Way Too Early Women’s Basketball Top 25

You are now seeing Way Too Early Top 25 for Men’s Basketball. So I decided to take a shot in the dark and do the top 25 for Women’s Basketball. I gave some commentary for the First Five and ranked 6-25. Enjoy!

1. Connecticut- This team fixes it’s two weaknesses: size and depth. This might be another historic year for UConn. Quite frankly I’m not sure when the next time they lose again is. And I’m not ready to say that they will lose a game in 2017-18. They have the #1 Recruiting Class(as usual) and a 6’6 transfer from Duke who was great there. There’s a reason we were saying 2016-17 was the year to defeat them. Because they were only going to get better. And better they have become.
2. Notre Dame- The Irish have went to Five Final Fours in a row before missing out the last two seasons. They return pretty much their entire roster only losing Lindsay Allen. They only lost by 2 to Stanford in the Elite Eight. I expect Notre Dame to be a Final Four team and be the team with the best chance to defeat UConn. Which those odds aren’t great by any stretch.
3. Mississippi State- Truly tough to rank a team that just defeated the best team in the country but fell short in the title game. Losing Key Senior leadership from Dominique Dillingham and Chinwe Okorie might become a challenge for the Bulldogs early in 2017. But there is no reason why this team cannot make another Final Four run in 2018. Victoria Vivians, Blair Schaefer, Teaira McCowan, and Morgan William return. So I don’t see a big dropoff. Adding Myah Taylor will help the depth in the guard position. The Biggest concern for Mississippi State is size. Yes McCowan is back but who else is going to be able to step up on the 5? Lot’s of unfamiliar territory here. But Coach Schaefer pulled off the upset of the year by defeating UConn. He’s proved that MSU is a top 5 program and belongs here. Let’s see if the Bulldogs can win the SEC for the first time in School History.
4. Baylor- The Bears return Kalani Brown. But they lose key scorers in Alexis Jones, Alexis Prince, Nina Davis, and Khadijah Cove. The good news for Baylor is they had the most depth in the country last year. So players like Lauren Cox or Beatrice Mompremier will easily be able to step in and fill their roles. Baylor has lost 4 times in a row in the Elite Eight. Quite Frankly had Mississippi State not defeated Baylor, this team probably would have been the only other team who could have upset UConn. Although I am not confident that would have happened due to Kim Mulkey. I’ll say it, this team under performed really badly last season. They should be the National Champions with the talent they had. But sometimes it’s not all about talent. So maybe Baylor is a little too high. I do like their returning pieces though. And having a 6’7 center certainly helps. I’ll leave them here.
5. South Carolina- The Defending National Champions lose Alaina Coates, Kaela Davis, and Allisha Gray. That’s a lot for this team to replace. And quite frankly it could end up being too much for this team to overcome. Ai’ja Wilson is returning and I trust Dawn Staley. Those are the two reasons I have South Carolina this high. But... losing 3 out of your 4 leading scorers would be tough for any team. It will be interesting to see who steps up for Carolina other than Wilson.
6. Stanford
7. Maryland
8. Florida State
9. Oregon State
10. Tennessee
11. Texas
12. Ohio State
13. Missouri
14. Duke
15. NC State
16. UCLA
17. Louisiville
18. Oregon
19. Depaul
20. Oklahoma
21. Arizona State
22. Miami
23. West Virginia
24. Drake
25. Iowa State