Who’s #1? (Merged)

[Zonepress]

UConn doesn't blow out teams because they can't anymore, at least not as frequently as they used to. The talent gap has narrowed quite a bit since the Stewie days.

I don’t think it’s clear yet. How good a team in uconn is
They seem to have all the pieces in place
They’ve only played one game that was competitive, and I would say their performance was uneven
Will certainly find out how good they are over the next four or five weeks
What is fair to say is that the Huskies? I are probably a 6-7 teams that could win a national championship
The evolution of the women’s game with more talented players than they were doing the Stuart years, the transfer portal, and nil have made it virtually impossible for one or two teams to dominate the game
If you look at the final four in 2016, where would you put Washington and Syracuse the two teams the Huskies played relative to teams out there now
They would be top 20 teams nothing more
I’m excited to see how to season plays out for this
Team as there are a very likable group and fun to watch

 

[Phil]

Wow, not a single number one vote for South Carolina.

My prediction it would be UConn was obviously wrong.

 

[Phil]

Vaulting a team ahead of the number 2 team into the number one spot hasn't happened in the last 10 years.

 

[Vowelguy]

Vaulting a team ahead of the number 2 team into the number one spot hasn't happened in the last 10 years.

How many times has a #3-5 team beaten the #1 team in the last 10 years?

 

[Phil]

How many times has a #3-5 team beaten the #1 team in the last 10 years?

On February 1, 2021, fourth-ranked NC State beat number one ranked Louisville, but NC State was not moved to the top position in fact they didn't even move up a single spot. South Carolina was moved to the top position. Does this qualify as an example?

 

[ConnManFan]

This is probably not fair or going to be well received, but the only thing that matters this season is qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and then winning six games in that tournament. Everything else is just a distraction or white noise.

 

[Zanzman]

Well, that's not true for me. I also follow UConn football, men's basketball, and hockey.

How about baseball always a competitive team

 

[ucmiami2]

Well, South Carolina came up just short of our 111 game win streak. And our 90. And our 60...
I think UConn, UCLA, ND make up the top 3 in that order, but would not be surprised if we are not #1

Actually, South Carolina just squeaked past Baylor's 42 game win streak, didn't reach Tennessee's 46 game streak, and clearly missed matching Uconn's fourth best streak of 47 wins.

 

[ucmiami2]

I think people are just looking at this in different ways and that’s ok. It’s not that UConn is being “punished” if UCLA and/or ND pass them.

I can imagine a voter may try to sort out the teams at the top by looking at each team’s (short) resume so far and ranking accordingly. UCLA, ND, and Uconn are obviously all undefeated, but who has the best win? By that logic it’s:

1.UCLA
2. ND
3. UConn

However due to poll inertia, and the fact that UConn was previously 2, I think UConn will split first place votes with UCLA.

I think the reality is that most if not all the voters in both polls spend a lot less time filling out their submissions, than it would take you to read just one pages of this currently six page thread. Generally, they look at their last list, look at who lost during the last week, and move them up or down based on that. Maybe, they also look at the last weeks poll to see if they missed anyone, and to find someone to replace any of the teams between 20-25 that had a 'bad' loss.

 

[Vowelguy]

I think the reality is that most if not all the voters in both polls spend a lot less time filling out their submissions, than it would take you to read just one pages of this currently six page thread. Generally, they look at their last list, look at who lost during the last week, and move them up or down based on that. Maybe, they also look at the last weeks poll to see if they missed anyone, and to find someone to replace any of the teams between 20-25 that had a 'bad' loss.

I doubt voters get paid. And in an environment where newspapers are losing subscribers, a reporter doesnt have the luxury to spend a lot of time on a poll that doesnt mean anything and takes away from the things that generate their salary (writing interesting articles).

 

[Longtime fan]

If UCLA beats SC today 11/24, would UConn or UCLA be ranked #1? At the half, UCLA is leading by 21 and looking really, really good.

