The women’s basketball Top 25 shifts every week and there are plenty of teams who just barely miss the cut. Here are On3’s five teams outside of my Top 25 with high potential to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
First-year head coach Kim Caldwell built up a formidable roster in the offseason and the Tennessee Volunteers are a team I fully expect to make a Top 25 appearance in the near future. Plenty of people already consider them a Top 25 team, but I need to see them play against some higher-level talent before I fully trust their legitimacy.
Their win over Middle Tennessee was convincing, but I’m looking toward their matchups on Dec. 4 and 7 against Florida State and Iowa to showcase their talents against high-major opponents.
Talaysia Cooper, who played her freshman year at South Carolina before transferring to Tennessee, has impressed so far. She’s averaging 19 points, seven rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.8 steals through their first four games. If she can cut her turnover total down (4.3 per game), Tennessee might have a real star on their hands.
Nebraska is already ranked in the AP Poll and remains undefeated, but the Huskers’ schedule hasn’t been telling so far. Their matchup today at Creighton will be a real determining factor in their ranking. It was just announced that leading scorer Natalie Potts will have to redshirt due to injury – and that’s a major loss for the Huskers.
But in a Big Ten conference that’s all over the place this year, I think Nebraska could still be among the top teams in the league. Freshman Britt Prince has made a sizable impact so far, shooting nearly 66% from the field and averaging 4.8 assists, and the Huskers still have a star in center Alexis Markowski. After Friday night, I think we’ll know a lot more about Nebraska’s potential this season.
The Michigan Wolverines impressed on opening night in a narrow loss to the defending champion South Carolina. It almost earned them a Top 25 spot and they remain undefeated, but they won’t face another truly threatening opponent until Dec. 17 when they play Oklahoma. Their game against Belmont on Nov. 29 will be another matchup to watch.
The Wolverines lost six players to the transfer portal and graduated two of their leading scorers, but head coach Kim Barnes Arico found talented freshmen to fill those spots. Michigan is starting three freshmen, including Syla Swords, who already looks like one of the most talented rookies in the country.
The Big Ten is fairly deep this year, but if those freshmen can adjust and build their chemistry up by conference play, the Wolverines are a team to watch.
Florida State started the season off ranked in the Top 25 but fell off after an opening-week loss to Illinois on the road. They’re on a three-game win streak now, but the Seminoles’ biggest non-conference test will come at Tennessee on Dec. 4.
The Seminoles have two stars in Ta’Niya Latson and Makayla Timpson, who are both averaging 20-plus points per game. Other than those two and O’Mariah Gordon, there are not a ton of returning veteran impact players. I think it’s just a matter of time and getting the newcomers adjusted before the Seminoles return to the rankings.
The Indiana Hoosiers, despite returning three starters, are an entirely different team this year. There’s no All-American Mackenzie Holmes to throw it down to or Sara Scalia who can knock down a three whenever they need one. But there are a ton of capable shooters – it’s just about consistency with the Hoosiers.
Indiana dropped two games to non-P4 opponents in the first couple of weeks of the season. They fell to Harvard at home and Butler on the road, but bounced back with a convincing win over a Stanford team who was ranked No. 1 in the country from the perimeter. When junior Yarden Garzon gets hot, the Hoosiers have the potential to be a real threat in the Big Ten, but consistency is key. If the Hoosiers face Baylor in the Bahamas, that’ll be a telling matchup.
