World Famous College Basketball Preview

This is Matt Green's World Famous College Basketball Preview. This year I will give you my pick for each major conference winner, my sleeper in each conference, the best player in each conference and what teams from that conference that I believe will be in the tournament. For the smaller, one-bid conferences, I will only pick who I believe will win the conference. Furthermore, I will pick my preseason All-Americans, and make my bracket predictions from the Sweet 16 all the way to the National Championship. Also, I will preview, as always, the College Hoops Tip-off Marathon in 2 weeks, so look for that. So, without further ado, let's get it going...

Here is the format for each conference:

Conference Name

My pick for Conference Winner

My Sleeper for that conference

The best player in that conference

Which teams from that conference will make the tournament

Which teams have a chance at the tourney but right now are not in

ACC

Duke

Miami

Harrison Barnes, F, UNC

Duke, UNC, Flor St, Clem, UVA, Miami

MD, BC, NC State, VT

Atlantic 10

Temple

St Bonaventure

Tu Holloway, G, Xavier

Tem, Xav, Day

StBon, Rich

Big East

Syracuse

Rutgers

Kris Joseph, F, Syracuse

Syr, Lou, Conn, Pitt, Rut, Marq, Cincy, WVU

G'Town, Nova, StJ, ND

Big Ten

Wisconsin

Nebraska

Jared Sullinger, F-C, Ohio State

Wisc, OHSt, Mich, Pur, MichSt, Minn, Ind

Neb, Ill, PSU

Big 12

Kansas

Kansas St

Perry Jones III, F, Baylor

Kan, Mizz, Bay, A&M, Tex

KSU, OKSt, IowaSt

CAA

George Mason

Drexel

Ryan Pearson, F, George Mason

Mason

ODU, VCU, Drexel

Conference USA

Memphis

UCF

Marcus Jordan, G, UCF

Mem, UCF

UAB, Marsh, UTEP

Missouri Valley

Indiana State

Creighton

Kyle Weems, F, Missouri State

IndSt, Creigh

WichSt, MOSt, NorIA

Mountain West

UNLV

Boise State

Drew Gordon, F, New Mexico

UNLV, New Mexico

SDSU, ColoSt, Boise

Pac-12

Arizona

Stanford

Reeves Nelson, F, UCLA

Arizona, UCLA, Wazzu, Wash, Cal, Oreg

Stan, Colo

SEC

Vanderbilt

Tennessee

Terrence Jones, F, Kentucky

Vandy, UK, Flor, UGA, Bama

Tenn, MissSt, SoCar

West Coast

Gonzaga

BYU

Elias Harris, F, Gonzaga

Zags, SMC

BYU

America East: Boston Univ

Atlantic Sun: Belmont

Big Sky: Montana

Big South: Coastal Carolina

Big West: Long Beach St

Horizon: Butler

Ivy: Harvard

MAAC: Iona

MAC: Kent St

MEAC: Bethune-Cookman

NEC: Long Island

OVC: Austin Peay

Patriot: Bucknell

SoCon: Davidson

Southland: Nicholls St

SWAC: Alabama St

Summit: Oral Roberts

Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic

WAC: New Mexico St

Preseason All-Americans

G: Tu Holloway, Xavier

G: Peyton Siva, Louisville

F: Harrison Barnes, North Carolina

F: Terrence Jones, Kentucky

F: Jared Sullinger, Ohio St

Bracket Predictions from Sweet 16 forward

(Sweet 16)

EAST

1 Syracuse over 4 Arizona

3 Kentucky over 2 Ohio State

WEST

1 North Carolina over 4 Gonzaga

3 Vanderbilt over 10 Washington State

MIDWEST

1 Louisville over 4 Florida

3 Missouri over 7 Cal

SOUTH

4 Michigan over 1 Duke

3 Memphis over 2 UConn

(Elite 8)

EAST

1 Syracuse over 3 Kentucky

WEST

1 North Carolina over 3 Vanderbilt

MIDWEST

3 Missouri over 1 Louisville

SOUTH

4 Michigan over 3 Memphis

FINAL 4 & NC

1 North Carolina over 1 Syracuse

3 Missouri over 4 Michigan

1 North Carolina over 3 Missouri

So, even though I am not a huge fan, Roy Williams has too much talent in Chapel Hill to fail this year...

Look for my College Hoops Tipoff Marathon Preview coming in a couple weeks! College Hoops is starting, get to your TV everyone...

Year of the Napoli

It was January 25. College Basketball was in full swing heading toward the madness and the NFL playoffs were the only thing capturing headlines. So when I heard that the Rangers had traded Frank Francisco for Mike Napoli, I did not think much of it. I mean, I gave it a thought. I was happy to get rid of Francisco's dead weight and I remember saying, verbatum to my friend that "I'm glad we got Napoli, if only for the sole reason that he scares me when we play the Angels."

But he has turned out to be so much more.

In World Series Game 5, just like World Series Game 4, ALDS Game 3, and, despite the loss, World Series Game 1, he delivered once again. Should we be getting used to this? Is Napoli really one of the best hitters in the game? Listen, I'm no baseball expert. I'm a fan and I do know A LOT more than the casual fan, but I am no expert. But from what I have seen, this guy has to be one of the best hitters in baseball. He can hit the gaps, he can hit the lines, he can hit for power, he can get big singles, he works the count, he takes walks, he moves runners over and, in my opinion the most important aspect of hitting, he is CLUTCH. Let's not forget that in the 6th Inning, he just missed a 3-run homer to center as it died on the warning track. On a different night, that ball probably would have been gone. I cannot find enough words to say about this guy except that, since the All-Star break, he has been the 2nd best hitter in baseball, behind only Miguel Cabrera. Yes, better than Pujols, better than Braun, Fielder, Kemp (barely), better than Cano, Adrian Gonzalez and anyone else you can come up with. In July, he had a slash line of .443/.500/.820, in August it was .304/.388/.559, and in September it was an absurd .429/.518/.843. These numbers since the break are astronomically high, especially for a catcher. Did I mention he had 8 September homers, 19 September RBIs and 14 walks to only 16 strikeouts. But, this is not the only aspect of his game that has been exceptional...

Napoli's defense has been the difference here in Texas. We used to have a catcher problem. We did have a catcher problem every 3 of 5 games earlier in the season, before Napoli became the regular catcher over Torrealba. Ranger fans, we don't have a problem anymore. In the regular season, he had a caught stealing % of 36.4, which would have been third in the majors if he had qualified for league lead with enough innings. In 12 postseason games, he has caught 3 of 5 base stealers, and has not committed a single error (well, behind the plate, anyway). His catcher's ERA is a staggering 3.24, which ranks second in the majors in postseason play behind only Kelly Shoppach. The number is even more staggering when you take Yorvit Torrealba's CERA into account at 10.34. Even though Torrealba has only started two games behind the plate, that is still a terrible number and bumps Napoli's value even higher. During the season, Napoli had a WAR (wins above replacement) of 5.6 which is well, well above-average. There just is not enough to say about this guy.

If you say that you saw Napoli doing this before the year started, you are a bald-faced liar. Sure, even I thought he would have a decent year, platoon at First, Catcher and DH, probably playing 4 out every 5 games or so, hitting around .260 or .270 with an OBP around .340 or so. But not this. not a season slash line of.320/.414/.631. Those numbers DO NOT HAPPEN for a guy that was unwanted by a club that does not have any good catchers on their roster. A guy that lasted about 3 minutes in Toronto. A guy that started the season as the backup to a career .260 hitter. It has been unbelievable to see the astronomical rise of our beloved NAP-O-LI, and we need him just one more time...

Just one more game...