Preseason Polls

[Row6Seat10]

I guess this is as good of time as any to start the pre-season poll thread. As they have done for the past several years College Sports Madness has a pre-season countdown of the top 44 teams and a preview of each team as they're revealed. They add a new team every day leading up to the number one pre-season team which they'll reveal on the opening day of the 2014-15 season. The countdown began a four days ago and today the first Big Ten team was revealed. I'll try and keep up and add each new team daily as they are revealed. I will put the teams the Huskers play this season in bold print.

 

1. UConn Huskies

2. South Carolina Gamecocks

3. Tennessee Volunteers

4. Notre Dame Irish

5. Duke Blue Devils

6. Texas A&M Aggies

7. North Carolina Tarheels

8. Stanford Cardinal

9. Kentucky Wildcats

10. Baylor Bears

11. UCLA Bruins

12. California Golden Bears

13. Iowa Hawkeyes

14. Louisville Cardinals

15. Maryland Terrapins

16. Michigan St Spartans

17. Nebraska Cornhuskers

18. LSU Tigers

19. West Virginia Mountaineers

20. Penn St Lady Lions

21. Dayton Flyers

22. Syracuse Orange

23. Purdue Boilermakers

24. Texas Longhorns

25. DePaul Blue Demons

26. James Madison Dukes

27. Georgia Bulldogs

28. Oregon Ducks

29. Gonzaga Bulldogs

30. Florida St Seminoles

31. Oklahoma Sooners

32. Brigham Young Cougars

33. Oregon St. Beavers

34. Minnesota Golden Gophers

35. St. John's Red Storm

36. Oklahoma St. Cowgirls

37. Arkansas Razorbacks

38. USC Trojans

39. Iowa St. Cyclones

40. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

41. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

42. Florida Gators

43. Middle Tennessee St. Blue Raiders

44. Washington Huskies

[Tinpanalley]

With Rutgers at 40 and I'm guessing Maryland will be in the lower half of the top 10, their addition sure has added to the strength of the Big Ten conference.  Best conference in women's basketball?

 

I am predicting that Nebraska will be rated around 15.

 

GBR

[Norm Peterson]

Jordan Hooper leaves some mighty big shoes to fill.  Not sure about #15.  On the plus side, though, we do bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the country and maybe the best in school history. 

 

(We always talk about it on the guys' side, but what recruiting class on the women's side would rival this one?  The one with Katie Robinette?  The one with Steph Jones, Margaret Richards and Shahidrah Roberts?  The one with Shannon Howell, Alexa Johnson and Katie Morse?  Say what you will about Sanderford, but he brought in some talent.)

 

Don't know if newcomers will get this team over the hump of losing one of the best Huskers EVER, but we'll see.  Still, #15 might be a bit of a stretch.

[redsteve]

Hum....

 

We do have 4 returning starters, and our last years 6th player off the bench is back...plus maybe one of the best recruiting classes ever...

 

...but we lose an All American....and I kinda feel like we'll get Hooper's points out of Havers and the much deeper bench.

 

...so my crystal ball says about 15 too. (well at least in the 13 to 17 range....is that cheating?)

[Fastbreaker]

I will agree on the 15th prediction.  We get this on reputation.  With two sweet sixteen's and a B1G tournament championship we are  given the benefit of the doubt now. 

 

As far as the best recruiting class, I would think the one with Corey Montgomery, Vonnie Turner,  Kala Kuhlman has to be up there.   

[Cazzie22]

Nicole Kubik, Charlie Rogers and Brook Schwartz was probably the best all-Nebraska group.

[Silverbacked1]

Nicole Kubik, Charlie Rogers and Brook Schwartz was probably the best all-Nebraska group.

Was Robinette also in that class?

[Norm Peterson]

 

Nicole Kubik, Charlie Rogers and Brook Schwartz was probably the best all-Nebraska group.

Was Robinette also in that class?

 

No.

[Norm Peterson]

Nicole Kubik, Charlie Rogers and Brook Schwartz was probably the best all-Nebraska group.

Nicole Kubik, my all-time favorite lady Husker hoopster. 

 

Brooke Schwartz, my all-time least favorite lady Husker hoopster.

 

As much as Nicole was fun to watch, Brooke was exasperating to watch.  I don't think I've ever seen a player launch more bricks from further away with more time left on the shot clock than Brooke Schwartz. 

