This is Part One of a Two-Part preview of the 2010-11 Men's (do I even have to say that?) College Basketball Season. Today we'll cover the Major Conferences as well as the REAL Mid-major conferences. Tomorrow I'll give you a brief breakdown of the rest. If you'd like to actually HOLD this preview, as well as see Hooters girls, pick up the current Hooters Magazine. Enjoy....
After the tremendous season that was last year where Cinderella nearly made it all the way through the ball before the clock struck midnight, this college basketball season will have to stand on its head to top Duke’s run to a title and Butler’s near-miracle heave. Can the upcoming season do it? Both Duke and Butler return major pieces and could very well be back in the Final Four. Who will join them? Will the SEC challenge the Big East for college basketball dominance? Will the ACC see its former superpowers rise from the ashes of 2010? Can the Big Ten really send three teams to the Final Four? I cannot wait for the hardwoods to be hit by squeaky sneakers. Let’s preview ALL of the conferences. Why? Because Butler showed us ANYONE can make the Final Four and walk away with a title, THAT’S WHY!
The Big Boys…
The Atlantic Coast Conference has been blue-blood royalty for years but last season, the North Carolina Tar Heels fell well short of expectations while trying to defend its title from the 2009 Final Four. Newcomer Harrison Barnes looks like he might set the world on fire for Coach Roy Williams and he should have some help from Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Reggie Bullock. Duke meanwhile will return three starters from Coach K’s fourth championship team and will add Seth Curry, younger brother of Steph, after Seth sat out one year while transferring. Kyle Singler is back as are the Plumlee brothers and Kyrie Irving should start immediately at point for the Blue Devils. Wake Forest, Boston College and Clemson have new coaches while coaches at NC State and Georgia Tech are feeling heat. A big run in the ACC tournament saved Paul Hewitt’s job with the Yellow Jackets but Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors are gone; is Hewitt the next out the door? I would think the ACC could get five or six teams into the Big Dance this season with a few more knocking on the door.
By sheer numbers the Big East is the best conference in college basketball and this season could be the year the conference claims its first title since going back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 with Syracuse and UConn. The Orange return Kris Joseph (10.8 ppg) and Scoop Jardine and will add Fab Melo, perhaps the best freshman the team has sported since that other Melo led Syracuse to a title in 2003. UConn meanwhile will look to rebound from an 18-16 season last year behind junior guard Kemba Walker and high-flying freshman Jeremy Lamb. Louisville lost Samardo Samuels and Rick Pitino will have to do possibly his best work yet for the Cardinals to get them back into the picture. Pitt and Villanova will once again be in the picture thanks to great coaching and West Virginia must replace several players that helped the Neers run to the Final Four. St. Johns and DePaul will both be breaking in new coaches in two of the country’s largest markets.
The Big XII has been known as a football conference for years but boasting Kansas and Texas in recent years has helped the conference’s basketball cred. Last year Baylor and Mizzou the year before have helped propel the Big XII into the conversation of best conference overall. Expect Kansas State to carry the banner this season as Frank Martin’s crew returns All-American candidate Jacob Pullen and his crazy beard. K-State was a trendy pick last season and could once again be the pick to click for the 2011 tournament. The Wildcats cross-state rivals Kansas failed to live up to expectations in 2010, so how will Bill Self attack this season? Tyshawn Taylor and the Morris big men should try and help Kansas win the Big One, one year later. Jai Lucas stuck around in Texas and Rick Barnes will have to count on freshmen yet again if he wants to advance in the tourney. Baylor and Oklahoma shouldn’t be counted out either after some success over the last few years though both lost players to the NBA.
Could this be the year of the Big Ten? The conference that calls the Midwest home could put three teams in the Final Four if Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State live up to expectations. The Spartans of Michigan State have reached the past two Final Fours and Delvon Roe, Durrell Summers, and Draymond Green should all be back to potentially set up coach Tom Izzo for yet another shot at title No.2. For Purdue, Coach Matt Painter has three seniors that will want to finally put the Boilermakers over the top as Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson are back in West Lafayette to do damage to the Big Ten. Three new freshmen should add some depth for Painter. Every year the Ohio State Buckeyes haul in a top recruiting class and this year is no different. Thad Matta brought in five new faces to help out David Lighty with the scoring load. Next season should be another haul for Matta but this batch could be as special as the Greg Oden class. Wisconsin is well coached and this could finally be the year for Northwestern to finally make the tournament?
The Pac-10 was down last year heading into the NCAA tournament but quickly made up for it with Washington’s deep run. This season, Isaiah Thomas is back along with Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton, but the loss of Quincy Pondexter may be too much to overcome for the Huskies. The Arizona Wildcats return leading scorer Derrick Williams as well as Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne so the Cats should be back in the NCAA tourney this season if Sean Miller’s squad can build on last year’s struggles. The Arizona State Sun Devils will have Ty Abbott and Rihards Kuksiks back, who both averaged over twelve points per contest last season. Finally, California should drop a bit as the top four scorers and five of the top six departed following a 24-11 season. Jorge Gutierrez returns but he will have a lot of fresh faces surrounding him in Mike Montgomery’s offense. Oregon has a new coach in Dana Altman so the Ducks could be interesting to watch this season.
