Who is Number 1 Chime in with your thoughts and opinions

[Tonyc]

Well I think UConn SC and Stanford stand out ahead of every other team in WCBB. All 3 teams have height, depth, experienced players, good freshman class coming in, and good coaching. Where are their strengths and where are their weakness's? You can nit pic all you want however alot will depend on defense and alot will depend on who can get hot. UConn will not have to be concerned about that because they have some really good shooters who can also deliver the ball to team mates and make plays. With that said defenses know that. So what about SC and Stanford? They too have some pretty good players who can make things happen. So what sets all three teams apart. Lets here some opinions and thoughts

 

[TheFarmFan]

I honestly think it comes down to injuries and clutch/lucky play in March & April - just like last year. Any of the three could win it, though I'd probably give UConn and SCar a slight edge just because of their frosh & transfer classes.

 

[Stymie]

The last time a game was actually played Stanford assumed the mantle. Therefore they are #1.
All of this preseason speculation is just that, speculation.
Until games are played this season, they remain #1.
At least that’s the way I see it.

 

[jchusky]

the thing about Uconn's roster there is so much uncertainty to who will play, I feel with Stanford they know who is playing and who is coming off the bench. Similar as well to SC except with the exception of Cardoso.
Uconn roster has 4 incoming freshmen 2 who could start opening night, 3 srs and 2 of those if they don't play well will hit the bench, and the best player on the team is a sophomore. You just don't see that, it's suppose to be the 3 srs no doubt are the best players on the team, the freshmen may not contribute first season but will learn things along the way and maybe one of them helps in the tournament run, and the best player you would think is Christyn Williams, a former #1 recruit in her last season but she might not even be the 2nd best player on her roster since the Fudd hype is out of control. I think Uconn has the talent to win, but when a shot is needed in a final 4 game late who will take it. Do you give it to the best player you trust to make it, or do you go out with one of your srs taking it.

 

[Charliebball]

I don't know about that.......wasn't 6'5" Aaliyah Boston an All American last season? 6'7" Cardoso, 6'4" Amihere and the 6'3" Mcdonald's All American freshman Sania Feagin plus Grissett and Saxton make for a pretty imposing front court...........

 

[Heytherego]

I don't know about that.......wasn't 6'5" Aaliyah Boston an All American last season? 6'7" Cardoso, 6'4" Amihere and the 6'3" Mcdonald's All American freshman Sania Feagin plus Grissett and Saxton make for a pretty imposing front court...........

Yeah I’m thinking South Carolina has the edge there…

 

[huskyd]

Well I think UConn SC and Stanford stand out ahead of every other team in WCBB. All 3 teams have height, depth, experienced players, good freshman class coming in, and good coaching. Where are their strengths and where are their weakness's? You can nit pic all you want however alot will depend on defense and alot will depend on who can get hot. UConn will not have to be concerned about that because they have some really good shooters who can also deliver the ball to team mates and make plays. With that said defenses know that. So what about SC and Stanford? They too have some pretty good players wh So what sets all three teams apart. o can make things happen. So what sets all three teams apart. Lets here some opinions and thoughts

" So what sets all three teams apart?" Paige & Azzi . . .

 

[Nolefan]

All 3 teams have a ton of talent comes down to coaching .. UConn Stanford than SC I would rank the coaches in that order also ..

 

[UcMiami]

Interesting question without an answer until some meaningful games get played, but one other factor not mentioned in the OP - all three have very good coaches as well so we know that what happens in Nov. and Dec. will not be the end of the discussion. With these coaches their teams evolve over the course of a season and generally reach their peak in March/April. Should be an exciting season. I think Geno stands out as the best coach with Tara and then Dawn, but they each are very good when they have the horses to work with.

Three teams with stacked rosters, depth, and good coaching - 'pick em' at this point.

 

[Carnac]

The last time a game was actually played Stanford assumed the mantle. Therefore they are #1.
All of this preseason speculation is just that, speculation.
Until games are played this season, they remain #1.
At least that’s the way I see it.

I share your point of view that last year’s champions should be ranked number 1 to begin the season because they were the last team standing when the horn sounded, and no games have been played yet THIS year to unseat them. Not many here agreed with me.

The idea here is that this is a new season with new players added to those teams. Based on the “perceived“ potential of each of the top 6 elite teams (we know who they are), which team is the elephant in the room to begin the season?

It’s hard to tell which one of the top four is the best at the beginning of the season because they all are going win their first 5-6 games. Except for UConn, most top ranked teams don’t play other top 25 teams to begin the season. Of course top ranked teams are going to win against teams ranked outside of the top 50.

It’s not until they play other top 10 teams that are as talented and deep as they are, can we get a fair and objective look at just how good a team really is. For example, we had to wait until Baylor played the 1 ranked team they played on their preseason schedule because 90% of those teams were cupcakes, teams outside of the top 200.

P5 teams all see enough real competition during conference play. They don’t feel the need to load up their preseason schedule with top 25 programs. As we all know and recognize, UConn is the only top ranked elite team that is not in a P5 conference, so they have to front load their preseason schedule with top 25 teams, because their conference is devoid of teams their equal.

They went undefeated last year in confe play, and are projected to do so again this year. If UConn wants a top seed in the NCAA tournament, they have to beat some top ranked teams somewhere along the way.

