The Guru Report: The Road to Dallas and the Women’s Final Four Begins Monday For Everyone in Division I

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The headline on the blog heralding the season-openers this week is correct. 

Though the ESPN (Now) Selection Sunday in mid-March will speak on those terms for 68 teams, an expansion of four kicked into play last year, depending when this is being read, at the the gate that lifts off for several places 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the record of the defending NCAA champion South Carolina at 0-0 is no different than those teams picked at the lower ends of the forecasts made last month at the 32 Conferences, whose champions will fill an equal number of slots with automatic bids.

But when the committee says resume, everything that occurs is part of the resume whether it early or late with deliberations made on the circumstances of what might be more meaningful.

But to be part of the 68 either by conference championship or automatic bids, there can be no let up.

An unexpected bad upset dings the profile. An exciting upset from the underside embellishes the same.

But for the viewer and follower, it’s not just the games but between now and March plus two days in April the stories that are out there to be seen and told either on an expanding number of carriers, on blogs and print publications. 

Some will be heartwarming. Some will become heartbreaking.

But all of it is about to begin and unlike earlier years there is an abundance of dives deep into the water as opposed to just sticking toes in and testing the atmosphere.

Locally, among what your Guru refers to as his 13-local Division I group, opening week mirrors the national scene in new eras about to begin. And as has been the case, the local claim on South Carolina coach Dawn Staley as one of the city’s all-time sports figures on the field and on the sidelines, male or female, the Gamecocks may have the glory but it has been forged under a leader from the blacktop courts in North Philadelphia.

We’ll be on the scene at many, including new Guru colleague on the site, Noreen Dougherty, as well as some others as they appear.

So having giving you the preamble, here is a look at what is immediately ahead.

First, locally, changes in coach slots brings the start of new eras Monday as well as the same occurring nationally this week.

In one of the key Monday night games which involves both locals, Temple, under new coach Diane Richardson coming over from Towson, leads the Owls up at Princeton for a 5 p.m. tip in Jadwin Gym, which is the reigning unbeaten Ivy champ, picked again, and is the first of the league to land in the Associated Press preseason women’s poll at 24. 

The Tigers, first under now North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart, and continuing with former UConn star Carla Berube, are the only Ivy school ever to appear in the AP Poll.

An Owls win on opening night would be huge. The game is streamed on ESPN+

A new era earlier in the day also gets under way at 11 a.m. when Rutgers hosts Hofstra at Jersey Mike’s Arena on a floor that on Dec. 4 will be formerly named for retired Hall of Fame coach  C. Vivian Stringer.

Returning to the sidelines is former Penn State coach Coquese Washington. It’s the first change in about 2.5 decades though last season Stringer was still on the payroll but stepped away due to health concerns over Covid-19 issues. The game is on the subscription B1G+ an offshoot of the main Big Ten network.

Another highlight is a homecoming extravaganza when Villanova at 7 p.m. visiting Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference longtime power Marist in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the hometown of Wildcats senior star Maddy Siegriest. The game is also begins the final season for Red Foxes longtime coach Brian Giorgis, who has previously announced his retirement. The game airs on ESPN3.

Meanwhile at 6 p.m., Lehigh hosts Stonehill up in Bethlehem, making its debut in Division I in Stabler Arena.

A new era also for the Mountain Hawks as former Princeton star and Lehigh assistant Addie Micir moves up to patrol the sidelines. The game is on ESPN+

At 7 p.m. on the road Delaware also begins a new coaching area with the return off the Penn State staff of former Blue Hens associate head coach Sarah Jenkins. She is following the departure of Natasha Adair, who is now head coach at Arizona State. 

Jenkins helped Adair in the rebuild of the Blue Hens, who following the CAA title and NCAA participation, had a roster hit through graduation and will be starting another build at Longwood in Virginia, the game airs on ESPN+

Rider has a special event before its 7 p.m. tip at home in Alumni Gym against NJIT with the retiring of Stella Johnson’s number. The nation’s leading scorer as a senior, Johnson was a WNBA draftee and played on the Washington Mystics as a free agent later that summer when the entire WNBA season was in the bubble in Florida. ESPN3 is listed as the carrier but check the website of Rider to see if the ceremony is being aired.

Elsewhere locally, an improved Saint Joseph’s host Patriot League power Bucknell at 7 on Hawk Hill, the home team still under longtime coach Cindy Griffin. This is one of several games, in this case, both sides, where a win is an early chit in the resume file, especially in terms of how each team finishes in their respective conferences.

