RebKell's Junkie Boards

[NoDakSt]

Admittedly,I don't follow a lot of teams so my expectations are often misinformed and based on a high degree of ignorance.

With that caveat, I am surprised by Clemson. Amanda Butler has the Tigers off to a 4-1 start in the ACC which includes wins over Miami and Florida State and a single-digit loss to Syracuse. Earlier in the season, Clemson played three SEC teams and had single-digit losses to South Carolina, Tennessee, and the only real blow out happening to Bama. I know nothing about the roster make up, or how many players returned, or how many new players are in the program, but I believe this is better than Clemson has done it at least a decade.

[TechDawgMc]

My first thought is Kansas State. They've beaten Texas. All but one of their losses (a surprising one to KU) are to ranked teams. They played pretty tight with Baylor through most of that game. They've been better than I would have guessed.

[PUmatty]

I'm surprised to see Rutgers 2 games ahead of the field in the Big Ten. That don't have impressive wins exactly (depending what you think of Maryland) but they look like the might be the class of the league.

[summertime blues]

VCU, NC State, Clemson, Rutgers, Tennessee Tech, Boston College, and (dammit!) Towson.

_________________
Don't take life so serious. It ain't nohows permanent.
It takes 3 years to build a team and 7 to build a program.--Conventional Wisdom

[dinkytown]

Iowa State - are they better because of Middleton or did they have injuries last year?

Boston College, Butler, Clemson, Rutgers, Utah State

[Marquette Fan]

Butler

Marquette with a caveat. I'd say they are at or maybe slightly below expectations overall at this point (rankings are good but loss to Miami in preseason WNIT still bugs me - lost a chance at another game with that loss too). However, they have significantly exceeded my expectations for their play with all-time leading scorer and preseason BE POY Allazia Blockton out with injury - they are 6-0 in the BE with Blockton having only played 8 minutes so far during the conference season.

[Shmermerer1]

[mikeyc22]

Kentucky (minus the Ole Miss loss).

[Shmermerer1]

Rice is looking pretty good right now. Since Nancy Mulkey has been able to play, they are 4-0 in conference play and 8-1 with her in the lineup.

[dinkytown]

[Howee]

I second those nods to Iowa State, Towson, Clemson, Rutgers and add Indiana. I really didn't think the Hoosiers could be all that good after the departure of their 2 seniors.

_________________
Oregon: Go Ducks!
"Inévitablement, les canards voleront"

[CompSci87]

[Shmermerer1]

I'd also like to add in Arizona and Utah in the Pac-12. I thought Arizona was going to be last or second to last in the PAC this season. They've beaten Arizona State and Cal already.

[Shmermerer1]

[myrtle]

I know they are always ranked, but I have been pleasantly surprised by Stanford. Really didn't expect them to be a top 10 team this year.

_________________
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman

[calbearman76]

I would like to add Ohio and BYU. Ohio had an easy non conference schedule, but their wins over Purdue and Buffalo are impressive. BYU had a terrible loss to Southern Utah, but their only other losses are to Utah and Cal. Their win over Gonzaga was very impressive, and their follow up vs Portland was a perfect letdown opportunity. BYU came out flat and were down double digits but they went on a 16-0 run in the final 4 minutes to avoid the upset. Both of these teams could make the NCAA tournament. I didn't see that before the season started.

Also another nod to Arizona. It has been 13 years since Shawntenice Polk died and the program hasn't been the same. I thought Arizona was still at least a year away but Aari McDonald and Cate Reese both look really good. I have actually been more impressed with Arizona than Utah even though the Utes won their first meeting. But that may be because when I saw Utah in Las Vegas they didn't play that well.

[CompSci87]

[summertime blues]

[taropatch]

Tennessee. I expected them to suck but they have exceeded my expectations and suck magna summa double laude.

[summertime blues]

Norfolk State. Undefeated in MEAC play this year.

_________________
Don't take life so serious. It ain't nohows permanent.
It takes 3 years to build a team and 7 to build a program.--Conventional Wisdom

[Conway Gamecock]

[Marquette Fan]

Nice article about Butler in the Indy paper:

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/butler/2019/01/23/butler-womens-basketball-contending-big-east-title-ncaa-tournament-berth/2656578002/

Thought I'd post it here since they are a team exceeding expectations this year

[ripleydc]

[NoDakSt]

Relative to Utah, who's the recent story about Megan Huff, The Utes leading scorer and rebounder.

She started her collegiate career as a volleyball player in Hawaii. The article explains how she got around to taking a basketball and going to Utah.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/utah-utes/2019/01/24/megan-huff-utahs-quiet/

[willtalk]