Stanford falls out of top 25 for first time since 2001

[Plebe]

And South Florida just barely remains in the poll, by a mere 3 points ahead of Stanford.

Oklahoma State enters at #24.

No change in #1 through #17.

 

[UConn82]

I give Tara a lot, a lot of credit for scheduling such a tough pre-conference schedule. I mean, compared to Baylor or Texas? Moreover, she has a very young team, as we know, having graduated a lot. Plus, her top player had been hurt. (She did play against Tennessee.)

I suspect they will get a lot better by PAC-12 tournament time.

Well, I do think Geno will pick up 10+ wins this year in the "race to 1099."

 

[Plebe]

I give Tara a lot, a lot of credit for scheduling such a tough pre-conference schedule. I mean, compared to Baylor or Texas? Moreover, she has a very young team, as we know, having graduated a lot. Plus, her top player had been hurt. (She did play against Tennessee.)

I suspect they will get a lot better by PAC-12 tournament time.

Well, I do think Geno will pick up 10+ wins this year in the "race to 1099."

Tara talks about the tough schedule in this article:
Stanford's 17 year-run in AP women's hoops poll ends

“We can schedule it so that we are 12-0 or 10-2. But this team went to the Final Four last year, and that’s the level that we have to get to,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said after an 83-71 loss to No. 7 Tennessee on Dec. 22. “Tennessee wasn’t in the Final Four last year, Baylor wasn’t, Ohio State wasn’t, but those are the teams you have to play to get there. We need our tough schedule to pay off for us.

“But it only pays off if we build on it. Don’t get frustrated. Get mad and go to work. We are looking up at people right now. We need people to look up at where we need to be and embrace that challenge.”
​

I like how she points out that Tennessee wasn't in the Final Four

I agree that Stanford will get better. We already saw that they were much better with McPhee back in the lineup against Tennessee. I am still picking them to finish 4th in the Pac-12, behind UCLA, Oregon, and Oregon State.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I think Stanford is in more trouble than most think.
I am not impressed with anyone on their current team.
It will take awhile for any chemistry to come out of the season.
If they lose their next two home games vs UCLA and USC then they are deeper trouble than most think,
I dont see them finishing ahead of UO, UCLA, OSU, Cal, and if USC can find a way to last playing 6 players than they will finish ahead of them. Even ASU or Utah might finish ahead of them.

If Stanford uses Snezak at the pg the other teams will lay off of her. She shoots 29% overall and 25% from 3pt range.
McPhee tries to do too much herself. Eventually teams will start guarding her closer than last year when her supporting cast was much better. McPhee only averages 2 assists a game so that tells me when she gets the ball guard the driving lane make her force as many bad shots as possible.
Carrington isnt that great either. In the 9 games she has played this year she has averaged 39% shooting and 22% from 3pt territory.
No Chemistry and not a lot of players who have a lot of reliable consistent past experience.

 

[noirwestern]

Their game against us looked like a Stanford team only because of the name on the jerseys. Just like the one wearing Maryland colors. We're not the only one having an odd year.

 

[Sonny44]

Looks likàe UCONN #1 and 5 teams tied for 2nd.

 

[Plebe]

I think Stanford is in more trouble than most think.
I am not impressed with anyone on their current team.
It will take awhile for any chemistry to come out of the season.
If they lose their next two home games vs UCLA and USC then they are deeper trouble than most think,
I dont see them finishing ahead of UO, UCLA, OSU, Cal, and if USC can find a way to last playing 6 players than they will finish ahead of them. Even ASU or Utah might finish ahead of them.

If Stanford uses Snezak at the pg the other teams will lay off of her. She shoots 29% overall and 25% from 3pt range.
McPhee tries to do too much herself. Eventually teams will start guarding her closer than last year when her supporting cast was much better. McPhee only averages 2 assists a game so that tells me when she gets the ball guard the driving lane make her force as many bad shots as possible.
Carrington isnt that great either. In the 9 games she has played this year she has averaged 39% shooting and 22% from 3pt territory.
No Chemistry and not a lot of players who have a lot of reliable consistent past experience.

All valid points. But somehow, as awful as they've looked, Stanford took Ohio State to overtime (without McPhee) and had Tennessee in a 6-point game in crunch time.

If Stanford continues to flounder and can't find their chemistry, they very well could miss the tournament. But I've also seen years where Stanford has looked bad in December and January only to find their stuff in February and March. I've seen Tara pull the late-season rabbit out of the hat too many times to count her team completely out just yet.

I will also say that the Pac-12 feels a bit down this year. Oregon and UCLA seem to be the only teams that had significant conquests in the OOC. I'm not sure that Cal's win over Kentucky will even count as a top-50 win in the end. Washington State's win over Rutgers is probably the Pac-12's 3rd-best quality win so far. It's way too early to project, of course, but it's quite possible that as few as four teams from the conference make the tournament.

