(10-19-2021, 01:07 PM)TheFarm07 Wrote: Though it would have been nice to be ranked #1 as the defending champions, we suffered the biggest loss of the three to graduation - Kiana Williams. Did South Carolina and/or UConn lose anyone? At least none of their starters, maybe a bench player.
Plus as said, their freshman class is insanely loaded - the Huskies have the #1 and #5 recruits and the Gamecocks have the three other Top 5 recruits, and they were a Boston missed tip-in from playing in the title game instead of us.
So from my perspective, it was reasonable that we're #3. THE NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WILL SHOW US WHERE WE ARE THIS YEAR. To successfully defend our title, we'll have to replace the points and outside shooting Kiana provided and see how well whoever takes over in the guard position next to Wilson can do - some combination of Van Gytenbeek, Hamilton and/or Brown. Can Brink make that next step in limiting her foul trouble so that she can stay on the floor for longer stretches at a time and how much contribution can the freshmen make?
Exactly!
And here is pre-season #3 Stanford's OOC schedule vs pre-season ranked teams, that will be their initial gauge:
11/14 - vs #25 Texas
11/25 - vs #8 Indiana (neutral)
11/26 - vs #21 South Florida (neutral)
11/27 - vs #4 Maryland (neutral)
12/18 - @ #15 Tennessee
12/21 - @ #1 South Carolina
And their pre-season ranked PAC 12 opponents:
01/07 - vs #10 Oregon
01/09 - vs #14 Oregon State
01/30 - vs #22 Arizona
02/03 - @ #20 UCLA
02/18 - @ #14 Oregon State
02/20 - @ #10 Oregon
Pre-Season #1 SOUTH CAROLINA:
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Pre-season #1 South Carolina will also be extremely battle-tested in their OOC schedule:
11/09 - @ #5 NC State
(Note: The following 11/21 and 11/22 are most likely opponents)
11/21 - vs #10 Oregon (neutral)
11/22 - vs #2 UConn (neutral)
12/12 - vs #4 Maryland
12/21 - vs #3 Stanford
01/27 - vs #2 UConn
And their schedule vs SEC pre-season ranked teams:
01/09 - vs #13 Kentucky
01/13 - vs #23 Texas A&M
02/10 - @ #13 Kentucky
02/20 - vs #15 Tennessee
02/24 - @ #23 Texas A&M
#2 UConn:
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Here's pre-season #2 UConn's equally ambitious OOC schedule vs pre-season ranked teams:
(Note: The following 11/21 and 11/22 are most likely opponents)
11/21 - vs #21 South Florida (neutral)
11/22 - vs #1 South Carolina (neutral)
12/09 - @ #17 Georgia Tech
12/11 - vs #20 UCLA (neutral)
12/19 - vs #6 Louisville
01/17 - @ #10 Oregon
01/27 - @ #1 South Carolina
UConn will have to rely heavily on their OOC schedule, as they will not face any pre-season ranked team from their Big East conference.
FINAL NOTE:
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It's interesting to note that pre-season #1 South Carolina and #2 UConn could face each other twice in their respective OOC schedule.