I don't think it matters. By March1 every team will be different. Some much better. Some worse.

 

[EricSD]

I've always said that the national champion is the king of the mountain until someone proves they are not. UCLA proved SCar is not the king of the mountain. OK, cool. But if you think UConn needs to drop in the polls for a game that doesn't involve them then maybe you should see someone because you have a problem.

OT, by the same reasoning above, why aren't the UConn men #1? They are the reigning king of the mountain.

Honestly I'll never understand that logic. The men won the NC last season and then lost 4 starters to the draft. The only one who came back was Karaban. 4 new starters including a freshman and a transfer. But by your logic, UCONN should be #1 until someone beats them?

Yeah they were beaten today but it makes zero sense that in a new season with totally new players, 4 starters from the NC team lost, that any team should be ranked based on how they finished last season...

 

[The deacon]

UCLA barely beat Louisville 66-59 in Paris. Louisville just played USF and barely beat them 64-60. UConn played USF and blew them out 86-49. I'll take UConn over UCLA and ND because I don't think they would have an answer on stopping Paige, Azzi and Sarah.

Azzi? With due respect, MSGRET and CDR-Ret, Azzi hasn't had a good game since the hot start in the fall of '22.

When she came back in March '23, she shot 5 of 18 from three and 9 of 28 overall in three Big East tournament games, then 6 of 29 from three and 17 of 49 overall in three NCAA tournament games.

Seemingly healthy to start last season, she shot 4 of 14 from three and 8 of 25 overall for two games before getting hurt again.

If you're counting, that's 15 of 61 three-pointers and 34 of 102 from the floor overall for her most recent eight games since fall of '22. In an abbreviated recent sample, Azzi missed her three shots from three vs. FDU, hardly an imposing defensive opponent.

I'm a big fan of Azzi, and have as much respect for her potential as anyone, but the incessant need to elevate Azzi way beyond what she has produced for the Huskies is just nuts.

To recount, she's now shot about 23 percent from three and 33 percent overall in the last two years.

I'll be as happy as anyone here on the Boneyard and among the Huskies' fandom if/when Azzi finds her old game. 'Til then, including her amongst the Huskies' big threats and regularly assuming she'll be an All-American is just not realistic.

Okay, it's been said. I have the feeling many of us have been thinking it for a while.

Go, Azzi! Go, Huskies!

My top 6:
#1: UConn - We have Paige, Sarah, & AZZI (even though she has only one game so far) and they don't!
#2 UCLA - very impressive vs. South Carolina
#3 uNd - looking good so far - Still early
#4 South Carolina - was on a 43 game winning streak, defending National Champs & many AP writers already voted (early and often)
#5 Texas - best win so far is Vs. DePaul, we'll see how real they are vs. uNd on 12/6/24 in South Bend
#6 USoCal - they still have Juju Watkins and don't see LSU moving up with the light weights they are playing

 

[cwh20]

On February 1, 2021, fourth-ranked NC State beat number one ranked Louisville, but NC State was not moved to the top position in fact they didn't even move up a single spot. South Carolina was moved to the top position. Does this qualify as an example?

The key here is talking about Nov vs Feb. The earlier in the season a game is, the greater the movement in the polls there is or can be based on that game result. The first poll of the season is a lot of speculation. Then results come in. A (supposed?) big early season win or loss could have poll voters rethinking a team’s place by a significant jump or drop. But later (say Feb)) the teams have more or less settled into their places based on way more game results to look at. A game now won’t result in as big a jump or drop in the polls even if it is a big upset win over the #1 even.

It may be fun to discuss where the pollsters think the teams are now but it really doesn’t matter this early. UCLA handled SC very well so I don’t see a problem having the poll reflect that. The contenders will show themselves soon enough.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

This is probably not fair or going to be well received, but the only thing that matters this season is qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and then winning six games in that tournament. Everything else is just a distraction or white noise.

That would be cwh20's motto: "Six is good!"

