Given my love for college hoops I thought it would be fun to do a monthly power rankings article for the NCAA Division I basketball teams in the Bay Area. I’ll be doing this for both men’s and women’s basketball. The purpose of this series is to provide a little bit of coverage for college hoops across the Bay Area, see how Stanford stacks up against local competition, and also provide a snapshot of where things sit for Stanford with respect to postseason chances.
As for which teams are considered “Bay Area”, based on the research I’ve done of Northern California geography, the following six programs make the list: California Golden Bears, Saint Mary’s Gaels, San Francisco Dons, San Jose State Spartans, Santa Clara Broncos, and Stanford Cardinal. In case you are wondering about UC Davis, Sacramento State, and Pacific, those three programs are located in what is called the “Central Valley.”
While the first rankings are coming in the middle of the season, the idea going forward is for it to be a monthly article that wraps up in April at the end of the season and then starts in October with a preseason ranking. Nothing in November since games will just be getting started.
Regarding how I’ll be doing the rankings, I will be looking at how teams did against shared opponents, against each other, whether games were home or away, how healthy teams were at the time of their matchups, and how a team is looking at the moment. So it’s not just going to be a strict body of work, though that of course will be a major component as well. In case you are wondering about NET, RPI, BPI, all those metrics, I’ll look at that stuff and factor that in, but this isn’t going to be all about what the computers say. These are my rankings.
With that all now out of the way, let’s dive into my first Bay Area power rankings for women’s basketball as of January 10th, 2024.
#1. Stanford Cardinal: The Cardinal are having an excellent season, ranked #8 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. They are 14-1 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12, coming off a weekend sweep of Washington and Washington State. Senior forward Cameron Brink (18.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, & 3.5 blocks) and junior forward Kiki Iriafen (16.6 points & 9.5 rebounds) are leading the way, though in truth this Cardinal team has a ton of talent up and down their roster.
Their only loss all season is to #16 Gonzaga on the road. They’ve done a great job of taking care of business and also finding ways to win in a variety of ways. They had a dominant 96-64 win over Indiana who was ranked #9 at the time and then the following Sunday had a narrow 82-79 overtime victory over Duke. That’s the sign of an elite team.
They won’t have very many games against Bay Area teams this year. Their only Bay Area opponent is Cal. They defeated Cal pretty soundly in Berkeley at the end of December, winning by a final score of 78-51. That said, given how Cal is playing, their rematch on The Farm on Friday, February 16th could shape up to be a real battle. That’ll be an important game for Stanford given that they are vying for one of four number one seeds in the NCAA tournament. Every game truly matters. They have a big road trip this week at #19 Utah on Friday and at #5 Colorado on Sunday.
#2. California Golden Bears: Despite their loss to Stanford, the Golden Bears are playing outstanding as of late. They are 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12. Coached by former Stanford standout Charmin Smith, they are a team that is hungry and playing with a lot of heart.
They are coming off a home sweep of the Washington schools as well and are currently receiving votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Right now, they are looking like a team that could make the NCAA tournament and end up being on the right side of the bubble.
Graduate student guard Ioanna Krimili is making a real difference for them, averaging 16.5 points per game. Junior forward Marta Suarez (13.5 points & 6.9 rebounds) and graduate student guard Leilani McIntosh (11.1 points) are also scoring in double figures, so they’re doing their part as well.
Cal has played much more of a Bay Area infused schedule, which is fun and also helpful for me as I go about my rankings! They defeated Santa Clara 71-56, San Jose State 74-51, and St. Mary’s 74-69. All three of those games were in Berkeley. With a perfect record against those three teams, that truly solidifies their ranking as the number two team in the Bay Area. Their challenge is finding a way to dethrone Stanford for that top spot. Not an easy task, but if they find a way to get even with them on The Farm, they could make things interesting.
Just like Stanford, Cal has a road trip to face Colorado and Utah this week. That’s going to be a big trip for them as well. Especially since they are trying to boost their NCAA tournament resume as much as possible. A split this week would be fantastic.
#3. Santa Clara Broncos: The Broncos are off to a nice start. They are 13-3 overall and 1-0 in the WCC after winning their league opener against Pacific by a final score of 80-77. I don’t smell an NCAA tournament team, but if they are able to get hot in league, maybe they enter the conversation.
