Way too early look at next season

[TheYancey]

The 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament is in the books. Stanford has been crowned the new national champion, which means it's time to look ahead to next season and the Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings for 2021-22.

The transfer portal and players' decisions to move on to a new school have already had a big impact on the rankings. And this year, with the NCAA allowing seniors to return for an additional year of eligibility, the teams included below are fluid and likely to change as more players make decisions and rosters are reconfigured.
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/31184173/women-college-basketball-way-too-early-top-25-uconn-reigns-south-carolina-looms

2. South Carolina Gamecocks

The nation's top-rated recruiting class of 2019 has already paid great dividends. Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Laeticia Amihere have formed the foundation of a program that has gone 58-6 in its two seasons. Now Dawn Staley is bringing in another No. 1 class. Point guard Raven Johnson, guard Saniya Rivers, and forward Sania Feagin are ranked second, third and fourth behind Fudd on the espnW 100 list for 2021. Add Gamecocks starters Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton into the mix and the competition in practice might be more substantial than what South Carolina faces in some games.

 

[Homebrewcock]

Dawn is doing a great job bringing in very good talent year after year.  One layup away this year from the finals and potentially another national title.  I think we would have beaten AZ.  It would have been close, but I feel we would have won. 

 

[kingofnerf]

Dawn is doing a great job bringing in very good talent year after year.  One layup away this year from the finals and potentially another national title.  I think we would have beaten AZ.  It would have been close, but I feel we would have won. 

Yeah, the Wildcats would have been a better match-up for us.

UConn lost, too.

I think WBB is getting more parity, but it will happen at the premier programs first then work its way down.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I will be disappointed if we don't win the NC next year.  

 

[Homebrewcock]

Hard to believe that UCONN has no seniors on their team.  Yikes.  We can compete and beat them though.  Should have won this year back in Feb. 

 

[USCMM]

UConn, USC, and to a lesser extent Stanford are going to be a step above the rest. UConn and USC are basically getting the top ranked classes and losing very little! I don't expect as much parity in the SEC because a lot of good players are graduating. We'll have to see how the transfer market shapes up but I expect that Tennessee and Kentucky will be the main competition. Either way, I expect for the Gamecocks to win the SEC regular season and tournament next season, barring critical injuries. I also expect to make a deep run in the tourney. I hope that it ends with a trophy but Standford and UConn should also be getting better too.