2008-09 College Basketball Preview
Monday, September 15, 2008 03:33 PM ET
Football is the focus on college campuses right now, but NCAA basketball is just around the corner and the North Carolina Tar Heels, led by Tyler Hansbrough, are the No. 1 pick in the rankings and futures odds.
Believe it or not we’re only about eight weeks out, not even that, before the start of the 2008-09 NCCA Men’s College Basketball season. Some late night practices, designed solely to generate some cashola and work the student body into yet another drunken frenzy in advance of the upcoming season, will be upon us before Halloween. A lot of teams will play an exhibition game around Election Day this November, and regular season slates will then tip off a week or so later.
Coaches are always a good place to look at to start a season, from those making debuts with a new team, those on the hot seat, those running the high profile programs and those hoping to have a breakthrough season. Among the ‘new guys’ this year is former Marquette head coach Tom Crean who will have the spotlight on him as he moves into take over Indiana’s once proud program that has been crumbling of late.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski spent a good portion of his summer prepping the USA Men’s Olympic basketball team and coaching them to the gold medal at the Beijing Games. He now comes back to take care of his ACC squad that will not only have to take on the their top-rated arch rivals from down Tobacco Road there in Chapel Hill, they’ll have to deal with a very young and talented Wake Forest group.
There was some near tragic news with Northern State’s Don Meyer being involved in a serious car accident just a week ago, and has already undergone surgery on his seriously injured left leg, and it was then that it was discovered he had cancer which was described as a “carcinoid cancer in my liver and small bowels” in a statement released by Meyers. Just 11 wins shy of Bobby Knight’s all-time record of 902 wins, Meyers doctors seem certain they can treat the cancer and all signs point to the 63-year-old to still coach the Wolves this season.
And then there was the sad news with the passing of longtime UTEP/Texas Western legend Don Haskins who died on Sep 7 at the age of 78. Haskins will of course always be remembered as the man who led Texas Western to the stunning upset of Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA national championship game, 72-65, beating both the Wildcats and their legendary Adolph Rupp while busting through the color barrier was well. Haskins was buried in El Paso, TX, following a public ceremony that saw thousands attend, with a start time of 6:35 p.m. to coincide with UTEP’s usual game time and included former referee Irv Brown blowing a whistle on speakers for taking too much time delivering their tributes.
Got to think the Bear would’ve liked that last bit.
BACK TO THE FUTURES
It’s that time of year you have to take a look at preseason rankings along with your own numbers and shop for some value on the futures market. Rankings at various sites and in various polls shouldn’t be given their weight in gold, but you can certainly use them like you do any other column of stats you choose to crunch.
It’s a pretty solid consensus across Cyber World right now that Roy Williams’ Tar Heels are the preseason No. 1. One can only assume North Carolina will open atop the polls put out by the coaches (in some cases, the assistant coaches) and the mediots over at AP. And UNC is also the betting favorite listed at +250 over at VegasInsider.com. With last year’s top player Tyler Hansbrough back, it’s not wonder they Heels lead the way right now. We will know a little about them in a possible humdinger of an early game when North Carolina hosts the Kentucky Wildcats on Nov. 18.
UCLA is No. 2 on the futures board at +700 right now, and that’s a fairly large gap between the top two clubs on the toteboard.
Following the Bruins we begin to get into teams from what should be the deepest conference going this season, the Big East, Pittsburgh (+800), Louisville (+1000), Connecticut (+1500), Notre Dame (+2000) and Marquette (+2500) all sit between No. 3 and No. 13 on the list, and all are ranked in the Top 25 of various blogs this offseason. It sets up a tremendous battle in that conference, and it would not be a longshot at all to see two of the clubs, Pitt and UConn in particular, eventually snag two of the No. 1 seeds once nest year’s regionals are announced.
Kansas, last year’s NCAA Champions, come in at +3500 with Memphis, the team the Jayhawks downed 75-68 in the championship tilt, checking in at +1500.
Others presently among the leaders on the betting odds chart are Duke (+1000), Michigan State (+1500), Texas (+1500), Gonzaga (+1800) and Purdue (+2000).
One school that is currently listed as an underdog at +4000 but a school that I think should be fun to watch this year is Wake Forest. The Deacons added three big freshmen to a squad that went 17-12 (7-9 ACC) last year, sputtering down the stretch after bolting to an 11-3 record to start the year.
Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods and Ty Walker all graded out at 95+ by Scouts, Inc., with Aminu one to really keep an eye on. That trio will join sophomores James Johnson and Jeff Teague, Wake’s two leading scorers from a year ago, plus point Ismael Smith, to give the Demon Deacons a solid young core.
And a team that is sort of staying below the radar of many right now is Oklahoma. Sure, the Sooners are being tabbed in many Top 10s so far, but they’re taking a backseat to Texas and even Kansas in the Big 12 talk despite the Horns losing DJ Augustin and the Jayhawks losing their entire starting five from last year’s title crew.
Oklahoma bid adios to Longar Longar, but Blake Griffin does return as do the starting backcourt of Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson. Add in freshman Willie Warren, one of the nation’s top recruits a year ago, and the makings are there for OU to come out of the Big 12 as that conference’s best entry into March Madness.
A good gauge for the Sooners will come in mid-November when they host the South Regional of the NIT Tip-Off Tourney in Norman. Assuming they get past Mississippi Valley State in the opener, the Sooners will draw the winner of the Davidson-James Madison match to try and earn a trip to the Big Apple for the Tip-Off conclusion over Thanksgiving Weekend.