[Row6Seat10]

Here is Lindy's preseason rankings. No link, just copied from the magazine. Big Ten teams in bold print.

 

1 Connecticut
2 South Carolina
3 Notre Dame
4 Stanford
5 Tennessee
6 North Carolina
7 Maryland
8 Baylor
9 Texas A&M
10 Louisville
11 Duke
12 Kentucky
13 Oklahoma State
14 West Virginia
15 DePaul
16 Nebraska
17 California
18 Purdue
19 Gonzaga
20 Michigan State
21 BYU
22 Penn State
23 Oregon State
24 Texas
25 Iowa

AA 1st team:

Jewell Loyd
Tiffany Mitchell
Bria Holmes
Breanna Stewart
Isabelle Harrison

2nd team:

Marissa Janning
Brittany Boyd
Rachel Banham
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
Elizabeth Williams

3rd team:
 

Samantha Logic
Rachel Theriot
Courtney Walker
Jillian Alleyne
Reshanda Gray


POY Stewart
DPY Boyd
FOY A'ja Wilson

[HB]

Is it just me, or does it seem like Rachel Banham has been playing for the Gophers for about 7 years?

 

[Bugeaters1]

Is it just me, or does it seem like Rachel Banham has been playing for the Gophers for about 7 years?

 

Yep and people were probably saying the same thing about Hooper last year.

[Row6Seat10]

The Huskers have surfaced in the College Sports Madness top 44. They've got us sitting at #17 and #4 in the Big Ten.

 

Final Projection:
The loss of Hooper will be muted somewhat by the return of the other four starters, but there is no doubt Hooper’s absence and her 20 points a game will be felt. Still, not only do four starters return but the team nabbed three top prospects in Natalie Romeo, Kaylee Page and Chandler Smith. These three are part of the top 100 freshmen in the nation, and that will help the Huskers to overcome her loss. Nebraska will be among the top teams to watch in the Big Ten once again, but the question is how much ground it will lose in the Big Ten as other teams improve. Still, the Huskers should be among the teams to watch in the conference, even if other teams could vault ahead of Nebraska in the conference picture.

 

 

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/10007

[Row6Seat10]

The preseason top 25 AP Poll was released today and our Huskers come in at #16!

 

UConn is number 1. Our highest ranked opponent is Duke coming in at # 7. Maryland #10, Michigan St. #14 and Iowa #19 along with us are the Big Ten representives. Another of our opponents UCLA comes in at #23.

 

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/1/week/1/seasontype/2

[Row6Seat10]

The USA Today Coaches Poll was released this afternoon and the Huskers come in at #16. UConn is a unanimous #1.

 

Three other Big Ten teams made the poll, Maryland at #8, Michigan St. #15 and Iowa at #19. Penn St. Purdue and Rutgers are the first 3 out. The Huskers face two other preseason ranked teams from the Coaches poll in Duke #7 and UCLA at #23.

 

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/2/week/1/seasontype/2

 

1 Connecticut
2 South Carolina
3 Notre Dame
4 Tennessee
5 Texas A&M
6 Stanford
7 Duke
8 Maryland
9 Baylor
10 Kentucky
11 Louisville
12 Texas
13 North Carolina
14 California
15 Michigan St
16 Nebraska
17 West Virginia
18 DePaul
19 Iowa
20 Oklahoma St
21 Oregon St
22 Dayton
23 UCLA
24 LSU
25 Syracuse

[Row6Seat10]

The following link is ESPN's Women's College Basketball preview. Two-time defending NCAA champion Connecticut was a unanimous pick to lead off ESPNw's preseason top 25, as voted by espnW.com's Charlie Creme, Graham Hays, Michelle Smith and Mechelle Voepel. The Huskies were also No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason rankings. Creme provides the analysis for each team.

 

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/preview2014/story/_/id/11786457/connecticut-huskies-top-espnw-preseason-women-basketball-rankings

 

The Huskers come in at #17. Here's what Creme had to say about them. 

 

If Cady or Theriot are ready to become the next Cornhuskers superstar, then the loss of Jordan Hooper won't be as impactful. Other than Hooper, the club's leading scorer each of the last four seasons, the core of a team that won 26 games and the Big Ten tournament title returns. Theriot, at the point, is one of the best all-around players in the conference, if not the country. The explosive Tear'a Laudermill could be a much more well-known name by season's end.