This week on The IX Sports Podcast College Basketball Edition, hosts Melissa Triebwasser and Michael Waterloo break down their preseason top 16 teams across the NCAA. Then, at the end, Gabriela Jaquez joins the podcast briefly to discuss her transition from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Ranking 13-16
Waterloo: Notre Dame (13), University of North Carolina (14), Louisville (15), Ohio State (16)
Triebwasser: Nebraska (13), Oklahoma (14), UCLA (15), Texas Christian University (16)
Waterloo said Triebwasser’s Nebraska ranking was the one that caught him by surprise.
“I think they’re pretty well coached. I think they brought in some some good talent with their freshman class. I think that the Big 10 is going to be a meat grinder, and so this may be too high for them, because they just have to play such a daunting schedule. But at the end of the day, if they can be successful within that schedule, then they’ll have that that championship DNA when it comes to tournament time,” she explained.
Ranking 9-12
Waterloo: Washington (9), Texas (10), Ole Miss (11), UCLA (12)
Triebwasser: Washington (9), Louisiana State University (LSU) (10), Iowa (11), Notre Dame (12)
Triebwasser explained she put Iowa as low as she did because they have not done a great job performing in big moments in recent years. Both Waterloo and Triebwasser agreed Notre Dame has brought in an excellent recruiting class, which contributed to their placement in the rankings at 12 (Triebwasser) and 13 (Warerloo). Waterloo called Sayvia Sellers and Avery Howell one of the most underrated duos in college basketball. Both hosts agreed that the University of Washington could perform extremely well with those two working together.
Ranking 5-8
Waterloo: Duke (5), LSU (6), Vanderbilt (7), Iowa (8)
Triebwasser: Duke (5), Louisville (6), UNC (7), Vanderbilt (8)
Waterloo asked Triebwasser to explain why she ranked UNC so much higher than he did.
“I think UNC is one of those teams that that everybody expects to be great. They tend to go through their little slump. … But playing in the ACC, they’ll have enough winnable games to to inflate their numbers while also getting challenged enough to be successful in the postseason, I think,” she explained.
Ranking 1-4
Waterloo: South Carolina (1), UConn (2), Michigan (3), USC (4)
Triebwasser: South Carolina (1), Uconn (2), Michigan (3), USC (4)
The pair coalesced around their top four picks — which was not planned. Triebwasser emphasized the return of JuJu Watkins to the court as a driving factor in her ranking.
Tune in to hear the rest of the rationale — and why some teams were left off the list.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
What you missed on Women’s Sports Daily: WNBA All-Star Weekend wrap-up