 

[TWG236]

If my records are right, this is the 223 week UCONN has been ranked #1 in the AP Poll. Tennessee is second by being ranked #1 103 times. I guess they have a way to go to catch up. With Stamford dropping out of the AP Poll it ends their consecutive weeks at 312. Tennessee has the longest consecutive streak at 565 which ended in Feb. 2016. UCONN has the current longest streak at 458.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Looks likàe UCONN #1 and 5 teams tied for 2nd.

I think that's right, Sonny. I don't necessarily agree with the ordering of 2 through 6, but fully agree they are the right five teams. SEC conference play should be most instructive and entertaining this season.

 

[willtalk]

I am just glad to see them (Stanford) out if only for principles sake.

 

[donalddoowop]

Don't be surprised if Washington finishes in the top four. They look good to me.

 

[JellyBean]

I love it when coaches/AD schedule tough games at the start of the season. Tom Izzo does it a lot for the Spartans. Geno does it a lot. To me, when you schedule tough games at the start, u find out what type of team you have. You find who the warriors are on the team. Who are the players that are going to whine about the competition. There is so many things that you find out about your team in these though games.

Tara is one of my favorite coaches, next to Geno and Jay Wright, and Kevin Ollie. She said it best, the players have to embrace this challenge and raise their game a level. The bar is set high at Stanford. The bar is not going to be lowered because the team is young. Players gotta step up.

 

[Plebe]

Don't be surprised if Washington finishes in the top four. They look good to me.

The University of Washington? Top four of the Pac-12?

 

[Mister2]

I'm not so sure that Stanford would drop out of the USA Today poll this week, which last week had a huge gap between the 25th school (Iowa; 88 pts.) and the 26th schools (Cal and Oklahoma State; 21 pts.). Although most people tend to go by the AP poll, IMO the coaches poll often reflects a more accurate picture of the relative qualities of the schools being ranked.
,

 

[cbraarj]

Kevin Ollie needs to go!

 

[nwhoopfan]

The University of Washington? Top four of the Pac-12?

Yeah, that would be more than a little surprising.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Stanford did lose 3 seniors starters that were good players and I might assume leaders, but I'm not giving that to them as an excuse. Oregon St. lost just as much or more and seems to be doing fine this year. Washington lost EVERYTHING from last year. All 5 starters and top reserve. Stanford returned a core of 2 Sr. and 2 Jr. w/ quite a few combined starts between them and plenty of experience, plus a handful of highly touted players in the Fr. and Soph classes. That's a lot more than either OSU or UW had returning. Stanford is underachieving.

 

[CL82]

Kevin Ollie needs to go!

Is he coaching Stanford too?

 

[triaddukefan]

The University of Washington? Top four of the Pac-12?

Pretty sure he is talking about Washington University in St Louis.

 

[donalddoowop]

Pretty sure he is talking about Washington University in St Louis.

No. Washington looked good to me. If they play like they did when I saw them, they will surprise a lot of teams and people. You saw them Plebe. Do you think there are eight better teams than they are in the Pac 12?

 

[ConnFanInMich]

No. Washington looked good to me. If they play like they did when I saw them, they will surprise a lot of teams and people. You saw them Plebe. Do you think there are eight better teams than they are in the Pac 12?

I haven't seen Washington play but losing by 12 to a UNC team that should finish towards the bottom of the ACC doesn't seem like a good sign.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I've only seen Washington a little bit so far. They play hard. They go 10 deep, keep 5 fresh bodies on the court, press, force turnovers, take lots of 3's, hit the O boards. That style can keep you in some games. They aren't the most talented team. Before the season started I thought there was a fairly good chance they would finish last in the Pac 12. I've upgraded my expectations quite a bit, but top 4 in the league seems massively optimistic at this point. Yes I do believe there are at least 4 better teams in the Pac.

Not sure which games you've seen donald, but they've been fairly up and down. Got beaten fairly handily by Idaho St. and Boise St. among their losses.

 

[donalddoowop]

I don't believe they are in the top four. However, I don't believe there are eight better teams than Washington. Did not the Idaho St. and Boise St. losses come early in the season?

 

[donalddoowop]

The University of Washington? Top four of the Pac-12?

Too high, huh?

 

[Plebe]

No. Washington looked good to me. If they play like they did when I saw them, they will surprise a lot of teams and people. You saw them Plebe. Do you think there are eight better teams than they are in the Pac 12?

Considering how depleted their roster was coming into the season, I thought they might be a basket case and had picked them to finish dead-last in the Pac-12. In that sense they've been a pleasant surprise, and they're clearly playing better than Arizona, which is having a very rough season.

I think that UW will be competitive in a lot of games, but I don't expect them to finish in top 6. I believe that Oregon, UCLA, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, USC, and Arizona State are the seven best teams in the conference.

I think the current Massey ratings do a good job of reflecting how the Pac-12 teams have played so far: