National Scene

[sybarite]

I don't see the national scene as being all that clear. Connecticut still has Stewart and Jefferson, and I think Breanna will get her fourth national title. Notre Dame and South Carolina may be up there again, even though ND has lost Reimer and has had some injuries. It still takes Connecticut to beat them. The rest of the picture just isn't very clear.

The ACC has fifteen teams, several of whom think they are Sweet Sixteen bound at least. Notre Dame heads the pack. Miami is still undefeated, but not one win was over a decent team. No telling what they have. Virginia Tech is 9-1 and did win at Tennessee. They lost to Georgetown. Boston College is 8-1, losing to OU. The closest thing they have to a good win is over Purdue at Purdue. Duke and Florida State are both 7-2. Duke lost early to Texas A&M and recently to South Carolina. Iowa State is their best win. Florida State lost at Florida and Connecticut, but they don't have a quality win either. Virginia and NC State have very undistinguished 7-3 records.

If there is quality in the ACC, it will come from Miami, Florida State, Duke, Notre Dame, or Virginia Tech. But, I don't see anyone beating SC or ND.

 

[sybarite]

Right now, early in the season, The Pacific Twelve has passed the Big Ten for the #1 rating by realtimerpi. I disagree, and I anticipate that realtimerpi will once the season proceeds.

Oregon State and USC are undefeated at 7-0. But, Oregon State has a schedule that had to be worked out in Stillwater, and USC's best wins were over Santa Clara and West Virginia.

8-0 Oregon is also undefeated. They did win at North Carolina..
7-1 Arizona lost at San Diego. Best wins were over North Texas and Kansas.
7-2 California and Washington. Cal lost to St Marys and Texas A&M. They did beat Louisville, but so has everyone else this year. Washington lost to Oklahoma and Syracuse. Is Texas Tech a good win?
For some reason, the pundits like UCLA (lost to South Carolina and Notre Dame) 5-2, and Arizona State 5-3 (lost to South Carolina, VCU, and Kentucky) . I just don't see it yet. ASU did beat Syracuse.
Stanford is 6-2 , having lost to Santa Clara in Palo Alto and Texas. That's the same Santa clara that USC beat 100-55/

I just haven't seen a good enough win to rate Oregon state that highly yet. USC seems better, but not by much. Cal and Washington may well contend for the title.

It looks more like a #4 or 5 conference.

 

[sybarite]

The Big Ten is now rated the #2 conference in the country. I'll let you find out why.

10-0 Maryland. They have wins over Syracuse and South Dakota State. But, they have mostly beaten up on weak opposition.
8-0 Northwestern. A win at North Carolina seems to have made them viable. But, they have only played one team.
7-1 Illinois. Lost at Miami. Played nobody else.
8-2 Iowa. Lost to George Washington and Iowa State. Is Virginia a quality win?
8-2 Purdue. Lost to Stanford and Boston College (at Purdue). Did beat LSU and Louisville, neither of whom is all that strong this year. We beat BC.
7-2 Michigan State. Lost to Baylor and Louisville. Did beat Georgia.
7-2 Michigan. Lost to UCLA and at Princeton. No good wins.
7-2 Indiana. Lost to DePaul and Ohio. One decent win over Georgia Tech.
7-2 Nebraska. Lost to Connecticut and California (OT). Beat NC State in Lincoln.
7-3 Rutgers. Lost to Seton Hall, Florida State, and St Johns. Beat Virginia.
6-3 Ohio State Lost to South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Connecticut. Did beat Texas A&M.

It may be Maryland and Ohio State. The Big Ten really hasn't played much of anyone. The win over Texas A&M is the only decent win, maybe Georgia Tech. We don't really have much to go on, but I think we are looking at a lot of #40-70 teams.

 

[j2d2]

I really dont think OU has found its mojo yet. KayKay hasnt had any good competition yet and when she does our shooters will have to perform and I hate to depend on three point shooting to win. I am really encouraged by the defense which will keep us in games when nothing else works. All we need actually is learning to rebound which I think is where we are weakest.

 

[SoonerinNC]

Don't count Oregon State out. They still have some of the key players from last year and they we plenty tough then.

I wasn't that impressed with Stanford but the foul differential really hurt them and it looked like the officials were letting the Texas bigs camp in the lane.

UCLA always has the talent but they don't seem to do a lot with it.

I'm not downplaying Texas at all. They look tough to me.

 

[sybarite]

The SEC is rated #5.

10-0 Missouri: Best wins were probably at Colorado and St Marys.
9-0 South carolina: Won close matches at UCLA and Arizona State. Beat Duke.
9-0 Kentucky: won at Arizona State and over Louisville. Duke on Sunday.
9-1 Georgia: Lost to MIchigan State. Beat BYU, not by a lot.
9-1 Florida: lost opener to Temple, beat Florida State.
8-1 Alabama: Lost at Tennessee Martin. No good wins.
6-1 Mississippi State: lost to the only top 189 team, Texas.
8-2 Vanderbilt: lost at Dayton and Green Bay. No good wins.
7-2 Tennessee: Lost to Texas and VPI in Knoxville. Best win? Almost lost to syracuse in Knoxville.
6-2 Auburn: lost to Virginia and Marquette. No good wins.
7-3 Texas A&M: lost to Ohio State, BYU, and DePaul. Beat Duke and California.