 

[Plebe]

Truly a paradigm of objective analysis here

 

[Charliebball]

Yeah I’m thinking South Carolina has the edge there…

it seems so but i'm hoping improved play from ONO and Edwards and the addition of Dorka makes it close......

 

[visitingcock]

Not saying UConn won’t win it but . . .

“ objective perspective?”

it’s too bad the AP pollsters that voted for SCar or Stanford don’t follow women’s basketball. Either that or the don’t have objective perspectives.

stanford should be number one until somebody proves they are beatable.

 

[Geew1992]

Stanford should be #1 until someone beats them

 

[oldude]

From a talent standpoint, it’s hard to separate the top 3 teams, which means it will come down to coaching. That gives the edge to UConn imo.

 

[visitingcock]

. . . Except for UConn, most top ranked teams don’t play other top 25 teams to begin the season. Of course top ranked teams are going to win against teams ranked outside of the top 25.

Let’s see:

Homer calls
scar at NC State November 9
SCar vs possibly Oregon and UConn Nov.
Maryland at SCar Dec. 12
Stanford at Scar December 22

stanford plays Scar, Maryland, Texas, Indiana,
Michigan before January

Maryland plays Baylor, NC state, SCar and Stanford early.

Baylor plays Tx A&M on October 27 ( get earlier than that! ) Also Maryland, Michigan .

let’s face it, everybody opens tougher than they used to. I just went with the top of the tops. There are about 50 inter conference games scheduled between top 25 teams in November and December

 

[hoophuskee]

As I said in a prior post I feel UCONN has the highest ceiling but the lowest floor of the 3. Their ability to knock down 3's exceeds the other two teams. Thus execution of UCONN's offense is critical along with of course not being crushed by either team's physicality.

With that said, Paige, Evina, Azzi, Nika and CWill all were hurt last year or had recent surgeries to a degree, regardless minor or not, it's the accumulation with each. Azzi hasn't played a lot of competitive basketball either. So, a strength of the team I'd like to see be healthy and extremely efficient as a unit rather than be told that their health is all okay. For example, can I say this year without a doubt that Azzi will be better than all of the SC backcourt and wings? She hasn’t played that much in these past 2 years because of her injury and COVID.

So I have SC number 1 early on. They barely lost to Stanford, and Stanford lost a star, while SC reloaded with a potentially equal transfer as any team has gotten, and a power recruiting class in which I don’t believe their number 2 and number 3 recruits had injuries. Stanford didn't reload with recruiting this year. While SC lost nothing.

 

[Carnac]

Let’s see:

Homer calls
scar at NC State November 9
SCar vs possibly Oregon and UConn Nov.
Maryland at SCar Dec. 12
Stanford at Scar December 22

stanford plays Scar, Maryland, Texas, Indiana,
Michigan before January

Maryland plays Baylor, NC state, SCar and Stanford early.

Baylor plays Tx A&M on October 27 ( get earlier than that! ) Also Maryland, Michigan .

let’s face it, everybody opens tougher than they used to. I just went with the top of the tops. There are about 50 inter conference games scheduled between top 25 teams in November and December

I said MOST, not all. I should have said that MOST elite teams don’t play more than 2-3 top 15 teams in the preseason. To say “none” of the teams play any top 15 teams was an error. I didn’t look at the top 5 team’s preseason schedule before making that comm. I will now, and may amend that post if I need to. I have a pretty good idea of what I’ll find. I’m still suggesting that 9 of their 12-13 preseason games are not against teams that are their equal. Stay tuned.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Michigan .

let’s face it, everybody opens tougher than they used to. I just went with the top of the tops. There are about 50 inter conference games scheduled between top 25 teams in November and December

Everyone except Kim...

 

[Majic Hands]

If Stanford graduated 2-3 of their best players I could except that as a valid reason for them to not start the year #1. That didn't happen. SC came in 2nd. My team, UConn came in 4th as far as I'm concerned. So I'm good with my team starting the year in 4th and look forward to watching them work their way to 1st as the season moves forward.

Actually, I'm hoping that teams progress to the point that the top three have a hard time winning. Might even be good for them to get spanked a time or two. Makes them keep their heads in the game.

 

[jchusky]

I just think the biggest struggle for Uconn is they're going to go on a 6 week span to end the season without playing a real threat. South Carolina, Stanford will have 5-6 games that are going to test them for the tournament. How can Uconn sustain that competitive edge when big east games are over after the first quarter?

 

[Kaizen]

I don't know about that.......wasn't 6'5" Aaliyah Boston an All American last season? 6'7" Cardoso, 6'4" Amihere and the 6'3" Mcdonald's All American freshman Sania Feagin plus Grissett and Saxton make for a pretty imposing front court...........

UConn has, Dorka, ONO, Piath and Amari all 6"5", Aaliyah 6'3" plus all possible POYs Paige and generation player Azzi. This is more imposing front court.

 

[hard2please]

uconn has tonyc. tonyc is number 1 therefore uconn is number 1

 

[Purchase1]

I think you keep Stanford at 1 until a loss, then South Carolina then Uconn. Personally come March it’s hard for me to envision anyone but us and SC in that title game. Should be a fun season overall though due to the parity amongst everyone else.