Guess who showed up in the AP poll after Week 1?
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/1
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/1
Almost need to wait for at least 5 games to be played before they begin to start these polls. Perhaps 8-10 games is a better number.
If Marlene Stollings was still the coach this team would not be ranked this early. We will learn a lot when they play Syracuse. Go Gophers!
Intriguingly, Realtime RPI thinks the Gophers go undefeated until New Year's Eve:
http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_190_Women.html
(Note: Realtime RPI was slightly off on the San Diego score.)
The #20 ranking is nice, although I'm still thinking it's a bit high. We'll know more after #12 Syracuse visits Thursday. I'm not optimistic about the outcome of that matchup, but I'm hoping that I'm wrong. I like the new emphasis on defense, but the Gophers still have a lot to work on. They need to do a much better job of valuing the basketball (way too many turnovers), they need to improve their free throws, and they need to get a lot better offensively. I'm not sure they have enough offensive firepower to beat Syracuse. (I'm still bemoaning the loss of Hubbard and the graduation of Wagner.) If the Gophers are going to challenge Syracuse, it might have to be one of those "grind it out" games in the 60s/low 70s.
No reason to penalize Iowa for losing to a much higher-ranked team on their floor.
Figure they'll be ranked somewhere between 15-20 in the next poll.
But honestly, not worried about rankings at this point. Just keep taking care of business and the rankings will, as a result, take care of themselves.
Ok, but the poll typically doesn’t.
Why would their ranking stay the same after beating No. 12 Syracuse?
Gophers have a realistic shot to start 12-0. Have to get past @ BC. Then there would be a showdown @ Michigan in game 13.
You get to 12-0, you'll be ranked appropriately.
When is Hubbard expected to return?