The Elite College Women's Basketball Programs from 2015 to 2018

[mbr33ct]

As if there's any drama here.

The Elite College Women's Basketball Programs From 2015 to 2018

 

[meyers7]

The biggest gap between any 2 places is between 1st and 2nd. UCONN really is the outlier.

 

[IWearShoes]

While this weird point system does come up with what appears to me to be the right programs at the top, it still seems like a stupid and kinda arbitrary exercise.

 

[CocoHusky]

While this weird point system does come up with what appears to me to be the right programs at the top, it still seems like a stupid and kinda arbitrary exercise.

Thanks for taking the time to point that out.

 

[IWearShoes]

Thanks for taking the time to point that out.

Well, it is a writer I'm very familiar with (ETA this is an MSU fan site) and it's kinda par for the course with him. Wasn't being critical of the post if it came across that way.

 

[huskyd]

The success of SC and MSU coincided with the coming of major talent. It's tough to weigh with certainty the value of the player talent and the coaching because often the players make an ordinary coach into a "genius." The bottom fell out of SC once Aja graduated; we'll see how long MSU sustains it recent success. When Griner left Baylor, its dominance ended. (Only Holly, and perhaps TX, have been able to avoid winning with stacked rosters.) When Stewie & Co. left, UConn's world was thought to be teetering on the brink. But it didn't happen. Why not? I'd be willing to say it was because of Geno and the perpetuation of a culture of excellence that no other program has had. It's the coaches, stupid.

 

[LoTrader]

For me, this list is pretty darn accurate for what it was attempting to portray.

 

[CocoHusky]

The success of SC and MSU coincided with the coming of major talent. It's tough to weigh with certainty the value of the player talent and the coaching because often the players make an ordinary coach into a "genius." The bottom fell out of SC once Aja graduated; we'll see how long MSU sustains it recent success. When Griner left Baylor, its dominance ended. (Only Holly, and perhaps TX, have been able to avoid winning with stacked rosters.) When Stewie & Co. left, UConn's world was thought to be teetering on the brink. But it didn't happen. Why not? I'd be willing to say it was because of Geno and the perpetuation of a culture of excellence that no other program has had. It's the coaches, stupid.

A couple challenges here: 1) The year prior to Wilson's arrival at South Carolina 2013-14 season SC was a Number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The season prior to that SC was a 4 Seed in in the tournament.
2) What elite talent arrived at MSU? Teira McCowan was the 45th ranked player in her class of 2015. Victoria Vivians was 24th in the class a year prior to McCowan.
3) Baylor was not dominant while Griner was there unless you want to call 1 championship dominant.
4) Baylor did not fall that far after Griner's departure. In the two season following Griner's departure Baylor
was a 2 seed and had the misfortune of being in ND bracket both times losing in the regional finals.
Your praise of Geno is admirable but it leaves the door open for this specific retort: Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players. It both players and coaching and Geno would be the first to agree.

 

[IrishTiger]

If you want to build a Dynasty. It’s not just coaching and it’s not just players it is both. Would Bama keep winning every year like they are without Saban? I highly doubt they would go 11-1 or 12-0 every regular season. But Saban also has recruited at a high level. Sometimes with just coaching You may win a championship or two but if You wanna a lot of championships and have a dynasty You have to have both.

 

[shiverz45]

The success of SC and MSU coincided with the coming of major talent. It's tough to weigh with certainty the value of the player talent and the coaching because often the players make an ordinary coach into a "genius." The bottom fell out of SC once Aja graduated; we'll see how long MSU sustains it recent success. When Griner left Baylor, its dominance ended. (Only Holly, and perhaps TX, have been able to avoid winning with stacked rosters.) When Stewie & Co. left, UConn's world was thought to be teetering on the brink. But it didn't happen. Why not? I'd be willing to say it was because of Geno and the perpetuation of a culture of excellence that no other program has had. It's the coaches, stupid.

