Media day was last week for the Big East women's basketball. I know I'm not surprised with who the coaches selected as the #1 team but I am a little surprised with the rest of the league. But, I know one thing is for certain, this is going to be one HECK of a season in the Big East. Top to bottom, I think every team will play a role in shaking up the league standings. Clear cut winner: UCONN. But will it be that easy for them as it may have been in the past (or I should say, they MADE it look easy)? Nope.
West Virginia was voted as the #2 team with their team leader Liz Repella back for some serious senior year playing and winning! However, the third place team will sneak past West Virgina and take second place in the league: Georgetown. You can not stress enough the importance of having a top point guard to run your team. That top point guard is Sugar Rodgers. They have great players inside and outside and that is what will lead them to a second place finish.
But can we forget about that team from Indiana? You know, Notre Dame? Heck no! I think they will be better this year because of Skylar Diggins. So could it be that Notre Dame could make a run for one of the top 3 spots? Absolutely! Look for Notre Dame to take Georgetown, West Virginia and UCONN to the limit. Since they play UCONN twice, I wouldn't be surprised if they win one of their contests.
As for the rest of the league, St. John's, DePaul Rutgers, Louisville and Syracuse could all move around in their area but I suspect they will all finish in the top 10, just maybe not in the order predicted. Marquette, South Florida, Providence, Pitt, Nova, Cincy and Seton Hall finish out 10-16 in the rankings. The two I recommend watching: Pitt and Hall. Anne Donovan is an amazing coach and her skills of connecting with players and getting the best out of them when it matters the most is a gift. Pitt is...well...Pitt and I don't think you can ever count them out. Look for Cincy to finish higher then 15....let us remember where their coach went to school.
So really I see a challenging season for all of the Big East schools. Will UCONN be the season winner? More then likely, even without Caroline Doty (who I hope recovers healthy and ready for next season).
My rankings:
1. UCONN
2. G'town
3. ND
4. WVU
5. Rutgers
6. St. John's
7. DePaul
8. Marquette
9. Louisville
10. Syracuse
11. South Florida
12. Pitt
13. Cincy
14. Providence
15. Seton Hall
16. Nova
Monday, October 25, 2010
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