[BillBradley]

I think it would be better next year if Stanford started out ranked somewhere between #12 and #20.  This year's expectations were unrealistically high.  That can lead to disappointment by fans if initial expectations don't get met.   I would rather see Stanford overachieve next year and gradually work its way up in the rankings.

I think that is plausible.  We probably won't be expected to win the Pac 12 next year.  Utah gets everyone back.  UCLA's #1 freshman class become sophomores and players like Rice really come into their own.  Who knows what anyone else will look like with the massive flood of transfers, but the odds are that some other team in the league will hit the transfer jackpot in the off season.  Washington will be better next year than the team that beat us this year.  etc. 

To keep expectations reasonable, we probably should try to schedule non conference games that are the same caliber as conference games.  Maybe we should put one of those frenetic defenses on our schedule early on.

I think we'll stay in the Top-10. Likely starting lineup of:
Kiki/Lauren - 5
Cam - 4 (with some movement out to the perimeter please!)
Demetre/Bosgana
Hannah
Lepolo/Nivar

That's a darn good lineup, led by the best player and shooter in the conference. And even though I love Haley and all she's done for the program, with this group it could be addition by subtraction. It's certainly a better perimeter shooting team. Throw in Ogden et al and we'll be 10 deep again.

[BillBradley]

I think it would be better next year if Stanford started out ranked somewhere between #12 and #20.  This year's expectations were unrealistically high.  That can lead to disappointment by fans if initial expectations don't get met.   I would rather see Stanford overachieve next year and gradually work its way up in the rankings.

I think that is plausible.  We probably won't be expected to win the Pac 12 next year.  Utah gets everyone back.  UCLA's #1 freshman class become sophomores and players like Rice really come into their own.  Who knows what anyone else will look like with the massive flood of transfers, but the odds are that some other team in the league will hit the transfer jackpot in the off season.  Washington will be better next year than the team that beat us this year.  etc. 

To keep expectations reasonable, we probably should try to schedule non conference games that are the same caliber as conference games.  Maybe we should put one of those frenetic defenses on our schedule early on.

I think we'll stay in the Top-10. Likely starting lineup of:
Kiki/Lauren - 5
Cam - 4 (with some movement out to the perimeter please!)
Demetre/Bosgana
Hannah
Lepolo/Nivar

That's a darn good lineup, led by the best player and shooter in the conference. And even though I love Haley and all she's done for the program, with this group it could be addition by subtraction. It's certainly a better perimeter shooting team. Throw in Ogden et al and we'll be 10 deep again.