Hyped and Over-hyped: A Brief look at College Basketball
When taking a look at the Top 25 teams in the country, there are those you can count on to contend for a national championship and those who are over-hyped. I’m glad the pollsters got the #1 team in the land right, because there are some holes in the rest of the top 5. The Duke Blue Devils boast two pre-season all-Americans in silky smooth sharp shooter J.J. Redick and physical post presence Shelden Williams, who works harder than anyone in the country under the basket. Throw in Coach K, the nation’s best bench man, and you have the early makings of a national championship squad. The ESPN/USA Today poll has the Connecticut Huskies as the #2 team in the country. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such an overrated team in the top 5. The Huskies are a troubled program, lacking the discipline that Coach K’s and Bob Knight’s teams possess. Guards A.J. Price and Marcus Williams were found guilty of computer theft in the off season. Williams will be allowed to return after the new year when the Huskies face Marquette on Jan. 3, but Price will not be on the team this season. Despite these misfortunes, Connecticut lost Andrew Bynum and Charlie Villanueva to the NBA, and with them a huge chunk of the Huskies’ inside game. This doesn’t sound like the second best team in the nation to me. The Texas Longhorns, however, are returning four players who averaged in double figures last season, and they are anxiously awaiting the return of dominant post presence, P.J. Tucker who was academically ineligible second semester a season ago. Sophomore guard Daniel Gibson will continue to improve with game experience. He showed glimpses of greatness as a freshman and might end up being the best guard in the Big 12 this season. I like the Michigan State Spartans coming off a final four season and they have all their building blocks already in place, but how Villanova leap-frogged them into the #4 slot I’ll never know, and the pollsters will see their flaw soon enough once the season gets underway. Villanova lost injury prone Curtis Sumpter for the season when he suffered another knee injury in practice. This aside, the ‘Cats lack depth, and it seems as though their ranking is largely based off of a 1-point defeat to the eventual national champion North Carolina Tarheels last season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Louisville or Syracuse finishes better in the Big East. The state of Iowa has 2 teams in the preseason rankings. Expect the Cyclones to compete in the Big 12 with an excellent back court, while the Hawkeyes, despite retuning the team’s nucleus, will struggle just as they have throughout Alford’s tenure at Iowa. Arizona and Stanford will be strong in the Pac 10. Gonzaga will handle the WCC, but will struggle against non-conference opponents. Expect to see North Carolina and Kansas, perennial top 10 teams, break into the top 25 despite losing All-Americans. Their young guys are talented and will get a lot of experience in a hurry. As for the rest of the pack, I remain indifferent. Most of these teams such as Indiana, West Virginia, Memphis, and Alabama, could go either way in the rankings.
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