Time for the November 2019 Top 25?

[Fairfield Fan]

May I start. Hey, the season's over. It's time!

Oregon the unanimous #1 going into the next season. Ionescu has announced she's coming back next year, which means that four of the five starters that took Baylor to the max return. And then there's Sabally's little sister, who is said to be immensely talented, though she didn't get much playing time as a freshman this year.

#2 has to be Baylor. Yes, they lose Kalani Brown and Chloe Jackson. But they bring back starters:

Lauren Cox (6'4")
Juicy Landrum (5'8")
Didi Richards (6'1")

And look at the returning freshman bench players, who could have been ranked in the top 10 on their own, had they played for another university:

NyLissa Smith (6'2")
Achira DeCosta (6'0")
Honesty Scott-Grayson (5'9")
Queen Egbo (6'3")

In fact, Baylor returns eight players who this year were either freshmen or sophomores. And those include six players who are 6' or taller.

Stanford #3? They return four of the five starters from this year's team. And they bring in the top high school player in Haley Jones (6'1"). Plus there's Ashten Prechtel (6'5"), who will undoubtedly perform better than she did in the McDonald's game, nursing an injury. She could go a long way towards filling the void of the departing post starter. And then there's Belibi, who was tremendous in the McDonald's game.

I mean, seriously? They bring back four of five that went to the elite eight, only to lose to Notre Dame. Plus bring in freshman talent should would be top 10 on their own. Should they be #2 in the nation in November, instead of Baylor?

Louisville drops- a lot?

Others?

 

[Orangutan]

You may wish to check out this thread from the general sub-forum:
Preseason Top 15

 

[lebronfan23]

Cox maybe out next season

 

[MikeBlue]

Cox maybe out next season

Yeah that's what happened to Turner. If its an acl she won't play next year.

 

[ABCDFE]

My top 5: 1. Oregon 2. Baylor (if Cox is healthy) 3. Stanford 4. South Carolina 5. UCONN

 

[SLY63]

Agree, but I would swap UConn and SC

My top 5: 1. Oregon 2. Baylor (if Cox is healthy) 3. Stanford 4. UConn 5. South Carolina

 

[nwhoopfan]

And then there's Sabally's little sister, who is said to be immensely talented, though she didn't get much playing time as a freshman this year.

She didn't get any playing time as a freshman because she was out with an injury before the season started.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Sorry this is bifurcated. Didn't quite get the "sub-forum bit. Perhaps merge threads?

So moving on in the spirit of the thread. I have to believe that Stanford is either #2 or #3. The returning players were top ten on their own, and then there is the awesome freshman class.

#4: Maryland? Can you imagine Shakira Austin with a year under her belt, and more maturity returning in the fall? And there's another 6'4" player, plus Mikesell.

#5 Florida State?

Connecticut: the painful truth is the lack of a credible post player and any support in the front court. Look at the monster line-ups agains which Connecticut will have to play to advance with Oregon, Baylor (they still have bigs even if Cox isn't there for the first half of the season), Maryland, Stanford. And Texas? Can Joyner Holmes, Charli Collier and Sedona Prince crap out two years in a row? I don't think so. Then South Carolina, which will certainly be tougher.

For Connecticut, I'm thinking #8.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I’ll wait to see where the grad transfers and immediately eligible transfers land before making any predictions. As i stated in another thread—some top teams will have transfers.

 

[Urshurak]

As of now, I agree with Fairfield Fan almost 100%, but I have UConn at #9 (maybe even #10.....) As the spring and summer roll on, we will see what we are working with (Grad transfers and such.) Maryland...not so much. They just don't seem to set themselves up for success with their weaker than weak schedule. When the dance rolls around, they can't handle it. Not sure why that would suddenly change.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I think Stanford in November and Stanford in March will look very different, so the question is whether we rank teams based on where they are at in November, or how they will finish the season. For Stanford, those are very different questions. (And I suspect the same will be true for Baylor, given that they will need three new starters to step up, and Notre Dame, although their ceiling will be sufficiently low next season that I'd be shocked if they even got back to the final four.)

Tara prizes defense first, which incoming frosh are rarely able to do well at the college level from day one (the Hulls were a big exception and that was basically the reason why one of the two of them started every game this season even though they were very uneven offensively). Moreover, Tara's new Princeton offense has enough different sets and screens that it will take the frosh a while to adjust and learn. For these reasons, I wouldn't be at all surprised if our team's trajectory looks more like our 2016-17 team: some early, dispiriting losses (that year, to Gonzaga and Tennessee) that cap our rankings and ability to be in position for a #1 seed, but then roll through February and March and beat a #1 seed to get back to the final four. (We also play Oregon and Oregon State twice next season, and it's very probable that the three teams beat each other up enough that none of them has fewer than 2 PAC-12 losses, which means we could end up with 3 #2 seeds depending on how dominant other top teams are in their conferences.)

So, if I had to guess, in November I would put Stanford around 6-8, but I think we are better than 50/50 odds to get to the final four, and I think we end the season ranked in the top 4.

And let me tell you: I'd love nothing more than a fifth, rubber match vs. Notre Dame in next year's tournament.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Maryland...not so much. They just don't seem to set themselves up for success with their weaker than weak schedule. When the dance rolls around, they can't handle it. Not sure why that would suddenly change.

I agree with you 100%. I wouldn't be surprised to see Maryland with a 31-1 record heading into the tournament. The problems begin when the NCAA tournament starts. They will always have that one bad game (Washington and Oregon) or that one bad quarter (9 points in the 4th quarter against UCLA). But the talent is there. 1-13 the players are really good.

 

[lebronfan23]

UConn #2. We will have 6 Mcdonalds All Americans on our roster. We’ll have the best PG in the country and Williams will definitely be one of the best players in the country. ONO will only get better. Griffin is a scorer and player that will help with size. Walker will get better (she’ll show us why she was #1 out of HS). Coombs and Tooly know they’re better than bench riders and they'll finally have to opportunity to show us that next season. Every top team in the country will lose a lot too. We can match up with Oregon. When Stevie left no expected us to get so far like we did (Final Four, #1 team in the country and 3 All Americans). UConn #2, but eventually will #1.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I agree with you 100%. I wouldn't be surprised to see Maryland with a 31-1 record heading into the tournament. The problems begin when the NCAA tournament starts. They will always have that one bad game (Washington and Oregon) or that one bad quarter (9 points in the 4th quarter against UCLA). But the talent is there. 1-13 the players are really good.

Maybe if they can avoid Pac 12 teams they'll be okay.

 

[nwhoopfan]

(We also play Oregon and Oregon State twice next season, and it's very probable that the three teams beat each other up enough that none of them has fewer than 2 PAC-12 losses, which means we could end up with 3 #2 seeds depending on how dominant other top teams are in their conferences.)

Recent history says this is more likely than not. Well the beating each other up and at least 2 losses part. 2 #2 seeds seems a lot more likely than 3.