The 2014-15 women's college basketball season has arrived. We are still a few weeks away from games on the schedule, but teams across the country are practicing, preparing and priming themselves for the roller-coaster ride that lasts until spring.
On its face, this new season brings more intrigue than hype and scenarios that are more interesting than a sure thing.
Well, of course, with one exception.
Here are the five things we look forward to most as we prepare for tipoff:
1. The next step for Stewie: Assuming that Connecticut is the clear favorite to win a third consecutive national title, assuming that the Huskies have a decent chance of running the table on the season, assuming UConn is deep and talented and experienced at this whole winning thing, where's the burning question about Geno Auriemma's team? It lies with junior Breanna Stewart and how much better the best player in the country can get.
Can Stewart win four national championships? She's well on course. Her versatile game -- she just finished a stint as the only collegian on the U.S. team that won the world championship in Turkey -- is more well-rounded, more dangerous. And while the WNBA waits patiently for its next era-defining talent, we get to watch Stewart lead the Huskies as they try to build on their 46-game winning streak.
2. The rise of South Carolina: Dawn Staley's team is loaded and hungry to be the team that can interrupt Connecticut's run of national titles. The Gamecocks had one of the best freshmen in the country last year in Alaina Coates and added another in the nation's No. 1 recruit, A'ja Wilson. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward joins a team with five returning starters, including Coates, Tiffany Mitchell and Aleighsa Welch. The reigning SEC champions are going to be one of the must-watch teams of the season. The Big Monday matchup at Connecticut on Feb. 9 (ESPN2) is one of the season's must-watch games.
3. The SEC is back: South Carolina. Texas A&M. Tennessee. Kentucky. The upper echelon of this conference includes four teams with a legitimate claim on a top-10 ranking to start the season. The SEC is the best conference in the country. Again.
4. A Pac(-12) of intrigue: What an interesting conference this will be. For the first time since the 2007-08 season, there's no Ogwumike on the Stanford roster, and for the first time in long memory, the Cardinal are not the conference's overwhelming favorite. Cal, led by Brittany Boyd and Reshanda Gray, will be among the nation's best, as will Oregon State. Oregon will play its first season under Kelly Graves. Southern California will build on last season's Cynthia Cooper renaissance.
And there will be no gimmes here with the likes of Arizona State, Washington, UCLA and Washington State. We will find out about the strength of the Pac-12 quickly as this conference is usually defined by the games it wins and loses in the non-conference schedule.
5. The Return of Sylvia Hatchell: North Carolina's Naismith Hall of Fame coach is back on the sidelines after missing last season while undergoing treatment for leukemia. Her young team reached the Elite Eight a season ago behind the dynamic young talent of Diamond DeShields. But after one season, DeShields decided she wanted to transfer and eventually headed to Tennessee, where she will sit out this season. But with stars such as Xylina McDaniel, Stephanie Mavunga and Allisha Gray, this is one of the most talented teams in the country. Can Hatchell's return turn the Heels into a title contender?