 

[HuskyNan]

How about baseball always a competitive team

Women's soccer and field hockey got to their respective NCAA tourneys this year

 

[Zanzman]

Women's soccer and field hockey got to their respective NCAA tourneys this year

True just not ones I follow but they are always competitive volleyball also I need to get to the new arena next year

 

[bballnut90]

On February 1, 2021, fourth-ranked NC State beat number one ranked Louisville, but NC State was not moved to the top position in fact they didn't even move up a single spot. South Carolina was moved to the top position. Does this qualify as an example?

In the example cited above, two weeks prior Louisville had just lost to unranked Virginia Tech.

Right now there's really no reason to not rank UCLA #1 after they blew out the #1 team in the country and have zero losses. No one else aside from Notre Dame has a win that's close to being as strong. If UCONN continues to win and beats Notre Dame on the road in December, I think several voters will switch over and the Huskies may move up to #1 since their resume would be comparable to or surpass UCLA's at that point.

 

[Boreifs]

UConn tops the coach Poll by one point.

 

[Reypl21]

Not sure who you mean by this, but they do play the Golden Domers a week before we go to South Bend.
But won't Texas be defined by their SEC schedule, not their OOC schedule?

Texas' OOC doesn't have any ranked teams on it other than the ND game. Which is apart SEC/ACC challenge. So it's not a home/home series. Texas isn't playing any ranked teams or even teams that are on the cusp of being ranked. SEC will be tough and offer plenty of ranked opponents. I still would've liked to see a tougher schedule, but I guess I'm selfish and want to watch good games.

I took a close look at their schedule because another poster suggested that UConn and Texas should rise to the 1 and 2 spots because ND and UCLA hadn't done enough to go that high. I know UConn has a ranked win, and discovered Texas doesn't have any. So I agree with them going down in the rankings even though they haven't lost.

 

[Reypl21]

Vaulting a team ahead of the number 2 team into the number one spot hasn't happened in the last 10 years.

Wasn't South Carolina preseason #6 last season and jumped to #1?

 

[HuskyNan]

Maybe this will make some people happier

NCAA Women’s College Basketball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

Weekly results from the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Women’s College Basketball coaches poll, conducted weekly using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools.

sportsdata.usatoday.com

 

[Reypl21]

In the example cited above, two weeks prior Louisville had just lost to unranked Virginia Tech.

Right now there's really no reason to not rank UCLA #1 after they blew out the #1 team in the country and have zero losses. No one else aside from Notre Dame has a win that's close to being as strong. If UCONN continues to win and beats Notre Dame on the road in December, I think several voters will switch over and the Huskies may move up to #1 since their resume would be comparable to or surpass UCLA's at that point.

I dont understand why this is so hard to understand. UCLA currently has the best resume of the season. They whooped the previous number 1 and have another ranked win against Louisville. UConn or ND might be better on paper, but they don't have the results yet. UCLA doesn't play another ranked opponent until conference play. So ND and UConn can both grab the top spot IMO if they win out their Non-Conference schedules.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Yay we're #1!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Maybe this will make some people happier

NCAA Women’s College Basketball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

Weekly results from the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Women’s College Basketball coaches poll, conducted weekly using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools.

sportsdata.usatoday.com

View attachment 105042

Creme also has UConn as the #1 #1 in the bracketology, replacing South Carolina as the overall #1 seed.

How the "Quads" work for seeding the 2025 tournament is quoted here (from Charlie's article, 9/19/2024) for those who want to get a "quads workout" while sitting in front of your screen:

"A game at home against a team ranked between 1 to 25 in the NET, on a neutral court against an opponent 1 to 35 and on the road versus a 1 to 40 ranked team, is classified as Quad 1. These are the wins that will be most discussed all season. The better a team's Quad 1 record is, the better its NCAA tournament seed is likely to be.

Quad 2 is home 26 to 55, neutral 36 to 65 and road 46 to 80.

