Preseason Top 50
Now that the season is not to far away and fast approaching I figured it was time to throw out my official preseason top 50. Here it is….
#1-Florida
-Defending National Champions return every key player. It’s hard to find a true weaknesses on this team. They’re athletic, experienced, good defensively, good on the boards, can score inside and outside and have trusty enough ball handlers. What’s not to like?
#2-North Carolina
-The deepest and most talented team on paper. If the freshmen can mesh and gel with the sophomores this team will be better than Florida.
#3-Kansas
-Probably the most athletic team in the country. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better team defensively than this one and will be led by a trio of sophomores in Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Julien Wright.
#4-LSU
-Have arguably the best player in the country in Glen Davis. Great slow it down, pound it inside and dominate defensive and rebounding team.
#5-Pitt
-A very well balanced and deep offensive team. Defensively and on the boards they’re above average as well. They’ll need to find a go to threat on the perimeter though.
#6-Arizona
-One of the most talented teams in the country on paper. Very perimeter dominated and highly athletic. Interior rebounding could be a concern.
#7-Alabama
-Primarly a half court team that tends to struggle against more athletic and quicker teams. They have very good interior players and have arguably the best point guard in the country in Ronald Steele.
#8-Wisconsin
-A very disciplined and well coached team. They’ll have increased depth, size and athleticism this year to go along with having the best player in the Big Ten in small forward Alando Tucker
#9-Ohio State
-They’ll be without big man Greg Oden for an extended period of time and will likely struggle without him. However, when he gets back…look out.
#10-UCLA
-This could be this years best all around defensive team in the country. However, offensively they’ll need major improvements from sophomore forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and will need to find steady ball handlers.
#11-Georgetown
-Very strong, athletic and deep front court, however, their back court is filled with question marks and holes. They’ll be a very slow and methodical team that will look to experienced juniors Roy Hibbert(center) and Jeff Green(power forward).
#12-Texas A&M
-The Aggies are for real. They have two of the best players in the Big 12 in guard A.C. Law and center Joseph Jones that give them very good offensive balance. Not to mention they’ll be much deeper and more athletic this year with the addition of a top 15 recruiting class.
#13-Duke
-When they get point guard Greg Paulus back from his foot injury they should be better offensively, however, with him out the ball handling duties become a major concern. They’ll be a lot more athletic this year from top to bottom and as always very well coached.
#14-Georgia Tech
-Tech is likely to become the most improved team in the country this year. They return their top five players, lose their ball hog point guard and gain two top ten recruits in Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton.
#15-Syracuse
-Freshman Paul Harris will immediately become this teams best player. He’s an absolute warrior and competitior that never takes plays off and dominates on both ends of the court. Expect the Cuse to be very good defensively but until they find a trusty lead gaurd to replace McNamara they could struggle a little offensively.
#16-Memphis
-Memhis will once again me one of the five most athletic and deepest teams in the country. They will still look to run and press even though they lose their top three scorers from last year and will likely run through Conference USA with relative ease. Their lack of a proven and consistent go to scorer keeps them out of the top 15 for now.
#17-Nevada
-If you haven’t heard of center Nick Fazekas, yet, you will after this year is over. He’s the most skilled big man in the country and Nevada returns four starters from a team that earned a five seed last year. They’re not as athletic as some teams but they’re very tough to beat when they slow it down and dictate the tempo.
#18-UConn
-By now everyone realizes that UConn lost their top six players from last year but Jim Calhoun went right out and brought in his most talented recruiting class ever. They’ll be awfully young but this team is not short on talent or depth one bit. If Calhoun can find a solid rotation and if sophomores Jeff Adrian(forward) and A.J. Price(guard) can lead the way, UConn should be very competitive come March.
#19-Southern Illinois
-Outside of Kansas and UCLA this is the best defensive team in the country. This has also been one of the most consistent programs nationally throughout this decade and they return every single starter from a team that went on to win the MVC Tournament last year.
#20-Creighton
-Nate Funk is one of the best guards in the country that most people have heard of but that will change this year. Head Coach Dana Altman has built arguably the most consistent and competitive “Mid Major” program outside of Gonzaga and while they missed the tourney last year, they return almost every key play and get their best player(Funk) back from a medical reshirt year.
#21-Boston College
-The loss of power forward Craig Smith will be a difficult loss but this is a team that always seems to play above it’s expected talent level and they have one of the best all around players in the country in senior forward Jared Dudley. BC should more athletic in the post without Smith but not near as effective offensively.
#22-Xavier
-The A10 should be more competitive this year and Xavier should be the cream of the crop. They return 4 starters and add a former McDonalds All-American transfer from Oklahoma in 5′5 point guard Drew Lavender.
#23-Washington
-The loss of Brandon Roy will be impossible to replace but UW will turn to their interior players for success this year. Freshman Spencer Hawes is the most skilled post player to enter the college ranks in a long long time. He’ll become the teams go to scorer from day one and a combination of himself and sophomore foward Jon Brockman on the interior should be the best in the Pac Ten by far.
#24-Kentucky
-Last year was a mess but this year should be a little better. The talent is there for them to win and the lack of chemistry should be better with the loss of Rajon Rondo at the point. The freshman class is very underrated and Randolph Morris is a star waiting to break out at center. However, until someone steps up at the point UK fans continue to be dissapointed.
#25-Louisville
-Rick Pitino knows how to use talent and quite frankly his team last year lacked a lot of it. This year though with the addition of a top five recruiting class they should be much better. How much better is the question and unless talented players such as David Padgett and Juan Palacios play up to their abilities they’ll barely be good enough to crack the top 25.
26-Texas
27-San Diego State
28-Hofstra
29-Villanova
30-Tennessee
31-Marquette
32-Virginia
33-Wichita State
34-Michigan
35-Oklahoma State
36-Illinois
37-California
38-Missouri State
39-Southern California
40-Virginia Tech
41-Gonzaga
42-Arkansas
43-Depaul
44-Maryland
45-Winthrop
46-Florida State
47-Mississippi State
48-Saint Louis
49-Air Force
50-Akron
