Why Oregon State, not UConn, should be the No. 1 women's college basketball team

[Dokey]

There are several teams which could be number one on any given night but Oregon State might, repeat might, not be one of them. Let’s see where they are half way thru PAC-12 season.

 

[Blueballer]

It's all hot air anyway. The only #1 that means anything is the one that wins the Final Four.

 

[willtalk]

Preseason rankings are based primarily on who teams have coming back from the season before. They are purely speculative guesses. At this point in time basically what they go on is a combination of last season returnees combined with won-lost records figuring in SOS. Any undefeated team with a decent SOS record should be considered as first in the rankings at this point in time. Again it is speculative. I don't think it over the top for either Uconn or Oregon St to be rated #1 based on their records and teams played. It would depend on what sort of criteria one used.

Comparative scores do not often work either because teams change throughout the season. Would anyone say that a win against Texas early in the season had the same value as a win against them would now? People tend to cherry-pick stats to suit their own perspectives.

 

[mbr33ct]

"Why Oregon State, not UConn, should be the No. 1 women's college basketball team"

Shouldn't Oregon St have a "beef" with #2 Oregon?

 

[WestCoast]

There are several teams which could be number one on any given night but Oregon State might, repeat might, not be one of them. Let’s see where they are half way thru PAC-12 season.

Oregon State did not look good on offense during its 19-point win over Cal State-Bakersfield yesterday. The Beavs continue to shoot well, but turn the ball over too frequently against lesser competition.

Starting the PAC-12 season at home against Utah and Colorado this coming weekend will hopefully allow for the two starting freshmen to ease into what will be expected offensively going forward.

 

[HopJim]

We may not agree on exact ranking, but with Huskie women scheduling Oregon we know they are a top team. Geno always tries to get Top 5 talent on his out of conference schedule.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

As the articles states, in its introduction:
But UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey isn't sure the Huskies deserve it quite yet.

"I don't know that we're the No. 1 team in the country," Dailey told the AP earlier this week. "I haven't seen enough of a lot of people. But I've known our team when we have been No. 1. This team isn't there yet."

Should UConn be on top? Is another team more deserving? ESPN.com's Charlie Creme and Graham Hays debate it out, as well as which upcoming games they're most looking forward to, which teams they underestimated and whether the women should adopt the international 3-point line.

In other words, the impetus for the article came from a quote from Coach Dailey.

For those asserting this is click-bait or that ESPN has some agenda, please note this -- ESPN is treating women's basketball the same way as it does men's basketball. ESPN has had countless articles over the years about teams' rankings at various points in the seasons, as well as an analysis of who should be the top-rated team in the land -- and making cases for them.

For many years, WCBB fans have clamored for more coverage and to stop treating women's basketball like a novelty, but to provide substantive articles and discussions. Now, ESPN has been doing that and providing more substantive content, with its preseason rankings articles, its constantly updating bracketology, and with articles like this. Respectfully, in some ways and with certain fans, ESPN cannot win for trying.

 

[UcMiami]

Pre-season and OOC season rankings are primarily guess work because so few significant match-ups happen before mid-January. It is especially suspect in a year like this year where so many of the dominant teams from the last few years lost significant roster spots to graduation. While I agree with CD that this Uconn team does not look like past #1 teams, the reality is that the power in WCBB is in flux and no team looks that good at this point in the year. For Uconn a comparable year might be 2002-3 with four first round draft choices gone - they kept winning, but no one really believed they were that good.

The teams that should be ranked ahead of Uconn this year have all lost games they should have won, therefore Uconn takes over the #1 ranking by default.

 

[willtalk]

Pre-season and OOC season rankings are primarily guess work because so few significant match-ups happen before mid-January. It is especially suspect in a year like this year where so many of the dominant teams from the last few years lost significant roster spots to graduation. While I agree with CD that this Uconn team does not look like past #1 teams, the reality is that the power in WCBB is in flux and no team looks that good at this point in the year. For Uconn a comparable year might be 2002-3 with four first round draft choices gone - they kept winning, but no one really believed they were that good.

The teams that should be ranked ahead of Uconn this year have all lost games they should have won, therefore Uconn takes over the #1 ranking by default.

There were many people, myself included, who felt that based on their returning roster Uconn's initial ranking was too high. Uconn fans assumed that, just like in the season you mentioned, that the team would be better than anticipated. While so far that seems the case, it was still based on an assumption.

