Ranking the Tops Teams of the Decade

As the decade comes to a close maybe it's time to rank the top 10 teams from 2001-2009. I stole this idea from Jake Curtis who writes about Stanford basketball for the Examiner. He has some interesting points to bring up about each team he selected and for the most part, I agree with his selections. Well start with #10, his selection and my selection.

Jake-Purdue
Jenn-Rutgers (maybe I'm biased BUT....)

Rutgers: 1 National title game, 1, Final Four, ranked in the top 10 final AP poll 4 times, #2 in scoring defense for three seasons, 1 Big East Tournament Title, 1 Big East Regular Season Title (13-0, undefeated record), 2 All-Americans (Cappie Pondexter, Epiphanny Prince). Okay, so they dropped out of the poll last season for what, 2 weeks? Who cares! Look at what they have accomplished. I'm not taking anything away from Purdue, excellent ball club but Rutgers is taking it to the next level. 10 years ago people did not even mention Rutgers for National Titles or teams that could make a run. Now that is all that you hear. No team ever wants to play Rutgers in the NCAA Tournament, just ask Auburn or Duke!

I understand the selection of Purdue but I just feel Rutgers is a little better. It all started in 1999 for the Boilermakers and they have been consistent ever since. They have made the NCAA Tournament every year except 1, won two Big 10 titles, AP Top 10 Final poll 4 times, 1 National Title birth and 1 All American (Katie Douglas). The difference is that the Big 10 has been up and down with talented teams and the Big East is always loaded with talented teams. I think that helps put RU a step above PU.

WNBA
No big upsets last night, well none that I didn't predict. I was shocked at the announcers saying that the Sparks are a "surprise". Really? Are you serious? Whatever...

Detroit Shock move into a 3-way tie for 4th in the East. Washington still holds the edge for the 4th spot but Chicago will rebound. They played a great 1st 20 minutes last night then seemed tired in the 2nd 20 minutes, well last 10 minutes really.

No games tonight...good thing because we wouldn't want ESPN to have to cut into a Little League baseball game for a women's professional sporting event (note sarcasm).

Rookie watch: Angel McCoughtry dropped in 20 for the Dream last night along with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. Shavonte Zellous had 13 points for the Shock along with 1 board, 3 assists, 0 steals and 1 turnover. McCoughtry wins.

Schedules: Colleges Releasing Schedules

Today marked another Top 25 school releasing their 2009-2010 hoops schedule, be in non-conference. Rutgers has a tough schedule ahead of them, and it would've been tough with Epiphanny Prince but it looks even harder without her! They open up November 15th @ home against Stanford. Yes, the same Final Four team...that one. The one with the lights out shooting point guard that missed 3/4 of last season, JJ Hones. And the one with preseason Wooden Award Candidate, Jayne Appel (who just finished a stint with USA Women's Basketball). But hey, anything can happen right? RU will play 14, 2009 NCAA Tourney teams, many of them from their own conference. My non-conference upset of the year...Prairie View A&M beats RU. Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's biggest win in school history!

Rest of the non- conference schedule:

November:

15 Stanford

17 Kean

19 Boston College

22 at Georgia

26-28 at Paradise Jam, Virgin Islands

26 vs. Southern California

27 vs. Mississippi State

28 vs. Texas

December:

3 Temple

5 at Princeton

7 Florida (Jimmy V Classic)

10 Prairie View A&M

13 vs. Tennessee (Maggie Dixon)

20 Central Connecticut State

30 at George Washington

Stanford has also released their schedule, complete schedule that is, for the 2009-2010 season. Their big games are back to back home contests, 12/15 against Duke and 12/19 against Tennessee. Then they travel across the country to take on UCONN (rematch of Final Four Semi-Final) on 12/23. Other then that, they have the usual tough Pac-10 conference schedule. And if I hear one more commentator talk about how "weak the Pac-10 is", I think I might just drive to their location and slap them. Arizona, Washington is back, USC, UCLA...come on people! Give the West Coast some respect.

Tennessee released their schedule last week. I miss the UCONN/UT game...bring it back! Tennessee plays Baylor in the season opener State Farm classic game, I am anxious to see how Britney Griner (Baylor, Freshman) does against the defense of Tennessee. I would HATE to be Baylor in that game though. Let's be honest, do you THINK Tennessee is going to lose their first game of the season after losing in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament (for the first time ever) last year? I think not. Other notable games, 12/6 home against Texas, neutral site against Rutgers (although it is NYC, practically a home game for Rutgers), 12/19 @ Stanford, 1/17/10 vs Vanderbilt, 2/8/10 @ Vanderbilt. The SEC is always tough but look for Tennessee to rebound from last season.

Many of the other top schools have yet to release much of anything. I know it's early but I'm itching for some college hoops.

WNBA Stuff

-The Phoenix Mercury look to clinch a playoff spot tonight. They take on the Washington Mystics in Phoenix. Game time is 10:00 pm. If Phoenix wins, this will be their 4th straight win over the Mystics. If Washington wins, they can move into a tie with Chicago for the coveted 4th place in the East.

-The Mystics will be playing six of their final 9 games on the road...yuck. They are 4-7 on the road this season.

-Connecticut Sun travel to play the New York Liberty for a Friday night game. Breast Cancer Awareness night at the Garden. Game time is 7:30 pm (NBA TV). Connecticut is without their leading scorer, Asjha Jones. She is out for 2 weeks with a sore Achilles' tendon. Connecticut is looking to beat the Liberty twice in 1 week (they won 74-69 on Wednesday).

-Liberty have allowed 87 points per game and have scored a league low 72.6 points.

-Los Angeles Sparks are on a tear, they've won their last 3 games. They visit the San Antonio Silver Stars tonight (10:00 pm, NBA TV). The Sparks are pretty motivated as they haven't won in San Antonio's house in more then 3 years.

-Sparks win...take 4th place in West, Sparks lose, fall 1.5 games back. The two teams meet 2 more times next month. Playoff fever tonight in San Antonio!

Shout out to Halle Berry

Halle Berry showed her support for the Los Angeles Sparks as she attended the August 19th game against the Minnesota Lynx. She had on her personalized "sparkles" Sparks jersey, check it out (photo courtesy of WNBA.com)...

In other news:

-Former Rutgers star and WNBA player, Sue Wicks, was on Rachel Maddow. Check her out...pretty good stuff (12 minute video). Video

-Bilqis Abul-Qadir will be the first player in NCAA Division 1 women's basketball to play for a top tier team in full Muslim dress. She is a 5'3" guard who broke Rebecca Lobo's Massachusetts scoring record. Nice article on here, click here.