The Women's Preseason rankings were posted today - Tournament 64 Preseason Rankings TDS 1) UCLA 2) ND 3) Stanford 4) BC 5) NC NSCAA 1) ND 2) Stanford 3) NC 4) BC 5) FSU UCLA has some great young talent, but I don't know if they are ready to make that big of a jump.
TDS specifically says this their top 64 list is their prediction as to who will in up in the NCAA tournament, NOT a straight ranking. The way I interpret this is that they are predicting who will be at the top at the END of the season, modified by conference entries. On this basis, it is entirely reasonable that UCLA, with mountains of talent (both young and seasoned), will by season's end have trained and polished its youngsters to the point that they may be tournament-ready. (Remember that UNC took the College Cup in 2006 starting 5 frosh in the second half.)
He has in the past ranked teams as he thinks they will seed for the tournament field. That means he thinks UCLA will be the top #1 seed. They won't be that if they aren't in top form from the start. Have any #1 seeds had more than one loss lately? So, i think that means he thinks they will beat Stanford and Stanford will have no other losses. Another think to check is that he has a team from each conference with an automatic qualifier. I haven't gone over that yet, but it's a detail he often misses.
TopDrawer's ranking is worse than the NSCAA's which is saying something. UCLA at #1 to open the year is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the small conference picks, where they didn't even pretend to care and just listed last year's auto bid winners. Oy vey.
Oklahoma State at #21, LOL. Florida at #13, LOL (they have almost every top player back, except goalkeeper). Those are two schools that literally could find their way into the College Cup Final Four this year. That's how good each can be. Both should be ranked in the preseason Top 10. Florida should be around #7 or #8, and Oklahoma State around #9 or #10. Duke is not good enough to be #11. Maybe Top 20 still, but not all the way to #11. I wouldn't even have UCLA in my own Top 5 this year. But having them at #1 is just crazy. USC is also over-ranked (at #12). Someone needs to tell them that they were only a borderline Top 10 (Top 12 team), when they had Amy Rodriguez and company. Those players are now gone. They are back to being an irrelevant team at being a true College Cup candidate.
I hear you on Florida. They are already ranked pretty high, but I could easily see #6 Virginia jumping on top of a very talented and crowded ACC. I think USC is going to take a tumble as well.
Uh, you do know that Virginia lost half their starting lineup over the offseason, right? I have no idea why Oklahoma State is lower than Texas A&M in all these polls. Except reputation. USC was very young last year. Could be a real sleeper, IMO. Florida will probably be Florida this year. Real good in a weak league and then disappoint in the NCAA Tournament again.
Some look ok but they are no brainers. I agree Oklahoma State should be higher than A&M. Portland is so good and I enjoy them so much but worry about roster size. OKLAHOMA??? what am I missing? And Sorry, dude the OVC has been ruled by Morehead State, not Murray (who didn't even make the semis of the OVC). All white kit has newcomer SIUE challenging (they proved their point at this level last year) or Austin Peay, who has the Ariza twins who played for Columbia in the WWC.
UCLA was wildly inconsistent last year, but they did make it to the round of 16 and somehow did beat ND. And until then, they were in the Cup for 7 consecutive years. So, it wouldn't be a stretch for them to be a top seed this season with all those new players. But in predicting BJ Snow would win it all, the TDS guy cited Charney Burk as one of the reasons why it would happen and it's doubtful she will see much PT at all, if the Bruin roster is half as strong as advertised.
I don't think you're going to solve inconsistency problems with a whole new herd of freshmen, no matter how talented they are. And isn't Richmond out for the season with an ACL injury from the NCAA Tournament last year?
We might find out about Richmond this Saturday when UCLA plays an exhibition with CS Bakersfield. And we'll find out how strong or still inconsistent the team is when they play Florida in about 2 weeks.
UCLA scored all of 34 goals last year. And that against a weak Pac-10 last year. And 7 of their goals were against Cal Poly. A return to the College Cup will require a substantial jump in goal production. (Last year's Cup participants scored 20-40 points more.) I don't follow UCLA that closely. Perhaps those who do can explain where those points will come from. New recruits? Players returning from injury? Better coaching? (I know that last one will open a hornets nest.)
In fact, Cal State Bakersfield is so hyped about hosting BJ Snow and his young UCLA Bruins in an exhibition that they're even charging admission. Might be the biggest thing to hit town since the Broccoli Festival.
Apparently the Pac-12 coaches don't expect UCLA to finish No. 1. Not even in the Pac-12. Coaches couldn't vote for their own team. Eleven coaches including BJ at UCLA voted for Stanford to finish as Pac-12 champion. Paul Ratcliffe at Stanford voted for Oregon State. That's probably already posted in the Bruin's locker room. Stanford Picked As 2011 Preseason Favorite [By Pac-12 Coaches]
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