Sophomore guard Tess Heal is balling out, averaging 18.3 points per game. She’s a major reason why this Broncos team is as dangerous as they are. Junior forward Olivia Pollerd is the number two option, averaging 14.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. With both Heal and Pollard, the Broncos have a nice one-two punch. Their third scoring option is also scoring in double figures: Sophomore guard Marya Hudgins (10.1 points).
The Broncos have played a couple of Bay Area teams, defeating San Jose State 55-47 on the road and falling to Cal 56-71 in Berkeley. Just given their loss to Cal, they’re a team that is much more likely to be fighting for third place in my rankings than second place. There is a real gap between Stanford & Cal and the rest of the field.
That said, they’ll have their opportunities to make things interesting on that end as well. They’ll play at Gonzaga on Thursday, January 11th and host the Zags again on Thursday, January 25th. If they find a way to get a split against them and then also close out the month with a win at Saint Mary’s on the 27th, they could at least make a mild case for themselves to be ranked higher. And at a minimum, such results could help them get an ironclad hold over the number three spot. January is going to be a big month for them. I look forward to seeing how they perform.
#4. Saint Mary’s Gaels: The Gaels are 8-8 overall and 1-1 in the WCC. They are not having a great season, but the way that they battled Cal has to make one think they are capable of maybe making a bit of noise in conference play.
Their real problem is they don’t have many offensive weapons. The only two players they have scoring in double figures on average are barely doing so: Freshman guard Zeryhia Aokuso (10.4 points) and redshirt senior forward Ali Bamberger (10.1 points). Given it’s Jeff Cammon’s first season as head coach, it’s basically a rebuild situation here. This season is all about establishing a culture and identity under him and so far they appear to be doing that.
Regarding games against other Bay Area teams, they have that narrow 69-74 loss at Cal, but then they also have a 70-52 home victory over San Jose State. That helps them out a bit in terms of getting ranked ahead of the Spartans at least.
The rest of this month, they do have a game at Gonzaga, who is ranked. So that’ll be a challenge. That’ll be on Saturday, January 20th. They also have a home game against Santa Clara on Saturday, the 27th. That’ll be their first of two games against the Broncos. For the purposes of climbing up these rankings, those games against the Broncos will be crucial.
#5. San Jose State Spartans: The Spartans are 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West. They’re not having a great season, but they’re still in a position where they could maybe make some things happen. At least with respect to making a bit of noise in the Mountain West.
One thing that is exciting for them is their top scorer is a freshman in guard Jyah LoVett. She is averaging 14.5 points per game. The other two players scoring in double figures on average are junior forward/center Amhyia Moreland (11.8 points & 6.7 rebounds) and sophomore guard Sabrina Ma (10.2 points). With three players scoring in double figures on average, they have some weapons.
Against Bay Area teams, the Spartans didn’t do so hot with their losses to Cal, Saint Mary’s, and Santa Clara. That’s why they are ranked where they are. That said, there’s always room for improvement. They have a real test on Wednesday, January 10th (tonight) against a UNLV team ranked #25 on the road. That’ll be their only game against UNLV, so they’ll want to make the most of that chance. And then just in general, it’s early in conference play. They could end up making real strides by the end of the season.
#6. San Francisco Dons: The Dons are 5-10 overall and 1-1 in the WCC. That’s why they are ranked last in my power rankings. It’s just been a rough season for them. Their head coach is former Cardinal standout Molly Goodenbour, who played at Stanford from 1989-1993. Goodenbour has been the head coach of San Francisco since 2016, so she’s got a good deal of experience.
While they have been struggling, the Dons do have a couple of really good players in graduate student guard Jasmine Gayles (16.3 points & 4.5 rebounds) and redshirt junior forward Debora dos Santos (14.0 points & 10.8 rebounds). That one-two punch should give them some hope to maybe do better in WCC play than expected.
The Dons have not played any Bay Area teams yet this season. They’ll face Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara later on this season. Each of them twice. That will give them an opportunity to perhaps climb out of the cellar of these rankings. The first of those games will be later this month when they head to Santa Clara on Saturday, January 20th.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
Join the conversation on CardinalSportsReport.com
