After a surprise run to last year's Elite Eight and the return of most of the team's top play-makers, the realistic expectation for the team is to be one of the nation's best.

The Cardinal start with a pre-conference schedule filled with teams who were in the NCAA Tournament last year. The season opener is Friday night against Cal Poly. Stanford then hosts Texas on Monday and Gonzaga on Nov. 18.

"We jump into the deep end of the pool right away," said head coach Tara VanDerveer.

The Cardinal were only ranked No. 11 to start the year, despite reaching the national quarterfinals last year.

"I don't worry about the polls too much," she said. "We just have to win."

And that sentiment goes for the entire conference, which had Oregon State and Washington in the Final Four last year.

"It's more like men's basketball with parity," she said. "It's almost like be careful what you wish for, it's here. Every night anyone is capable of winning. We will have to take care of business."

The Cardinal should be able to quickly find their footing this season with the quality of the players that will take the court. Stanford's starting five against the Mustangs, according to VanDerveer, will be Marta Sniezek, Briana Roberson, Brittany McPhee, Kaylee Johnson and Erica McCall.

Karlie Samuelson suffered a hairline fracture six weeks ago that required a cast and then brace on her right wrist. It was recently removed and she should get some playing time Friday night. She will eventually slide into the starting five -- likely in place of Roberson.

Samuelson and Roberson will play alongside Sniezek, who was thrust into a leadership role last year as a true freshman point guard. She showed an ability to direct the offense and helped the Cardinal play their best basketball late in the year.

"She is a very intelligent player," VanDerveer said. "Honestly, she sees things on the floor a lot of times before anybody, including me. I think that she's matured a lot and we're trying to help her as a staff say, 'This is what we need you to do, Marta.' She's our quarterback."

Defenses dared Sniezek to shoot last season from beyond the arc, and often the freshman passed on that challenge. But her coach knows she has the ability to make opposing teams end that practice.

"I'd like her to make them pay for it," VanDerveer said. "She is an excellent three-point shooter. Not good, not very good, but excellent. But I think her game is more of a passing game. But she understands she needs to be aggressive offensively for the team to be successful."

When Sniezek is passing to her teammates to make plays she may look to McPhee, who has put in many hours of extra time to become a starter.

"She has been one of the absolute stars of the preseason," VanDerveer said. "We need her out there."

Another player who has improved with time and practice is Alanna Smith -- the Australian forward who was the program's first international recruit. As a true freshman the transition to Stanford and a new country was sometimes a rough one for Smith.

She was out of school for nine months before she arrived at Stanford, giving her a very cold start to figuring out how to balance school and basketball, VanDerveer said. And to top it off the Australian was sick for an extended time when she first arrived. The snowball was rolling downhill.

A year later and it's a different story: "You didn't see it in the exhibition game but I think Alanna has a whole different mindset. She's being much more aggressive. Much more confident. She's really the only player on our team that plays the three and the four. (She) can give us a big lineup if we want a big lineup. I think she's finishing at the rim much better. She is really fast. And it's a funny thing when I talk to her about her speed, she's like, 'Yeah, but I get going fast and I have trouble stopping.' Which I've never had a player say before."

Taking pressure off the rest of the lineup is McCall -- the best player on the team in the eyes of many. And one of her strengths, VanDerveer said, is that the All-American candidate doesn't view herself that way.

"She doesn't feel the pressure to be a star," VanDerveer said. "She can just go out and play.

She added: "I don't see this team being any one person's team at all."

And if the returning players was not enough to create excitement for Cardinal fans, the arrival of a touted recruiting class certainly helped.

VanDerveer called it a "fun challenge" to meld the newcomers with the returning players and said the freshmen will have a "huge impact." The four freshmen are Anna Wilson, Nadia Fingall, DiJonai Carrington and Mikaela Brewer.

Fingall is a "great presence inside. She is a strong, physical post player. She has a nice perimeter shot."

Carrington has impressed in practice with her athletic ability to potentially play every position but center.

"I think she can give us a defensive presence that we have not had on our team," VanDerveer said. "But I can't even remember having someone on the perimeter that is that physical, athletic, aggressive a rebounder. She's willing to do whatever our team needs."

Brewer, a Canadian guard, could eventually play the one or two but is focusing on filling a role as a shooter and defender.

Complicating the point guard rotation is the Wilson has not been cleared to play. She suffered a concussion leading up to the March 30 McDonald's All-American Game.