Very preseason 2014-15 Poll!

[Vowelguy]

Of course, the loss of Chandler is going to hurt a lot.

Transferring or injured?

 

[bballnut90]

Most of the BY doubted that Baylor could be a top 10 team this year without Griner and look what happened. The gulf between a F4 (or F4 caliber) team and a #15 or #20 team is larger than folks appreciate. That's why a top 5 team losing one player, no matter how good, usually doesn't have as much impact as expected. This year Stanford and Baylor are also helped by the fact that a lot of teams will be down next year.

But Baylor still had a 2x All-American coming back in Sims. They don't have a player like that coming back. Same with Stanford when Nneka graduated.

 

[easttexastrash]

Mulkey has proven herself to be one of the best coaches in the game. She will have three MCDAAs (Johnson, Prince and Small), plus what many consider to be the second best freshman this year, so it is not as if her cupboard will be bare. Baylor is going to be very good again, but you can wait until they are ranked in the top 5 again to jump on the "they are better than we thought they would be" bandwagon.

 

[easttexastrash]

Baylor will hover around 10 most of the year. There will be some nice wins but there will be quite a few more loses.

My top 5:
1. UCONN
2. USC (the one form the south, not SoCal)
3. UNC (the one from the south, not Colorado)
4. Notre Dame (losing Achonwa and McBride is a double whammy)
5. UT (the one in Texas - Atkins may be the best player in the class, IMO)

 

[Vowelguy]

PAC should be the most interesting its been in years with several challengers to Stanford's throne.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Hatchell unproven ???

If it is NoCar A'ja will join the most athletic class never going to the Final Four in WCBB history! Sylvia Hatchell and her staff of no nothings will make sure they run fast and have 100 turnovers per game! Sylvia has NO championships, Charlotte Smith has the NoCar title!
Sylvia joins a long list of great recruiters who are lousy game coaches: CVS, Jim Foster, McCallie, Frese, Goestenkors, Landers, etc.
If Sylvia Hatchell were as good a coach as you think, how can she lose with all that talent NoCar has to UCONN by 30+ points? If she could coach even a little bit her loses would be by 5, 8 or 10 points! She got embarrassed each time they've met! As far as any other success she might have had, remember even a broken watch is right twice a day!

 

[Vowelguy]

She got embarrassed each time they've met!

You mean , other than the time they kicked our ass in 2006?
Or the times they won in the 2005 and 2007 seasons?

 

[Suebird10fan]

I was impressed by the Heels this year. Sure they were inconsistent but they got to E8. Adding Wilson and typical improvement from freshman to sophomore year I expect them to be formidable next year. UConn, nd and unc will dominate for the next two years (with UConn a good bit better than the other two for the first of the two).

 

[ThisJustIn]

You mean , other than the time they kicked our ass in 2006?
Or the times they won in the 2005 and 2007 seasons?

Never let facts get in the way of an exclamation point...

It does feel like it's going to be another "UCONN followed by the rest" year, but I am excited by the young talent and young coaches out there... As others have suggested, i feel seismic shifts happening in the PACetc....

 

[Vowelguy]

I had bumped UNC up to #2 on the thought that they were getting Wilson. Now that they didn't, I put them back to #3 and ND to #2.

 

[UConn990411]

How can Notre Dame lose two of its best three players and still be the #2 team in the country? I'm not buying it.

 

[Vowelguy]

How can Notre Dame lose two of its best three players and still be the #2 team in the country? I'm not buying it.

They also were a lot better than everyone else, so I think of it as falling back to the pack. But yeah it's debateable.

 

[alexrgct]

How can Notre Dame lose two of its best three players and still be the #2 team in the country? I'm not buying it.

Well, my extremely valid top five were stated above and Notre Dame isn't in it.

Having said that. I do think ND will be very good. Brianna Turner is the answer for who ND didn't have in the post. Jewell LLoyd should just get better and better, even though we contained her very well in the NC game. Taya Reimer didn't do much in the NC game either, but she and Turner could make a formidable frontcourt. Michaela Maybrey is a lady I like to call Michaela Maybe because she might just be a force next season.

Losing Achonwa and McBride certainly hurts, but they have some elite talent and an excellent head coach. Don't count them out.

And for God's sake man, add "14" to the end of your screen name!

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

How can Notre Dame lose two of its best three players and still be the #2 team in the country? I'm not buying it.

See recent history.

ND lost Devereaux Peters and Natalie Novosel, two first round WNBA draft picks, plus a third player from a Final Four run. The team was back in the Final Four the next year.

ND lost Skylar Diggins from a Final Four run. The team was back in the Final Four the next year.

ND loses key star McBride, post anchor Achonwa, and roleplayer Braker. It returns the starting backcourt, plus has good subs off the bench at the wing in players like Mabrey. Reimer got major minutes in the post, and Brianna Turner, at top two pick, will be the other player anchoring the post. There is a lot of talent there, and Muffet McGraw knows how to maximize the elite talent while blending it with the best that she brings out of the roleplayers.

 

[MilfordHusky]

As I said elsewhere:

UConn
ND
USC with Wilson
UNC
Tenn
Everyone else

UConn has the 2 best players in the country and 3 of the top 5 or so. Plus Kiah and Morgan if healthy. Plus some stellar recruits.

ND has Loyd, who will be a top 5 player, plus Turner, Reimer, Mabrey, et al.

USC has decent talent plus Wilson.

UNC gets more experienced.

Tenn gets Tucker plus Nared et al.

Everyone else has big losses--Duke, Stanford, Louisville.

 

[ASweet3781]

How can Notre Dame lose two of its best three players and still be the #2 team in the country? I'm not buying it.

Because some of us actually watched UNC, USC, and Tennessee last year and those teams better get a LOT better in many areas if they are going to pass ND. Even without McBride.

 

[triaddukefan]

Welp... gotta drop UNC down a bit now

 

[Vowelguy]

Welp... gotta drop UNC down a bit now

Definitely out of top 5. Possibly out of top 10.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Definitely out of top 5. Possibly out of top 10.

I'm dropping UNC from 3 to 4. DeShields has great potential but Gray and Mavunga added ore value this year than she did. They have less upside now but I still see them in F4.

 

[Vowelguy]

I'm dropping UNC from 3 to 4. DeShields has great potential but Gray and Mavunga added ore value this year than she did. They have less upside now but I still see them in F4.

They just lost their leading scorer, avg 18 pts per game.