[ad_1]
DALLAS — Two No. 1 seeds were bounced from the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament before the Sweet 16. No top seeds reached the title game. The 2022-23 season was a wild ride, but don’t take off the seat belt just yet. There’s no time like the present to take an early look at next season.
Magical seasons like we got from the Iowa Hawkeyes and Virginia Tech Hokies this year are impossible to predict. Both were in last year’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, but not in the top four. The LSU Tigers, who beat Iowa 102-85 for the national title Sunday, were nowhere to be found. At this time a year ago, Angel Reese wasn’t even in Baton Rouge. That’s what the transfer portal can do for teams, and just like a year ago, the portal will have plenty to say about how these rankings evolve. More than 350 players are in the portal, and that number will rise significantly in the coming weeks. So many decisions are yet to come.
This coming season is also the last in which players impacted by COVID-19 may opt for an extra year of eligibility, and several programs will benefit from one last season for their veterans.
Only one team from the top five of these rankings a year ago is back at the top now, another sign more balance has arrived in the sport. And it’s a familiar one. Coach Geno Auriemma said recently that next season’s UConn Huskies will be the program’s best chance for a national championship since 2017, when the Huskies were unbeaten until losing in the national semifinals. Full seasons from Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd could go a long way toward UConn raising a trophy for the first time since 2016.
There’s little debate heading into this offseason around the national player of the year. It’s Caitlin Clark’s award to lose, although Reese and Bueckers, the 2020-21 winner, also are in the mix.
As a fantastic season wraps up, let’s start the conversation for…
[ad_2]