It looks like South Carolina has one serious contender---Kentucky. A&M may be the next best, despite three losses. Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee have been unconvincing.

 

[sybarite]

The Big Twelve is #3. Really? Maybe.

10-0: Baylor: Should probably have beaten South Florida and Michigan State worse. Win over DePaul was good.

9-0 Texas: Normally, wins over Tennessee, Stanford, and a highly-ranked Mississippi state should have you on top. This year, none have proven themselves. They barely beat UALR and trailed into the fourth quarter because they didn't score a single point in the third? Really? Maybe.

7-0 Oklahoma State: Really? Well, they host North Carolina tonight which is a chance for both to show they belong. OSU's schedule is ranked #284 by realtimerpi.

9-1 Oklahoma: How do you lose to North Texas? Well, they have recently beaten SMU an IUPUI. The wins over BYU and Boston College are looking better every day. Neither has lost since. BYU took out A&M. BC took out Purdue at Lafayette. Utah has three losses: BYU, Boston College, and Oklahoma. A&M should help to tell where OU is.

8-1 Kansas State: slaughtered by UConn, the only team they have played worth mentioning.

7-2 West Virginia: Lost to USC and Gonzaga. No good wins.

6-2 Texas Tech: Lost to Washington and Santa Clara. Haven't beaten anyone.

8-3 TCU: Lost to Butler, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame. Best win was SMU.

6-3 Iowa State: lost to Drake, Duke, and Idaho. Did beat a ranked Iowa team.

5-4 Kansas: Lost to Arizona, SMU, St. Johns, and Mis--Kansas City. no good wins.

This year, it is three teams and mediocrity.

 

[GoWarriors]

Right now, early in the season, The Pacific Twelve has passed the Big Ten for the #1 rating by realtimerpi. I disagree, and I anticipate that realtimerpi will once the season proceeds.

Oregon State and USC are undefeated at 7-0. But, Oregon State has a schedule that had to be worked out in Stillwater, and USC's best wins were over Santa Clara and West Virginia.

8-0 Oregon is also undefeated. They did win at North Carolina..
7-1 Arizona lost at San Diego. Best wins were over North Texas and Kansas.
7-2 California and Washington. Cal lost to St Marys and Texas A&M. They did beat Louisville, but so has everyone else this year. Washington lost to Oklahoma and Syracuse. Is Texas Tech a good win?
For some reason, the pundits like UCLA (lost to South Carolina and Notre Dame) 5-2, and Arizona State 5-3 (lost to South Carolina, VCU, and Kentucky) . I just don't see it yet. ASU did beat Syracuse.
Stanford is 6-2 , having lost to Santa Clara in Palo Alto and Texas. That's the same Santa clara that USC beat 100-55/

I just haven't seen a good enough win to rate Oregon state that highly yet. USC seems better, but not by much. Cal and Washington may well contend for the title.

It looks more like a #4 or 5 conference.

I think the Pac 12 is by far the best conf. from top to middle of the pack--bottom is always like other conferences. Oregon State is very tough--they bring back about everyone. Cal will be dangerous. They are young and the most athletic team maybe in the country--fun to watch. Arizona State has injuries right now but should be at the top. USC maybe a huge surprise. Stanford will be fighting for 3 to 5th place that's how strong the conf. is. Washington is not very good at all. The will be in the middle to bottom of the pack. Not very athletic...UCLA has two great players and the rest are way overrated...so we'll see about them. Oregon has a good coach so they maybe on the upswing. The rest are the bottom feeders--Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Big 12 and SEC are way down after the top two teams. Let's see how it turns out.

 

[sybarite]

I think the Pac 12 is by far the best conf. from top to middle of the pack--bottom is always like other conferences. Oregon State is very tough--they bring back about everyone. Cal will be dangerous. They are young and the most athletic team maybe in the country--fun to watch. Arizona State has injuries right now but should be at the top. USC maybe a huge surprise. Stanford will be fighting for 3 to 5th place that's how strong the conf. is. Washington is not very good at all. The will be in the middle to bottom of the pack. Not very athletic...UCLA has two great players and the rest are way overrated...so we'll see about them. Oregon has a good coach so they maybe on the upswing. The rest are the bottom feeders--Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Big 12 and SEC are way down after the top two teams. Let's see how it turns out.

Cal hasn't made much of a claim thus far. They have lost two games: to St Marys and Texas A&M. They have no wins that speak highly for them. A&M lost firmly to BYU whom we beat by 26. We'll get a better read on A&M Sunday. I'm just not seeing anything making a statement yet.

That is pretty much the national scene. With the exception of Notre Dame and Connecticut, nobody has really stepped up. South Carolina may be there. Baylor may be there. Oregon State may be there. Kentucky may be there. Maryland may be there. But, they haven't played anyone that made a clear statement. Right now, I think there are two with maybe twenty falling in right behind. Then, it's a mess.