Knoxville:
2. Tennessee
15. Little Rock (Sun Belt)
7. Michigan State
10. Miami (FL)
A 15-0 start to the season and a 3-0 start in the SEC is impressive no matter the opponents, and it appears that Holly Warlick has the Vols back to being Final Four contenders. They’ve knocked off Texas, Stanford, Marquette, and Oklahoma State in the non-conference, but the real SEC tests are yet to come. Consecutive games against Texas A&M, South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Mississippi State will teach us a lot. Michigan State does have five losses, but none of them overly concerning. The Spartans can’t lean on a neutral court win over South Florida forever, though. Thankfully the Big Ten provides plenty of opportunities for big wins.
Waco:
3. Baylor
14. James Madison (CAA)
6. Villanova (Big East)
11. Central Michigan
I’ll admit it: I’m not as high on the Bears as most people are. Not yet, anyway. They could still find their way onto the 1 or 2 line, but I’m happy with their status as the fourth 3 seed for now. That win over Stanford looks nice, but it’s the only notable thing that Kim Mulkey’s squad has done so far. Let’s see if they can beat Oklahoma on Sunday. Then there’s Villanova, which is off to a rocky start in the Big East, but has beaten Duke and Princeton out of conference. The Wildcats play at St. John’s on Sunday, where they can really help themselves.