The situation at ND is an example of what can happen to any program when it loses too much talent. Now I am not equating Uconns situation with ND, but only as a case in point that tradition and coaching can only do so much. I don't believe anyone would have thought that the ND program would be as weak as it turned out to be regardless of their losses. I bring this up to show that the perspective that believed that a team's tradition and coaching is only worth so much in respect to gaging the potential counter loss of talent through graduation.

Uc Miami-- Your statement that all the teams that should be ranked ahead of Uconn have lost games they should have won so Uconn takes over #1 by default makes an assumption that there is no one else who would have a claim based on returning players and record. I am not saying that Uconn being ranked #1 is an egregious injustice. Not at all. But I do say that there are logical arguments to be made for Oregon St to also be named #1 based on their record, SOS and returning players. The fact that Uconn was ranked ahead of Oregon St were weighted assumptions many based on reputation, so having a different opinion based on a differing perspective is not as out of the question as many here would want to believe.

 

[PAC-12HoopFan]

Being 12-0 right now is a very good thing for Oregon State, regardless of how many true road games it has played. The championship game of the Preseason WNIT was originally scheduled to be played on another team's home court, but that team lost in the semifinals. The Beavs have played three games on neutral courts in tournaments thus far. Oregon State is not claiming it is #1 right now. As others have discussed, being #1 right now is not the ultimate goal.

As other teams have proven, remaining undefeated is a difficult thing for any D1 team. The "anyone" comment is not true or there would be more than 9 unbeaten teams remaining in the country.

 

[HopJim]

This early in season, all the rankings mean is that some writers are looking to generate clicks. Must be slow basketball news week for this topic to generate so many posts.

 

[Figurehead]

There seems to be a lot of bad blood between Oregon State and UConn fans on this board for reasons I don't understand but I am not along time poster so don't know the history between the two.

It is not like both teams paths have crossed that often or that there is a special rivalry. I don't think they are recruiting directly for the same type of players.
It seems to be a back and forth on whether Oregon State is better than UConn or vice versa. If it was just rankings and massey rating we would not need March madness and have pollsters and computers decide it all. Hopefully everyone focuses on the games.

Maybe because neither teams fans have bowl games to attend or watch accounts for the back and forth banter here?

 

[PAC-12HoopFan]

Important to remember that it was a UConn fan who started and titled this thread.

I am a fan of several PAC-12 teams, including Oregon State and Stanford. No bad blood or chest pounding should be coming from either of those squads. Fans of both of those PAC-12 teams know that their favorite teams have a lot to clean up as conference play starts soon.

Speaking as a fan of both of those Top 10 programs, the earliest that I want to see either of my favorite teams play UConn would be in the 2020 national championship game.

 

[Zanzman]

Actually the title came from the ESPN article on the w

 

[eebmg]

There seems to be a lot of bad blood between Oregon State and UConn fans on this board for reasons I don't understand but I am not along time poster so don't know the history between the two.

It is not like both teams paths have crossed that often or that there is a special rivalry. I don't think they are recruiting directly for the same type of players.
It seems to be a back and forth on whether Oregon State is better than UConn or vice versa. If it was just rankings and massey rating we would not need March madness and have pollsters and computers decide it all. Hopefully everyone focuses on the games.

Maybe because neither teams fans have bowl games to attend or watch accounts for the back and forth banter here?

Maybe during our recruiting lull when we were wondering where the hell the bigs are, OSU were collecting them like chicklets with no perceivable logic.

 

[Tonyc]

Well imo UConn and Oregon have the best talent in WCBB and are the best teams. It will come down to everything else. Baylor South Carolina Stanford Oregon St and Florida St have played well and follow.

 

[jaydee602]

"Their "disappointing team? Maryland, but they have a "gut feeling" Maryland will be at the FF?"

Yeah, I almost choked when I read that crap about Maryland!
[/QUOTE]
Maryland was just trounced by 23 points to an unranked Northwestern team. I cannot see what the "experts" like about the Terps.

 

[Biff]

Yeah, I almost choked when I read that crap about Maryland!

Maryland was just trounced by 23 points to an unranked Northwestern team. I cannot see what the "experts" like about the Terps.
[/QUOTE]
I think it's the locker room speeches