Meanwhile, La Salle is no longer a secret with the Explorers picked second by the Atlantic 10 coaches and starting off in Washington, D.C., at Howard, the pick of the MEAC coaches. No platform is listed at the home website though maybe now but many MEAC teams are on ESPN+.  Again, like St. Joseph’s mentioned just above, a win by either side might have some value down the road.

The last of 10 of the 13 Guru locals playing Monday night has Lafayette venturing to Richmond, and VCU of the Atlantic 10 airing on ESPN+.

Later this week, Penn State, expected to be improved in the Big 10, on Wednesday hosts Norfolk State, picked second in the MEAC, at 7 in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

On Thursday, Penn opens on the road at Marist at 7 on ESPN+, another value game perhaps pending how each school’s season goes, while Drexel, the CAA favorite, starts its season with a home-opener at 7 hosting Rider in the renovated Daskalakis Athletic Center on Flohoops.

The same time Delaware comes home to host Columbia, the second pick in the Ivy League at 7, on Flohoops, which is a paid subscription network for all CAA teams hosting games.

LaSalle stays on the road at 7 visiting Scared Heart, which does not list a viewing site, though all references based on last Friday prior to writing this. Explorers fans may want to check for radio if no viewing stream is available.

Since the local schedule is light at midweek, we’ll preview the weekend games at that time.

The National Scene

There are 26 games the Guru slotted on his radar for Monday, done prior to the preseason poll, but many of those picked also got ranked.

No. 8 Iowa State , picked first and second in the two Big 12 media and coaches’ polls hosts Horizon No. 3 pick Cleveland State at noon on the subscription Big 12 on ESPN+ network, while MAAC coaches pick Quinnipiac at 5 visits No. 10 NC State on the ACCNX (extra) network.

Also on the ACCN extra at 6 having a subscription allows a look at expected conference power Virginia Tech, which has gained some transfers from Maryland and elsewhere. The Hokies will be hosting Mount St. Mary’s, which has joined the MAAC.

A key clash out west, talk about jumping into deep water early, has Father Judge grad Joe McKeown’s Northwest squad in the Big 10 visiting No. 20 Oregon at 6 p.m. in the East and will air on the host Ducks’ streaming platform.

Your first look at the defending NCAA champs airs on the SEC network airs at 8:30 p.m. when the Gamecocks host East Tennessee State, a replacement made on originally scheduled BYU of the West Coast Conference.

Here’s a bubble value game at 8 p.m. when No. 21 Creighton of the Big East and Cinderella participant in the NCAA last year upsetting host Iowa, visits No. 23 South Dakota State, the Summit Conference favorite on ESPN3.

In advance of No. 17 Maryland hosting No. 1 South Carolina on Friday night, the Terrapins in an area game to them in College Park, will visit Georgetown of the Big East on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.

New CAA member Stony Brook, a former America East school, visits Syracuse at 3 p.m. on the ACC extra network.

Unranked but each favored to land high in their conferences, Old Dominion picked behind Troy after joining the Sun Belt visits ASun perennial pick Florida Gulf Coast at 7 on ESPN+.

Green Bay picked second behind Youngstown State in the Horizon visits Drake, a perennial Missouri Valley power at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

Northeast Conference pick Wagner at 7 on ESPN3 visits Manhattan, the second place choice in the MAAC.

Conference USA favorite Middle Tennessee is at Mercer, the SouConn favorite at 7 on ESPN+. 

Back in the East, Atlantic 10 power Rhode Island is at Harvard, which begins a new era under Carrie Moore, following the retirement of longtime coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. The game against the Crimson airs at 7 on ESPN+.

Two new coaches meet each other at 5:30 p.m. when Yale’s Dalila Esch, a former La Salle and Princeton assistant takes the squad to Fordham, under interim coach Candice Green. The game at Rose Hill Gym airs on ESPN+.

For you night owls in the East No. 2 Stanford, picked to win the PAC-12, on its live stream at 10 p.m. hosts San Diego State, the fifth pick of the Mountain West Conference.

While here, historical AP Poll alert:The first poll in December — four away — will see Stanford coach and Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer pass the late Tennessee legend Pat Summitt for most ranking appearances, though Summitt through next year will still hold most at one school. Summitt, whose career spanned the poll’s history when she retired, had 618, missing just 14 at that time.

And while also here, Geno Auriemma of UConn, who is second behind Vanderveer for all-time wins in the women’s game, will, barring some major disaster, will have his Huskies just one short of Tennessee for the consecutive appearances mark when the season ends at the 19th poll.

And while discussing Tennessee, on a short radar list for the night on Tuesday, the Vols visit Ohio State at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten network. On Wednesday, on the ACC extra network at 7 North Carolina hosts SWAC favorite Jackson State.

On Friday night the South Carolina/Maryland game airs at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

To be continued.