final four really gonna be that boring. I hope more than one of these predictions blows up in the SI staff's faces. Maybe Iowa and Creighton surprise everyone. Or Indiana. It's time to knock the favorites off their pedestals.

Here's my off-kilter final four prediction: UConn (of course) Texas UCLA Indiana. That'd be a hoot.

prob was going to be boring regardless, hard to see anyone beating South Carolina. It can be done, but hard to say who.
MY final 4 right now if I had to choose would be Texas, South Carolina, Stanford, and UNC.

 

[Bald Husky]

LOL, another publication that predicts our demise. Well, I suppose it could be true, but I doubt it. A few things that none of these predicters don't mention except in passing.
1- Lou- We expect Lou to be one of our best scorers this year, but she is never mentioned. She will bring another 3 pt shooter to our game that no one else can see.
2- Aubrey- She might as well be a new player since she didn't see any action last year. Even I forgot how good she can be, but after watching old videos I was reminded how quick she is, one of our best defensive players, and yes, another player with energy almost as huge as Nika.
3- Ayanna- Wait until everyone sees how she can rebound, may become our best. She gets mentioned, but not predicted to play a large role in our rotation.
4- The new Nika- If she improves her shooting (accuracy and frequency), that will be another dimension to her game and the dynamics of our team game.

These are aspects of our team that we have been discussing all summer, but apparently, we are the only ones. They all predict doom and gloom for UConn, but hopefully, we know better. Will find out very shortly. Go Huskies.

 

[ucbart]

People who cover WBB have been licking their chops for years to see us in this position.

It's almost comical how bad their willing us to fail.

 

[huskeynut]

The "experts" predictions are ho hum. They arer enjoying the possibility that the dynasty known as UConn is not in the running.

I hope they enjoy eating crow come March.

 

[Mdoggie]

It’s possible we don’t make the FF and that will be bigger news than the teams that do.

 

[JellyBean]

I had to laugh when I saw that somebody picked Louisville. Anything is possible just not Louisville reaching the FF. I agree with two of the selections. South Carolina and the Lady Vols. They are two of the favorites and I can see them reaching the FF if everything clicks for them; team chemistry, players staying healthy, and players buying into the coaching system. Stanford is always an interesting pick. They are always in the conversation. They have the players and coaching. Just putting that all together to finish the task of reaching the FF. This is going to be an exciting season. I still love our UConn Huskies chances of shocking the system and reaching the FF. Can not wait!

 

[oldude]

Nobody picked UConn as one of their 4 primary choices to make the FF. As Bobby Boucher would remind us, more “tackling fuel” for the Huskies…

 

[Bone Dog]

I had to laugh when I saw that somebody picked Louisville.

I can just picture the editor yelling at these guys when they all came back with the same final four prediction:

Editor— “I can’t print this if you all say the same thing. Can’t even one of you say something else?”
Staff — [hushed murmuring among the four experts]
Editor — “Well?”
Youngest staff member — “Ok, fine. I’ll take Louisville.”

 

[JellyBean]

I can just picture the editor yelling at these guys when they all came back with the same final four prediction:

Editor— “I can’t print this if you all say the same thing. Can’t even one of you say something else?”
Staff — [hushed murmuring among the four experts]
Editor — “Well?”
Youngest staff member — “Ok, fine. I’ll take Louisville.”

That would be one hilarious meeting. The back and forth would be funny to picture.

 

[Bigboote]

I'm very taken aback that three of the four picked Stanford to win it all. I'm not sure I'd pick Stanford to make the final four.

Only one picked UConn as a "dark horse", yet one picked UConn as their "not buying the hype." If nobody thinks UConn will be that good, where's the hype?

I'm not buying the hype of Tennessee. The writeup cited their 18-1 start last year, but did anyone look at their schedule? And by the way, that 19-point loss to UConn was with Horston and without Bueckers.

I'm keeping an open mind. I think there's no question that South Carolina is the team to beat and Stanford is a solid second, but beyond that it gets murky, which is a good thing for NCAAW.

 

[sun]

At least UConn is a team in the SI conversation, and there's no doubt that we're an underdog.
We should relish every tough win possible.
UConn always needs to prove itself each & every year anyway, but this year more than ever because we're not expected to make it to the Final Four by any of the experts.
Every one of them wants to see some proof.

 

[Bigboote]

What is this infatuation with Tennessee in the rankings? They finished last year barely in the top 20 in the rankings, lost in the round of 16 in the tourney. They lost about as much as most and got a little more than most, but I just don't see that they should be jumping 10 spots.

 

[sun]

What is this infatuation with Tennessee in the rankings? They finished last year barely in the top 20 in the rankings, lost in the round of 16 in the tourney. They lost about as much as most and got a little more than most, but I just don't see that they should be jumping 10 spots.

It must be Rickea Jackson's credentials.
She has a long list of accomplishments & has been a prolific scorer.

Rickea Jackson - Women's Basketball - University of Tennessee Athletics

Rickea Jackson (2) Forward - CAREER HIGHS * Indicates most recent high Points: 40 // McNeese State, 12/1/21 Rebounds: 19 // Auburn, 1/4/24 Assists:

utsports.com

 

[Bigboote]

I guesso, but I view Jackson as a mixed bag.

 

[Cuango]

What is this infatuation with Tennessee in the rankings? They finished last year barely in the top 20 in the rankings, lost in the round of 16 in the tourney. They lost about as much as most and got a little more than most, but I just don't see that they should be jumping 10 spots.

I’m not sold on Tennessee as a final four team. Even if they have the talent, which I remain unconvinced of, that talent has to be formed into a cohesive unit. I’m not sure Kellie Harper has the requisite coaching chops to get them there. I don’t consider her a bad coach, just sort of middle of the road. Certainly, it’s clear she has more talent to work with this season so perhaps I’ll be eating these words in March/April!

 

[Bald Husky]

What is this infatuation with Tennessee in the rankings? They finished last year barely in the top 20 in the rankings, lost in the round of 16 in the tourney. They lost about as much as most and got a little more than most, but I just don't see that they should be jumping 10 spots.

Free agents baby, free agents (Portal). They can't recruit the young guns from High School, so the portal is the only way they can field a decent team. Sad is what they have become.