Finally, after a down year from the SEC last season as everyone save for Kentucky struggled, the conference appears to be primed for a big season. The Wildcats lost a ton to the NBA but John Calipari reloaded again, starting with Brandon Knight and Stacey Poole. Expect those two and DeAndre Liggins to put the Wildcats right back in the hunt for a conference title. Tennessee will challenge Kentucky with Scotty Hopson and Melvin Goins starring in the backcourt. Newcomers Trae Golden, Tobias Harris and Jordan McRae will provide a spark the way only freshmen can for head coach Bruce Pearl. Florida and Georgia should challenge in the East as well as the Gators return Vernon Macklin and Kenny Boynton while the Dawgs sport Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins, who both could make a run at All-SEC. Georgia coach Mark Fox was impressive in his first year on the Bulldog bench and his second season, boosted by a strong recruiting class, could mean a run at a ticket to the Big Dance. In the West, Arkansas and Alabama figure to challenge the two Mississippi schools for control of the division.
They Might Be Giants
Conference USA nearly boasted a champion just a few seasons ago but Memphis missed some free throws late in regulation and Kansas ended up winning the NCAA title in overtime. Now Memphis is back tearing up the recruiting trail despite John Calipari being in Kentucky and the Tigers might just have enough to make another deep run in the tournament. Josh Pastner has eight freshmen on the roster including Jelan Kendrick ready to make an impact. UTEP had a nice run in the regular season in 2010 but then lost its coach to Auburn and must rebuild with a new coaching staff. UAB meanwhile must replace Elijah Millsap. The Blazers could get a boost from Ovie Soko, who helped Great Britain to a sixth-place finish in the U-20 FIBA European Championships. Marshall and Southern Miss had 20-win seasons last year and will look to repeat that this season.
The Butler Bulldogs made the Horizon League proud last season as a half-court heave nearly gave Brad Stevens a national title win over Duke. The shot rimmed out but the Bulldogs should be back in the tournament after returning several key players from the 2010 undefeated conference regular-season champions. Gordon Hayward will be tough to replace as most NBA draft picks are, but Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard, Ronald Nored and Zach Hahn are nice pieces that will have an impact this season. Who can possibly put an end to the Butler dominance? Perhaps Wright State or Wisconsin-Green Bay, but both will be hard pressed to topple the dynasty that Stevens is building in Indianapolis.
Before Butler captured America’s hearts with a run to the final game, George Mason of the CAA was the national sweetheart in 2006. This season Mike Morrison leads the Patriots, still coached by Jim Larranaga from that magical Final Four run. Virginia Commonwealth lost Larry Sanders to the NBA and Old Dominion will be looking to replace Gerald Lee, who is now playing professionally in Europe. Georgia State will look to rebound under head coach Rod Barnes with several players returning to possibly boost the Panthers into postseason play.
The A-10 has long been considered a stepping stone conference where coaches earn their stripes before jumping to another job. This season, perhaps Xavier will make another run to the Sweet 16 despite losing Jordan Crawford to the NBA. Tu Holloway went for 26 in the NCAA tourney against K-State and Jamel McLean will look to build upon his 8.5 ppg last season. Richmond cannot be counted out after winning 26 games last season and 13 conference games. Temple, the regular-season champ in 2010, will feature an international flair with TJ DiLeo, Aaron Brown, Carmel Bouchman and Juan Fernandez all ready to go at it for the Owls this season. St. Louis also remains a team to watch after winning twenty games last year.
Many folks on the east coast may roll their eyes but the Mountain West Conference has been a player for years. The discussion of the MWC must start with BYU and in particular Jimmer Fredette. The senior decided to return for his final season in Provo and he brings his 22.1 points per game and his 4.7 assists. He led the Cougars to 30 wins last year and his return could mean 30 more this season. He was recently named as The Sporting News’ top point guard for the 2010-11 season. UNLV and New Mexico will challenge BYU for conference dominance as both won at least 25 games last season. Steve Alford will look to help the Lobos win a third-straight conference title.
The WAC has Utah State as its defending champion and the Aggies have six seniors returning including Taj Wesley and Nate Bendall. Both average double digits last season as the Aggies ran out to a 27-8 record. Nevada, without Mark Fox as head coach, finished 21-13 and New Mexico State was 22-12. New Mexico State will be led by Troy Gillenwater after the junior averaged nearly 15 points last season. Don’t sleep on Louisiana Tech either, a strange fit in the WAC, but still dangerous after winning 24 games last season. And as good as Boise State is in football, the basketball team may not average more points than Kellen Moore and his crew.
You cannot talk about the West Coast Conference without immediately thinking about Gonzaga. In his twelfth year on the Bulldog bench, Mark Few has Elias Harris and Steven Gray to lead his team to likely yet another conference title and NCAA tournament bid. Robert Sacre provides some nice size down low with his 7’0 frame. St. Mary’s and Portland are threats to give the Bulldogs a loss or two in the regular season and keep the Zags to a low “automatic” seed.
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