We are on the eve of another promising college basketball season, and there are few things better than this anticipation. Duke is the obvious favorite, but if last year proved anything, it proved that the preseason and pre-tournament favorite does not always pan out, a la Kansas. Another season of Cinderellas and Buzzer-beaters and Gus FREAKING Johnson (is there anything better than listening to Gus and just knowing, ITS MARCH). The tournament is a mere 4 months away! It seems so much further away, but take heart, for it is not. There are a myriad of unbelievable early season tournaments, including, as always, the Maui Invitational, and the very deep Old Spice Classic. It's time for another great college basketball season, and I hope everyone is ready! My coverage of college basketball will not be as in-depth until after the college football season is over, obviously, but I will be covering every single game in the ESPN Tip-off marathon from next monday at 11 pm to Tuesday at 12 pm, epic. It is going to be a great season, and I'm glad to have everyone on board. It's go-time...
I have given 5 aspects of the major conferences, including the favorite, which is self-explanatory. Also, there is the sleeper, which is a team that either can upset the favorite and win the conference, or if there is little chance of that, simply an overlooked team that can come from nowhere and win the tourney. The overrated team is obvious, but it does not mean they will be overrated all year. It simply means they should not be rated so highly to start the season because they have not proven anything yet. The question-mark teams are teams who either lost a lot of talent or have some early season injuries. In both cases, new guys are stepping in and we do not know how they will fare. The best player may not be the player I actually believe will win the conference player of the year, because all that is biased, it is simply the player I believe is the best in the conference, whether he gets recognized or not. So, with that info, enjoy the CBB Preview!
Atlantic-10
Favorite: Temple
Sleeper: St. Louis
Overrated: Xavier
Question Mark: Xavier
Best Player: Juan Fernandez, Temple
ACC
Favorite: Duke
Sleeper: NC State
Overrated: Virginia Tech
Question Mark: Clemson
Best Player: Kyle Singler, Duke
Big 12
Favorite: Kansas St
Sleeper: Iowa St
Overrated: Baylor
Question Mark: Texas A&M
Best Player: Perry Jones, Baylor & Jacob Pullen, Kansas St
Big East
Favorite: Pittsburgh
Sleeper: St John’s
Overrated: Villanova
Question Mark: Marquette
Best Player: Corey Fisher, Villanova
Big Ten
Favorite: Michigan St
Sleeper: Northwestern
Overrated: Purdue
Question Mark: Purdue
Best Player: Kalin Lucas, Michigan St
Mountain West
Favorite: BYU
Sleeper: Colorado St
Overrated: San Diego St
Question Mark: New Mexico
Best Player: Jimmer Fredette, BYU
PAC-10
Favorite: Washington
Sleeper: Washington St
Overrated: Washington
Question Mark: Cal
Best Player: Derrick Williams, Arizona
SEC
Favorite: Kentucky
Sleeper: Georgia
Overrated: Tennessee
Question Mark: Tennessee
Best Player: Travis Leslie, Georgia
Smaller Conferences(Favorite only)
America East: Boston University
Atlantic Sun: Lipscomb
Big Sky: Weber St
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: UC-Santa Barbara
Colonial: Old Dominion
Conference USA: Memphis
Horizon: Butler
Ivy: Princeton
MAAC: Fairfield
MAC: Ohio
MEAC: Morgan St
Missouri Valley: Wichita St
Northeast: Quinnipiac
Ohio Valley: Murray St
Patriot: American
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Stephen F Austin
SWAC: Jackson St
Summit: Oakland
Sun Belt: North Texas
West Coast: Gonzaga
WAC: Utah St
Final Four plus National Champ (according to my preseason bracketology)
Duke over Ohio St
Michigan St over Kansas St
National Championship: Michigan St over Duke
National Player of the Year: Kyle Singler, Duke
National Coach of the Year: Sidney Lowe, NC State
Notable Early Season Tournaments
Coaches vs Cancer: Pitt, Maryland, Texas, Illinois (Winner: Pitt)
CBE Classic: Duke, Marquette, Kansas St, Gonzaga (Winner: Duke)
Preseason NIT: Villanova, UCLA, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Nevada, George Washington, VCU, Missouri St, Boston U, Winthrop, Pacific, Belmont, Marist, Pepperdine, Hampton, Arkansas St (Winner: Villanova)
Puerto Rico Tip-off: West Virginia, Davidson, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, North Carolina, Hofstra, Minnesota, Western Kentucky (Winner: North Carolina
Paradise Jam: Old Dominion, St Peter's, Clemson, Long Beach St, Seton Hall, Alabama, Xavier, Iowa (Winner: Xavier)
Legends Classic: Georgia Tech, UTEP, Syracuse, Michigan
Maui Invitational: UConn, Wichita St, Michigan St, Chaminade, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Washington, Virginia (Winner: Michigan St)
76 Classic: Virginia Tech, Cal State-Northridge, Oklahoma St, DePaul, Stanford, Murray St, UNLV, Tulsa (Winner: Virginia Tech)
Old Spice Classic: Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Manhattan, Boston College, Notre Dame, Georgia, Temple, Cal (Winner: Temple)
Jimmy V Classic: Kansas vs Memphis, Michigan St vs Syracuse
Diamondhead Classic: Mississippi St, Washington St, Baylor, San Diego, Butler, Utah, Florida St, Hawai'i (Winner: Baylor)
No comments:
Post a Comment