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Thursday, December 7, 2000
Time for tipoff ... and a top 10
ESPN.com
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ESPN.COM'S TOP 10
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1. Connecticut: What, are you kidding? You expected some other team on top? Duh.
Opener: Nov. 12 vs. Georgia
2. Tennessee: Can't wait to see Catchings as a senior.
Opener: Nov. 18 vs. DePaul
3. Purdue: With Douglas outside and Cooper in the paint, Boilers are saying, "Meet me in St. Louis."
Opener: Nov. 11 vs. Eastern Michigan
4. Georgia: Lady Bulldogs boast some of the country's best guards.
Opener: Nov. 12 at Connecticut
5. Duke: Will move up after we see Alana Beard ... and after the Dukies prove themselves in the paint.
Opener: Nov. 10 vs. UCLA
6. Notre Dame: Inside-outside game should be pretty tough to defend.
Opener: Nov. 17 at Valparaiso
7. Rutgers: No, we have no allegiance to the Big East ... we just respect C. Vivian Stringer.
Opener: Nov. 17 vs. Cal
8. LSU: Every team has to have someone who can put the ball in the net. Meet Marie Ferdinand.
Opener: Nov. 10 vs. New Mexico
9. Iowa State: Cyclones need someone to fill the power forward spot. Other bases are covered.
Opener: Nov. 22 at Iowa
10. Louisiana Tech: No Jackson, Lennox or Frierson, but you can't count out Barmore's bunch.
Opener: Nov. 10 vs. UT-Chattanooga
Check back Nov. 14 for an updated top 10.
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| 20 QUESTIONS |
 If you could be any any super hero or cartoon character, who would you be? What's your favorite pre-game meal? If you were stranded on an island, what's the one thing you'd take with you? ESPN.com asked dozens of the nation's top players to answer these questions and more. This week, Virginia sophomore Schuye LaRue, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, shares her answers to our 20 Questions. |
| YOU TELL US |
| Last season, Oklahoma broke onto the national scene. Which teams do you predict as this season's up-and-coming programs? Click here to sound off with your opinion, then check back next week when we post selected responses.
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About the only polls people are paying attention to these days are the ones involving politics.
But when it comes to hoops and hardwoods, where people care abut the score instead of Al Gore or a certain Texas Governor, we're gearing up for the 2000-2001 season.
With the new season looming ahead, ESPN.com has decided to post a poll of its own -- a weekly top 10 for women's college hoops, which will be unveiled each Tuesday in our Quick Dish notebook.
For the first edition of ESPN.com's power rankings, we turned to the experts -- including Jay Bilas and Nancy Lieberman-Cline -- for help. Nobody had a problem with the defending NCAA champion Connecticut Huskies topping the list, and the consensus favorite for No. 2 was a no-brainer, as well.
"Tennessee has to be No. 2," Bilas said. "The Lady Vols have everybody back and are experienced winners. Even their freshmen have been to a championship game already."
Duke, Georgia and Purdue round out the top five. With Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper and that NCAA championship from just two years ago on our minds, Purdue landed at No. 3. Georgia, meanwhile, came in at No. 4.
As ESPN.com's women's college basketball writer Mechelle Voepel said, "Four-on-four, Georgia can play with anybody, but that fifth spot, and depth, are questions."
The Big East finished with three teams in our top 10, with Notre Dame at No. 6 and Rutgers at No. 7. Lieberman-Cline said Irish senior Ruth Riley needs to stay out of foul trouble, and also expects to see a tougher and more consistent Tammy Sutton-Brown at Rutgers after her summer with Team Canada at the Sydney Games.
The SEC also had three representatives in our top 10, with Louisiana State checking in at No. 8.
"(Coach) Sue Gunter just continues to find players who can step up and who buy into her system," Lieberman-Cline said.
Despite graduating two key players, Iowa State should still be considered a threat, as well.
"Bill Fennelly is a very good coach, and the Cyclones are just too good at the little things," Lieberman-Cline added. "They block shots. They rebound. They do the things defensively you have to do to win."
Though at least one expert campaigned hard for Texas Tech, the Lady Raiders just missed the cut.
ESPN.com's Quick Dish and top 10 will resume Nov. 14 after the first games of the season are played.
| NUMBER TO WATCH |
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In 1995, UConn went undefeated to win the NCAA title. If the Huskies, who were 36-1 last season, match the feat in 2001, they will have gone 36-0 en route to the program's second consecutive national title and third championship overall. The Huskies enter the 2000-2001 season on a 17-game winning streak, dating back to a 72-71 loss to Tennessee on Feb. 2. |
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| QUOTE OF THE DAY |
During a chat with ESPN.com last week, Duke coach Gail Goestenkors was asked if the Blue Devils have any horses in the post this season. With a laugh, Goestenkors responded, "We have no horses ... we have a lot of ponies. If we have a weakness, it's in the post area, where we have no dominate center." |
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| INJURY REPORT |
| Rutgers guard Tasha Pointer sat out Wednesday's 91-44 exhibition win over Eos/Malbas. Pointer is said to be suffering from a minor lower-back injury. Rutgers held Eos/Malbas to a .293 shooting percentage and just 12 field goals and forced 32 turnovers. Senior Karlita Washington, starting in place of Pointer, scored a team-high 23 points while Tammy Sutton-Brown added 12. Rutgers' next game is Nov. 8 against the NY Gazelles. |
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ALSO SEE
Women's college hoops preview
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