Six Teams Remain Undefeated with start of Conference Play

[Wbbfan1]

Both Baylor and USC went down to defeat in their first conference game.

Baylor losing to Okla. St was surprising, but they did play without Niya Johnson their starting PG. Lost 52-45. Don't know how long Niya is out for, but if its for extended period of time, they won't be a #1 Seed.

USC losing to UCLA IMHO was not surprising as So Cal did not play a great OOC Schedule. Lost 78-73 in a Road Game.

The six Remaining teams are

Kentucky: Play Auburn, Alabama Georgia Next Georgia possibly a toss up game.
Oregon: Play UCLA, So Cal and Oregon St Should have two losses if not three.
Missouri: Play Tenn, Georgia and So. Carolina. Will they have 3 losses after these games
So Carolina: Play Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri. Should remain undefeated
Texas play Texas Tech, Iowa St and Okla St. May lose to either Iowas St or Okla St.
UConn play Tulsa, Houston and USF. Many expecting USF to give battle, don't think so.

 

[Aluminny69]

While Notre Dame and Maryland have only one loss each.

 

[Carnac]

Both Baylor and USC went down to defeat in their first conference game.

Baylor losing to Okla. St was surprising, but they did play without Niya Johnson their starting PG. Lost 52-45. Don't know how long Niya is out for, but if its for extended period of time, they won't be a #1 Seed.

USC losing to UCLA IMHO was not surprising as So Cal did not play a great OOC Schedule. Lost 78-73 in a Road Game.

The six Remaining teams are

Kentucky: Play Auburn, Alabama Georgia Next Georgia possibly a toss up game.
Oregon: Play UCLA, So Cal and Oregon St Should have two losses if not three.
Missouri: Play Tenn, Georgia and So. Carolina. Will they have 3 losses after these games
So Carolina: Play Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri. Should remain undefeated
Texas play Texas Tech, Iowa St and Okla St. May lose to either Iowas St or Okla St.
UConn play Tulsa, Houston and USF. Many expecting USF to give battle, don't think so.

Thanks Wbbfan1, a timely and informative post.

Your post brings to mind several thoughts and observations.............If Baylor has all of their starters on the floor and they're healthy, they will win 90% of their games.
In spite of their ridiculously "soft" OOC schedule, Baylor will be a tough nut to crack this year. Baylor not having Niya Johnson would be like UConn not having Morgan Tuck. NOBODY else on Baylor's roster can shuffle the cards and "deal" out those assists like she can. Baylor had seven (7) assists last night. Alexis Jones had 4 of them. Johnson averages about 12 a game by herself.

Those two bring a unique dynamic and skill set (not to mention their leadership qualities) to their team that no bench player can replicate. There are many moving parts involved in being a prolific assist maker. I liken Johnson to Tuck, in that she's not the star of the team, but she is an essential part of that unit that allows it to operate at maximum efficiency. Remove either of them, and the unit loses some of it efficiency and consistency. In short, there's no one on either bench that can come in and do all of the things these two can do. UConn does not beat Maryland if Tuck (17 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast) does not play.

Top ranked teams such as Baylor, Maryland Notre Dame, South Carolina, and UConn will be very difficult to beat if you are not as talented and big as they are. Smaller less talented teams are not going to defeat these teams. I think you can sneak up on Texas and Kentucky and catch them napping and maybe steal one. I put these two at a notch below the teams mentioned above.

Even though ND has lost a game (unless they suffer a complete collapse / or lose Brianna Turner again for an extended period of time), I again look for them along with UConn to be a 1 seed in the national tournament. We should have a pretty good idea who the other two 1 seeds will be by the end of February. The "cream of the crop" always rises to the top, and will have done so by then. The other two will have acquired a phosphorescence quality, and won't be hard to recognize.

You can bet all of the teams still undefeated along with ND, Maryland and Baylor all have their eyes (and hearts) set on a 1 seed. That's 9 teams vying for 4 spots.
Somebody's going to need a shoehorn. This year's run for those 1 seeds should be interesting.

 

[masshusk77]

I could only see 2 of the teams getting to the NCAA tournament undefeated. UConn for obvious reasons and potentially Texas. It will be tough for them to beat Baylor 2 or potentially 3 times but I think they are a good team and they tested themselves in the OOC schedule. With wins over Tenn, Stanford, and Miss St, that showed me that they have the potential to beat everyone on their schedule for the rest of the regular season.

 

[watanabe]

How cool it will be to beat an undefeated USC team in Feb.

 

[Kaizen]

How cool it will be to beat an undefeated USC team in Feb.

With Butler and Chong both healthy, UConn will beat USCr by 20, IMHO.

 

[alexrgct]

Uconn has the record of "highest lowest" single-game MOV in a season with 11 points in 2013-14. All of these undefeated teams of 2015-16 have already won games by 10 points or fewer, so the record holds for the Huskies. Even Uconn maintained the record for Uconn 2014 by allowing Maryland and ND to stay within 10, so it won't be a new record this year.

Of other undefeated Uconn teams, the mark is four points from 1995, nine points in 2002, 10(twice) in 2009, and six in 2010. And 11 points against Baylor on the road in 2014. Not shabby at all.

 

[watanabe]

With Butler and Chong both healthy, UConn will beat USCr by 20, IMHO.

That make two of us

 

[MilfordHusky]

Uconn has the record of "highest lowest" single-game MOV in a season with 11 points in 2013-14. All of these undefeated teams of 2015-16 have already won games by 10 points or fewer, so the record holds for the Huskies. Even Uconn maintained the record for Uconn 2014 by allowing Maryland and ND to stay within 10, so it won't be a new record this year.

Of other undefeated Uconn teams, the mark is four points from 1995, nine points in 2002, 10(twice) in 2009, and six in 2010. And 11 points against Baylor on the road in 2014. Not shabby at all.

Stanford hit several threes, some of them a bit wild, in the 2010 NC game. The first half of that game was also wild. I think that team could hang with anyone.