MUNICH (Germany) - As everyone buckles up for another thrilling EuroLeague Women Regular Season, it's time to consider who could be on course for glory and who might fall short in the race to make the Second Round and Final Six.
Yes, it's time for the first volume of this season's Power Rankings as our expert panel lays out their baseline position and waits for the usual twists and turns across the remainder of the campaign.
The panel have taken into account the rosters of all 16 participating clubs, expectations heading into the season and of course, the all-important First Round draw.
1. Fenerbahce Tarfin
It's not quite the copy and paste from previous seasons. Probably still the team to beat, there are many new faces and it will depend how they all perform in this pressure cooker - even if they're already SuperCup Women winners.
Fortunately newcomers Lauren Betts, Tima Pouye, Laura Juskaite, Leila Lacan, Nell Angloma and Luisa Geiselsoder, will line up with the guaranteed leadership and production of returnees Emma Meesseman and Julie Allemand.
2. Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring
Don't worry, you're not the only one getting deja vu right now. But if you are disappointed to still be in second place behind your fierce rivals, the good news for Galatasaray fans is that you look potentially closer than ever, right?
MVP Dorka Juhasz is back alongside Awak Kuier again - what a combo. There are loads of new signings and the coup of getting Sevgi Uzun from Fenerbahce could be a masterstroke and a missing piece of a title winning puzzle.
3. Beretta Famila Schio
This is the best, or at least the roster with the highest potential ceiling that Schio have ever fielded. Discuss. Well we will try to do that in very limited space. Here we go. You read it here first, the Italians look locked and loaded!
Cecilia Zandalasini and Kitija Laksa means big buckets. Maria Conde was superb last year and returns too. If new signing Mariam Coulibaly gets anywhere near last season's form they can dream big - really big. This looks exciting.
4. Athinaikos Qualco
After making the EuroCup Women Final, the Greek side are super-charging their ambitions and ready to shake up EuroLeague Women with a roster capable of taking on all the big-hitters. A Final Six spot looks within their grasp.
They are so, so deep with high level and experienced performers like Mariella Fasoula, Julie Vanloo, Alexis Prince, Robyn Parks, Victoria Macaulay and more. Or have we maybe over-egged this Athinaikos cake? We'll soon find out.
5. Valencia Basket Club
With a Spanish SuperCup already tucked in the trophy cabinet, that was a big plus. But they suffered a huge loss in Liga Feminina recently which suggests there are some questions for new head coach Javier Torralba to resolve.
A top five ranking could be generous now, but the roster looks exciting, deep and well balanced. Expect a challenge with the likes of Raquel Carrera, Elena Buenavida, Virag Takacs-Kiss, Alisia Jenkins and Alexis Peterson-Smalls.
6. Casademont Zaragoza
Will they ride the wave of last season's spectacular journey from the Qualifiers to a first Final Six and their best ever finish - all played out in front of packed houses and their own passionate fans? Or will a new reality bite?
It could be inspirational, but also could be an anchor. They should still have enough to return and have many returnees including Nadia Fingall and Merritt Hempe. With Astou Ndour arriving, the frontcourt looks sorted for sure.
7. ZVVZ USK Praha
Confession time. Placing Praha in these rankings has caused excessive head scratching. They arguably don't have that marquee player like Brionna Jones and have lost some glue in Valeriane Ayayi, but have reasons to be hopeful.
Signing Frieda Buhner is immense as one of the form players in the global game. Pauline Astier and Maite Cazorla can step up, but much hinges on the incoming Brianna Fraser, Migna Toure, Cassandre Prosper and Aminata Gueye.
8. Basket Landes
Julie Barennes and her team already had admirers outside of their own fan base, but Landes collected even more in last season's historic run. A Cinderella story ended with a loss on Final Six debut, but they won more hearts.
Packing out their venue every week and with amazing atmospheres, they'll need that support to punch above their weight again. Newbie Trinity San Antonio could be a baller to watch along with the returning Murjanatu Musa.
9. Emlak Konut
As if celebrating a historical first-ever Regular Season ticket was not enough, now the ambitious Turkish club must be dancing in the streets of Istanbul. That's because in theory, they could have enough to make the Second Round.
In fact, could they argue the case to be group favorites ahead of Praha? If the quartet of Reka Lelik, Lindsay Allen, Pallas Kunaiyi and Stephanie Mavunga all show up like they did in the Qualifiers, it's going to be happy days ahead.
10. Tango Bourges Basket
Call it sentimentality for a club synonymous with the competition, or plain old mis-judgement, but is this ranking far too generous? After all, they arguably don't have the same sprinkling of star dust as much of their illustrious past.
But then again, Bourges do have a potential hard-nosed edge collectively and some experience to get them past Lublin, Praha and Emlak Konut. Alix Duchet, Sydney Wallace and Shakayla Thomas simply have to hit a high gear!
11. KKZ Crvena Zvezda
Death, Taxes and the ability of Serbian coaching legend Marina Maljkovic to get the job done. She has already defied the Qualifiers Power Rankings and takes a dangerous and intriguing looking roster into the Regular Season.
It won't always be a free-flowing thing of beauty. But opportunity knocks for Crvena Zvezda to fight and get wins. Aliyah Collier, Destanni Henderson, Artemis Spanou and Savannah Wilkinson will cause problems for opponents.
12. Flammes Carolo Basket
The Regular Season hasn't even started yet, but the French club has laughed right in the face of Power Rankings already. After not being tipped to advance from the Qualifiers, they tore up the script beating Umana Reyer Venezia.
They did it with a huge margin and on the road. Lesson learned by the PR author? Maybe not, although 12th isn't bad. Tiffany Clarke and Noemi Brochant will be prominent, but Carolo are team-orientated and will be competitive.
13. Kibirkstis-TOKS
Umbrellas up in Vilnius! Indeed wherever Kibirkstis-TOKS are balling in the First Round. They made it rain with a deluge of triples in the Qualifiers as Zoe Wadoux and Dominyka Paliulyte shot their team to the Regular Season.
With Nausia Woolfolk also packing a potent scoring punch, they can run and gun. Throw in a super draw with Zaragoza and Landes, and there's a lot to love and be excited about - even if this 13th-place ranking suggests otherwise.
14. AZS UMCS Lublin
It feels like the Polish club have been under the radar heading into this season, but that might not be the case for much longer. Star baller Catherine Reese has dropped stellar displays in EuroCup Women during recent seasons.
If she breathes fire on the floor, a long Polish winter might seem less cold. Importantly, Lublin will not fear Praha, Bourges and Emlak Konut. The draw could have been a lot worse. But critically, who's shining alongside Reese?
15. Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen
If you can excuse the pun, will jumping back to the top table be a task that the Kangoeroes can cope with? On paper, it looks unlikely and especially with two frontrunners for the title in Galatasaray and Schio in their group.
From a basketball standpoint, they can maybe cause a surprise along their First Round journey. All eyes on the experienced scoring machine Hind Ben Abdelkader. If she catches fire, their prospects become more palatable.
16. CS Rapid Bucuresti
It's unavoidable upsetting a team before a ball is even thrown up in anger. This last spot is down to an unknown element when it comes to the Romanian newcomers and a daunting draw with Fenerbahce Tarfin in their group.
As is always the case, maybe pin it to the locker room wall for motivation. On the court, it's veteran Ziomara Morrison, the energetic Maxuella Lisowa-Mbaka, as well as Terezia Palenikova and Japreece Dean who will lead.
DISCLAIMER: The Power Rankings are put together by our expert panel. They are entirely subjective and are in no way a true and accurate ranking system. All comments are purely those of the author.
FIBA