2003-11-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Team

Pts.

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

2003-10-24T18:13:00.000-04:00

I've been reminded that Michigan is indeed eligible, after a successful appeal back in September. So, I think the Wolverines are in. And they could contend for the league title but will likely finish somewhere around 3rd or 4th. They are a young, but very talented team. Guard Daniel Horton is the floor leader. He will play a ton of minutes, which is generally not a problem for a player so good, except that Horton's body broke down a bit last year after playing close to 40 minutes in almost half of Michigan's games.

Dan from Philly asks: "What is a sleeper?"
Well good question Dan. I would define a sleeper as a team that on paper is not good enough to make the tournament but has the pieces to sneak their way in. Generally, I will call a team a sleeper if they don't look great but have some freshman talent that could have an impact, or if they have a favorable schedule (easy enough to create 20 wins, or tough enough to allow for a big upset or two and a nice RPI.)

2003-10-24T09:48:00.000-04:00

I'm a little slow in putting up new stuff this week because I'm battling a nasty case of bronchitis. But let's take a look at the Big Ten, shall we.
I don't see this as being a particularly deep conference this year. Michigan State will be very good, and I expect Illinois and Wisconsin to contend for the conference title. Michigan is still ineligible for the postseason, but could play spoiler to several teams, including Iowa, Purdue, Indiana and Ohio State.
Michigan State and Illinois have most of their talent back. The most notable exception to that will be Illinois' Brian Cook, who was drafted by the Lakers. And of course, the Illini will be without coach Bill Self.
The Spartans are easy to figure out: nearly all of their players returning from last year's Elite 8 squad, plus Coach Tom Izzo. I'd be shocked if they don't contend for the national title.
The Illini are tougher to evaluate. Will they be as physical and tough as they were under Self? I like Dee Brown at guard, and 7-2 center Nick Smith is a talented player who actually led the team in 3-point pct. But I just don't see them repeating their performance of last year, where they led the league in scoring and opponents' defense.
I like Wisconsin because they finally learned how to SCORE last year.
Iowa has enough returning players that this season could be Steve Alford's best.
Purdue, despite a horrific lack of depth, will get in simply because Gene Keady says so.
And Ohio State? Please. They finished 8th in the conference last year, and lost their senior backcourt in the offseason. Their only saving grace will be if all of those big men (7-footer Vladimir Radinovich, 6-10 Matt Marinchik,and 6-9, 240 Terence Dials) learn how to move. This will be a slow, unathletic team that will live and die on its ability to rebound.
As for Indiana, I can't see them contending after losing half of their scoring. Yes, they have Patrick Ewing's son. But we all know Ewing never won a title. Guard Bracey Wright is a conference POY candidate, though. So I would not count them out entirely.
Tourney Teams: MSU, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue
Sleeper: Indiana (it seems strange putting the Hoosiers here, but they fit the mold.)
POY: Chris Hill
Newcomer: Brian Butch, Wisconsin

2003-10-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

A wise friend who probably knows more about basketball than me argues that Seton Hall should be on my list of tournament teams, and he may be right. A good look at the Pirates reveals that they really didn't lose anyone important. And people (including myself) forget that they barely missed out on getting an at-large last year.
Guard Andre Barret averaged almost 17 pts and 5 assists in 2002 and played more minutes than anyone in the conference. I'm not really impressed with their freshman class, but the team will still be good overall. A reasonably tough non-conference schedule (Louisville, Ohio State, Depaul) will give them a boost, particularly if they win a couple.

2003-10-21T22:27:00.000-04:00

The Big East

Just about every team in the Big East is going to being coping with losses this year. For Syracuse, Pitt, St. John's, Villanova, Notre Dame and Boston College those losses will be of the personnel variety. 'Cuse, St. Johns, Notre Dame and BC lost premier talent in Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Hatten, Matt Carroll and Troy Bell, respectively. Pitt lost coach Ben Howland to UCLA and the Wildcats will be without several players due to suspensions leftover from last year's Phone Phrenzy.

This is really Uconn's conference to lose. They have just about everyone back, including 1st Team All-American and POY candidate Ameka Okafor. Junior guard Ben Gordon may actually be the most complete player on this team; he average 19 pts. while dishing out nearly 5 assists and pulling down 4 boards per game. Uconn is very good defensively, and scored a coup over the summer when 6-10 center Charlie Villaneuva signed with the Huskies after first backing out of his committment to play at Illinois then backing out of the NBA draft.
Syracuse will contend in this conference and has a chance at repeating as National Champs, but the loss of Carmelo can't be overstated. That being said, he was only there for one season and everyone knew he was jumping ship, so there should not be any chemistry issues. Billy Edelin, a capable guard who averaged 9 pts. in 23 minutes per game off the bench last year, will work with Gary McNamara in the backcourt. Hakim Warrick is an NBA prospect at forward who averaged 15 and 9.
The only other team I see making any noise in this conference is Notre Dame, who will be tough to deal with now that massive center Torin Francis is a year older. Perhaps even more importanty, guard Chris Hill said no to the NBA and will be the floor leader again.
Tourney teams: Uconn, Syracuse, NDU, Pitt, St. Johns
Sleeper: Providence
POY: Okafor
Newcomer: Charlie Villanueva

2003-10-20T23:57:00.000-04:00

Design change! This will help me fit more text on the page, and it's a little bit brighter.

2003-10-20T17:42:00.000-04:00

Beginning sometime this week I will begin my daily pre-season analysis. I will hopefully include projected conference standings and a few superlatives, including POY, "Diaper Dandy" and maybe a couple of others. After I do the major conferences, I will write about the mid-majors at length and take a look at some of the small conference schools that are looking good. When it's all said and done, the season will be just about underway and I'll post a projected field of 64 (I realize this is useless at this point in the year, but it's still fun).

And as always, I welcome your criticism, comments and praise. Especially praise.

2003-10-20T15:03:00.000-04:00

A lot of publications put Michigan State as high as #2 in the nation, behind Uconn in the pre-season rankings. I don't quite buy it. Yes, they have just about everyone back, and Izzo may be the best coach in the country. But they still lack the one thing they lacked all of last year: a true point guard. MSU nearly blew it down the stretch against Maryland in the tourney last year b/c they couldn't take care of the ball.

2003-10-01T15:12:00.000-04:00

An article in today's Duke Chronicle talks about Dave McClure, who has committed to play for the Blue Devils in 2004. He says Coach K told him that he could develop into "a Trajan Langdon/Shane Battier mix." If that's true, then he would without a doubt be the ugliest player in NCAA history. Of course, he'd be very good, too. He led Trinity Catholic to a 26-1 record and a state championship, averaging 17 pts. and 11 rebounds. Apprently, his shooting ability--perhaps the one thing that Duke players excel at more than anyone else--is still shaky. But he's working on it.

2003-09-29T18:07:00.001-04:00

Hey guys, welcome to The College Basketball Blog. This is my lame attempt at providing intelligent analysis and opinion on college hoops. There will likely be an emphasis on Atlantic 10 and ACC teams, but I hope to make it as broad as possible. Feel free to e-mail me if you have anything to say. We'll get this thing fired up soon, as Midnight Madness is around the corner.