SC climb started 2 years prior to Aja Wilson. The first year Dawn won the SEC championship, she only had one McDonalds All American on the team.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

About my favorite Gampell game ever was on February 9, 2015, when the Cockytalks strode into Gampell as #1 and UConn was a 10 point underdog, with talk of how UConn had fallen back in the pile. At the end of the SC shellacking (87-62) it was once again UConn and everyone else. That's the way I like it. Publication of this list looks superfluous to me, unless people take joy in reaching to be number 2.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Interesting to see Washington at #14 even after such a dismal year last season. And Oregon at #15 has only been good for 2 of the 4 years being looked at. I guess the point is there really aren't very many consistently good programs.

 

[huskyd]

A couple challenges here: 1) The year prior to Wilson's arrival at South Carolina 2013-14 season SC was a Number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The season prior to that SC was a 4 Seed in in the tournament.
2) What elite talent arrived at MSU? Teira McCowan was the 45th ranked player in her class of 2015. Victoria Vivians was 24th in the class a year prior to McCowan.
3) Baylor was not dominant while Griner was there unless you want to call 1 championship dominant.
4) Baylor did not fall that far after Griner's departure. In the two season following Griner's departure Baylor
was a 2 seed and had the misfortune of being in ND bracket both times losing in the regional finals.
Your praise of Geno is admirable but it leaves the door open for this specific retort: Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players. It both players and coaching and Geno would be the first to agree.

OK. I yield. Yeah, there are other coaches in the world. It is probably a combination of the two. I do think, however, that UConn is better at sustaining excellence through thick and thin because of its special assets (coach + culture). Nothing less pleasant than being swatted with facts . . .

 

[IWearShoes]

A couple challenges here: 1) The year prior to Wilson's arrival at South Carolina 2013-14 season SC was a Number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The season prior to that SC was a 4 Seed in in the tournament.
2) What elite talent arrived at MSU? Teira McCowan was the 45th ranked player in her class of 2015. Victoria Vivians was 24th in the class a year prior to McCowan.
3) Baylor was not dominant while Griner was there unless you want to call 1 championship dominant.
4) Baylor did not fall that far after Griner's departure. In the two season following Griner's departure Baylor
was a 2 seed and had the misfortune of being in ND bracket both times losing in the regional finals.
Your praise of Geno is admirable but it leaves the door open for this specific retort: Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players. It both players and coaching and Geno would be the first to agree.

Thank you for saving me the effort of rebutting the Miss St portion of that post. MSU has gotten progressively better each year of Vic's time in Starkville and has yet to put a McD AA on the court. Most here already know this so I apologize for the restatement.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

OK. I yield. Yeah, there are other coaches in the world. It is probably a combination of the two. I do think, however, that UConn is better at sustaining excellence through thick and thin because of its special assets (coach + culture). Nothing less pleasant than being swatted with facts . . .

God, I wish you 2 would kiss and make up, because you could be like Penn & Teller and not Abbott and Costello!

 

[IWearShoes]

OK. I yield. Yeah, there are other coaches in the world. It is probably a combination of the two. I do think, however, that UConn is better at sustaining excellence through thick and thin because of its special assets (coach + culture). Nothing less pleasant than being swatted with facts . . .

I don't think anybody who follows the game at all disagrees with that portion of your thoughts.

 

[DefenseBB]

I think the sample size is predisposed to skewing the ratings. I laud the effort with a few suggestions- expand the time frame to 8 years, weigh more recent seasons heavier to even out the "star player" bias that can be driven by Stewart or Wilson. The top 5 programs probably have at least 4 of them-UConn, ND, SC and Baylor. In the mix for the next spots would probably be Louisville, Stanford, Tennessee (ughh!) and Maryland.
MSU is driven heavily by McCowan/Vivians as is OSU with the final 4 run and play of Wiese, Gulich and Pivac.
Florida State was the surprise to me but that might be driven by Romero/ Shakayla Thomas and last year with Chatrice White.
Elite needs to expand beyond one set of rosters, IMO...

