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Message: [QUOTE="EricLA, post: 2664746, member: 26"] So not to nitpick, and I get that the article sort of needed to be about the teams in the final 4, but if you look at where the players are ranked that are coming in to the top programs: UCONN - #1, #5 ND - 27, 59, 67, 80 (but 2 of them played on the McD AA team) Mississippi State - 48, 49, NR, NR L'ville - 29, 38, NR I guess you can look at sheer volume and say that MSU and ND got good classes - HG ranks UCONN's class as #2, ND's as #7, MSU as 11 and L'ville as 14, but the reality is that none of the other programs got a single kid in the top 25. That does NOT mean that these kids AREN'T ranked incorrectly - heck, Angel McCaughtry wasn't in the top 50 anywhere and she's an Olympian. But in general, I think the rankings have gotten better since then with many more people weighing in on who's really good, and who's got really good potential. Look at the teams who landed at least 1 top 25 kid... UCONN, Baylor, Maryland, Texas, Florida State, Oregon State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Arizona, Stanford, Auburn, Iowa State, Vandy, Rutgers and Ga Tech. So 3 out of the 4 final 4 teams didn't get a single top 25 kid. Next year ND brings back every starter at this point. They will be great. L'ville "only" loses Hines-Allen (big loss for sure, but they bring back 4 starters). They will battle ND for the top of the ACC and be a top team for sure. Mississippi State on the other hand - loses 4 starters. I don't see how they are a top 25 team next season, even with McCowan, but we will see soon enough for sure. I think teams like Baylor, Oregon, Oregon State, and maybe Texas will also be battling for the final 4 as well. I think the next tier includes teams like Mizzou, Maryland, Stanford, South Carolina, Florida State, aTm, and I'm sure there are several others who will be in the next tier. Of course much depends on how much each team lost, what they bring in, and how much the kids they already have improve over the summer. Next year will be interesting for sure. [/QUOTE]

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