Quad 3 is home 56 to 90, neutral 66 to 105 and road 81 to 130.

Quad 4 is home 91-plus, neutral 106-plus and away 131-plus.

These ranges are based on historical data from the women's game since 2010 and are unique to women's basketball."

link to the full article on ESPN: How will quad system impact the 2025 women's NCAA tournament?

Go Huskies!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

Creme also has UConn as the #1 #1 in the bracketology, replacing South Carolina as the overall #1 seed.

How the "Quads" work for seeding the 2025 tournament is quoted here (from Charlie's article, 9/19/2024) for those who want to get a "quads workout" while sitting in front of your screen:

"A game at home against a team ranked between 1 to 25 in the NET, on a neutral court against an opponent 1 to 35 and on the road versus a 1 to 40 ranked team, is classified as Quad 1. These are the wins that will be most discussed all season. The better a team's Quad 1 record is, the better its NCAA tournament seed is likely to be.

Quad 2 is home 26 to 55, neutral 36 to 65 and road 46 to 80.

Quad 3 is home 56 to 90, neutral 66 to 105 and road 81 to 130.

Quad 4 is home 91-plus, neutral 106-plus and away 131-plus.

These ranges are based on historical data from the women's game since 2010 and are unique to women's basketball."

link to the full article on ESPN: How will quad system impact the 2025 women's NCAA tournament?

Go Huskies!!!

Keep in mind when he says "ranked team between 1 to 25" that isn't AP or USA Today rankings, it's NET rankings.

DI Women's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Get NCAA women's college basketball rankings from the Associated Press, USA Today/WBCA and NCAA committee.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Phil]

Women's soccer and field hockey got to their respective NCAA tourneys this year

And volleyball starts conference tourney this week, with a chance at the NCAA tournament.

 

[Plebe]

On February 1, 2021, fourth-ranked NC State beat number one ranked Louisville, but NC State was not moved to the top position in fact they didn't even move up a single spot. South Carolina was moved to the top position. Does this qualify as an example?

It's an example of something, but not a good example for this discussion because NC State followed up that win with a loss to North Carolina before the following poll. I'm sure that's a major reason why they didn't move up.

2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule - NC State University Athletics

The official 2020-21 Women's Basketball schedule for the NC State Wolfpack

gopack.com

 

[willtalk]

It would not be a horrible miscarriage of justice had UConn, ND or UCLA been ranked in any particular order in the poles. Each had a rational for claiming number one. Its not like any particular order the three teams were eventually ranked would have been an insult to any of them. Granted this is a UConn site, but some of the posters seem to take it far too serously that UConn was not declared number 1 in this early poll. One game is not enough to define the level of a team, especially when they are facing anther good team. Basketball is like that. Its an "any given day sport" often dictated by a number of " one time " variables.

The direction that WCBB has taken in the last few years has totally weaned me of investment in favorites. That makes it easier to be objective, although there are still some lingering bias's in place. For example I have never been a fan of Gottliebs schemes. She tends to focus on and ride her best offensive player and that always has repercussions. All team needs to do is focus on stopping that player, which is what ND did in their game against SC. A single player can also have a bad shooting game and therefore stop themselves without any help. I have also not been a fan of Close, but the team she has this year is loaded with elite depth, especially in the front court. South Carolina has always been blessed with loaded rosters that carried them to their championships. Against UCLA they came against a more loaded roster. In their first championship, they also had a lot of luck that got them to the final four. Even Geno has coaching short comings that revealed them selves in the past.

 

[Cuango]

I’ve got no issues with UCLA being #1. They absolutely tortured South Carolina and I thought, exposed some serious issues on that team. I can’t remember a Dawn Staley team being manhandled like that! She’s got some serious work to do with that team. They have not looked good since the season started but this was a different level of poor play. Knowing Dawn, I’m pretty sure she will figure it out but I’m not sure they will be their usual dominant self this season.