 

[Gamecockfan77]

A couple challenges here: 1) The year prior to Wilson's arrival at South Carolina 2013-14 season SC was a Number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The season prior to that SC was a 4 Seed in in the tournament.
2) What elite talent arrived at MSU? Teira McCowan was the 45th ranked player in her class of 2015. Victoria Vivians was 24th in the class a year prior to McCowan.
3) Baylor was not dominant while Griner was there unless you want to call 1 championship dominant.
4) Baylor did not fall that far after Griner's departure. In the two season following Griner's departure Baylor
was a 2 seed and had the misfortune of being in ND bracket both times losing in the regional finals.
Your praise of Geno is admirable but it leaves the door open for this specific retort: Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players. It both players and coaching and Geno would be the first to agree.

I know, right?

Good grief, no one thought UConn was going to fall off the map when that class graduated. They were picked second, I think.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

SC climb started 2 years prior to Aja Wilson. The first year Dawn won the SEC championship, she only had one McDonalds All American on the team.

Wilson did not start her freshmen year. For that matter, neither did Coates.

that's a Staley thing, but they were also playing behind starters that won the SEC and earned a #1 seed the previous season.

 

[fomalhaut]

"Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players."

Taurasi, Maya Moore, Stewart, etc., didn't arrive at Connecticut as elite players. Of course, they've recruited many talented players, but the coaches deserve plenty of credit for turning them into transcendent players.

 

[nwhoopfan]

as is OSU with the final 4 run and play of Wiese, Gulich and Pivac

Expanding to 8 years would skew in a negative (and misleading) way for OSU. When Rueck took over the program was in shambles. Going back that far is the beginning of his OSU tenure when he faced a huge rebuilding project. Also I don't think their success is based on just a few players. Not to mention you're missing 2 significant individuals in Weisner and Hamblin, who were just as key as Wiese. They lost 3 starters 2 years in a row without much of a drop off.

 

[Reypl21]

"Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players."

Taurasi, Maya Moore, Stewart, etc., didn't arrive at Connecticut as elite players. Of course, they've recruited many talented players, but the coaches deserve plenty of credit for turning them into transcendent players.

You're joking. Those players would have been transcendant had they chosen almost any school they wanted to.

 

[nwhoopfan]

You're joking. Those players would have been transcendant had they chosen almost any school they wanted to.

If only we had a multiverse and could see a version of all those players at other schools. I share your opinion, I'm quite sure all of them would've been superstars regardless of where they went. I think EDD ending up at Delaware is good support of this opinion. Still ended up one of the best players in the WNBA and in the world, without the benefit of Geno's tutelage.

 

[CocoHusky]

"Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players."

Taurasi, Maya Moore, Stewart, etc., didn't arrive at Connecticut as elite players. Of course, they've recruited many talented players, but the coaches deserve plenty of credit for turning them into transcendent players.

"Geno has not won without Stewie or other transcendent player, therefore it must be the players."

Taurasi, Maya Moore, Stewart, etc., didn't arrive at Connecticut as elite players. Of course, they've recruited many talented players, but the coaches deserve plenty of credit for turning them into transcendent players.

Don’t be ridiculous. Since the turn of this century only 4 players were universally projected to be future Olympians as HS players. Maya Moore, Candace Parker, Britney Griner & Stewie. They were all elite coming in & exponentially better upon their departures from college BB.

 

[DefenseBB]

Expanding to 8 years would skew in a negative (and misleading) way for OSU. When Rueck took over the program was in shambles. Going back that far is the beginning of his OSU tenure when he faced a huge rebuilding project. Also I don't think their success is based on just a few players. Not to mention you're missing 2 significant individuals in Weisner and Hamblin, who were just as key as Wiese. They lost 3 starters 2 years in a row without much of a drop off.

Thanks, I knew I was missing a player (or 2!) so you made my point, Scott is not quite elite...YET. He's on his way but he needs some AAs and another strong NCAA run...