The pressure's off for 10th-year Rio Rancho High School girls basketball coach Bob McIntyre.

And that's fine with him.

His Rams, 18-13 last season, aren't picked No. 1, nor No. 2 - in the state or even in their district. They're buried near the bottom of the preseason top- 10 poll at No. 9. Heck, for the first time in District 1-5A history, the Rams aren't ranked as the top team or even second team in that four-team district.

Mayfield is No. 1, followed by Sandia, Clovis and Cibola, which the Rams beat in the 1-5A semifinal last season.

Defending state champ Gallup is fifth, followed by Hobbs, La Cueva, Los Lunas, the Rams and Highland.

"I'm not going to worry about rankings," he said. "I think this group is fine about not getting ranked or getting any respect. We'll see if we can get better every day."

Before the state tournament begins, the Rams will have had a chance to play all of those teams, except Mayfield and Hobbs. Highland is a possibility in the sixth annual Mel Otero Invitational in December, while Clovis could face the Rams at the Otero Invite or at the Clovis Classic in January.

Don't think that means the Rams will be content to settle for an at-large bid to the 16-team Class 5A state tournament.

McIntyre has plenty of talent on this team, starting with 5-10 junior post Ashley Rhoades, who could lead the district in rebounding and maybe even scoring, if she can covert rebounds at the offensive end into "bunny" putbacks.

Outside, the Rams have slick-shooting sophomore junior guard Megan Muniz, taller and wiser than she was last season. Veteran forward Melissa Hillenbrand and guard Stephanie Lopez, both seniors, return, and give McIntyre four capable starters.

That fifth slot in the lineup was still undecided upon as of Sunday. "Bobby Mac" has until next Thursday at 5 p.m. to settle on a fifth starter.

That's when the Rams open their 2006-07 season, meeting Eldorado (1-1) for the first time at Valley High School in a first-round game of the annual Duke City tournament. (The Rams and Eagles square off again on Jan. 4 at the RAC.)

"Eldorado has improved," he said. "We played them this summer and I think we beat them."

McIntyre said he was pleased with the way his team played in a scrimmage at Moriarty on Saturday, when they faced Valley and Moriarty in a pair of 20-minute running-clock contests, and faced Los Alamos in one such session.

"We were very competitive," he said. "I'll have 12 players on the varsity; I played all 12."

Even though Rhoades and Lopez had been practicing on the hardwood for a few days before Saturday, after helping their volleyball team win the state title on Nov. 11,

"I'm really encouraged by Ashley Rhoades; she's a kid that can be the top rebounder on the floor every night because she can jump," he said. "I'd love to see more people going to the boards. I'd really be surprised if she doesn't average double-figures in rebounding. She could average a double-double - she makes it look very easy. There aren't too many girls in the state who can block her shot."

McIntyre said if Rhoades can "master one or two moves inside - it sounds pretty simple - I do anticipate she can get to the line a lot," he said.

Muniz's role, taking over at point guard for former floor leader Stevie Puentes, who graduated, will be "to create and be one of our top scorers. She shot well from the 3-point line (at Moriarty) and set up our kids nice"

Lopez, he said, "played well offensively," while Hillenbrand "had moments when she looked very solid inside and outside.

"Probably the biggest plus was we played very well as a team," he said.

The roster consists of three seniors, three juniors and six sophomores, meaning the team's in pretty good shape for the next few seasons.

Among the candidates for the fifth spot at wing are Annette Dominguez, Katie Crouch, twins Amanda and Courtney Solwick, Talisa Puentes, Geraldine Neru and Tarrah Sweet.

"We have some height and quickness; we're not huge," McIntyre said. "It always helps when you've got kids from other varsity sports."

In the past, some of his players - Brio Rode, Nicole Tatum and Denise Kerns come to mind - focused their attention on basketball and didn't play other sports. Rhoades, Lopez and Sweet played volleyball; Dominguez and the Solwicks were on the soccer team; Puentes ran cross country.

"Our biggest area for improvement is defensively. Prior to the scrimmage, we had everybody out one time; everything was offensively geared," he said. "We worked on running the plays, in-bounds plays, our offenses," he said. "The defense will improve with time."

That can be expected: Rams teams have been known through the years as being defensive-minded teams.

McIntyre hopes the Rams will be ready for the district battles, and they have an edge in one respect: The Rams play Cibola and Gallup twice at home, and visit the Bengals and Cougars but once in the regular season.

"(Cibola coach) Lori (Stephenson) returns her whole team." McIntyre said. CHS's Kara Bible already has signed a letter of intent to play at Eastern New Mexico University next season.

"It should be a fun year to watch," he predicted of his team's three-game series with Cibola and Gallup.

"The kids we have are working very hard and are enthusiastic and want to carry on the tradition we established and, hopefully, take it a step further."

By that, of course, he means getting deeper into the state tournament.

The Rams beat Las Cruces 41-29 in a Round of 16 games last season, then saw their title hopes smashed after a 42-36 loss to Clovis in the quarterfinals.

McIntyre has his same coaching staff from last year: Patrick Puentes is the varsity assistant; Dominic Carrera coaches the junior varsity; Breyanna Harris coaches the freshman team.

Ram dunks: The Rams' home opener is Thursday, Dec. 7, when they meet Onate in a first-round game of the Otero Invite. Los Lunas-Portales is the other game on the Rams' side of the bracket; other first-round match-ups feature Highland vs. Clovis and Sandia vs. Aztec. "It's a good field," McIntyre said.