*EARLY* outlook for next season

[Shoalzie]

Andy Katz has his top 25 for next year already on ESPN.com...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2030071

Here's Vitale's top 12 also (Duke not #1, surprisingly )...
http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/vcolumn05 ... Dozen.html


Barring early departures, the top 3 of the ACC should be stacked again plus Boston College joins the fray with a strong squad coming back. May says he'll be but I bet Carolina loses a couple guys. Rumors are swirling that Paul will leave early so Wake drops down a notch. Duke should have Williams and Redick coming back and has arguably the best freshman class coming in next year. Georgia Tech will be down big time after losing the huge senior class of Elder, Bynum, Schenscher, McHenry, and Muhammad. Maryland doesn't lose any key seniors but Gilchrist has supposed announced he's going into the draft a year early. N.C. State falls off a bit with losing Hodge. Virginia Tech returns the majority of their team with the exception of Dixon and Miami should be solid as well.

Around the nation, Connecticut has a great team returning. If the Villanueva was going to stay, they'd be a no-brainer for #1. Villanova returns everyone and they should be a top 5 club to start next year. Texas has a strong young team returning as will Kentucky, who only loses Hayes. Oklahoma should contend for the Big XII title with Texas. Michigan State looks to be the early favorite in the Big Ten as they return the core of Davis, Brown, Ager and Neitzel. Gonzaga looks strong again for next year although Turiaf leaves because of graduation. I really like West Virginia and they basically return their entire 2004-05 team. With Arizona losing Stoudamire and Frye...Washington and an emerging UCLA squad should be the front runners in the Pac-10. If Robinson leaves early, the Bruins may jump to the top of the league next year.

My top 15 for 2005-06:
1. Connecticut
2. Duke
3. Villanova
4. North Carolina
5. Michigan State
6. Texas
7. Oklahoma
8. Kentucky
9. Wake Forest
10. Louisville
11. Gonzaga
12. Boston College
13. Washington
14. UCLA
15. West Virginia

[Shoalzie]

Their list looks vastly different from the ESPN lists. Michigan State not even in the Top 25? Arizona has no business being in the top 10 after losing their two best players. Nevada at #10? A lot of their picks are based on what ifs. George Washington is in the rankings because they think Mensah-Bonsu and Hall won't go into the draft after they've already declared and they assume Knight will be able to replace Ross just because he was able to replace Emmett before. Who knows what will happen between now and the draft. Early entries for the draft always shift the balance of power in college hoops every year.

[indyfrisco]

Kansas not a Top 25 team?

Andy Katz can eat a log of shit.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Although as a ND fan I like the idea of facing UConn minus Villanueva (although beating them is still a longshot), I can't for the life of me figure out why he's leaving this year.

I realize he considered skipping college altogether for the NBA. But to me, while he's had a decent college career he hasn't had quite the monster career so far you'd expect from a guy leaving two years early. Staying one more year could only help his NBA draft stock, imho.

Also, there's the possibility of winning the national championship. He got that as a freshman, but he was only a role player on that squad. To get it when it's your team has to be a totally different feeling altogether.

[helmet]

May will probably return to UNC. McCants is all but gone, and I bet at least one of either Felton or Marvin Williams will go pro as well.

[SunCoastSooner]

CBSSportsline.com has OU ranked #1 going into the season. However, I'm not SUCH a homer that I'm buying it.

If we evar do it BtH it will be next year. If not now then never.

[JHawkBCD]

Kansas not a Top 25 team?

Andy Katz can eat a log of shit.

The trendy thing for sportswriters to do at the moment is diss Kansas because of:

A) the late season collapse,

B) Bucknell

and

C) the rumors floating around the airwaves about transfers (Alex Galindo, who announced his intent to transfer but hasn't picked a school; Russell Robinson, who announced his intent to stay; and JR Giddens, who was worthless this year anyways, and better step it up next year or he'll be paying his tuition in his senior year)

It's really easy for them to discount KU's hopes, especially since the three go-to guys (Simien, Miles, Langford) are departing seniors along with Michael Lee, and will leave a big unknown in the starting lineup. However, they seem to forget about the three McD's All Americans who will join the squad next year, and that the team will be 3 years removed from Roy Williams' influence and meddling (it's been basically confirmed that ol' Roy was calling his former players during the season, which can be considered tampering by the NCAA), so hopefully, Bill Self will be able to fully implement his system in the coming year.

[Mook]

Oklahoma does look tough.

And whoever thinks Kansas belongs in the preseason Top 25 is crazy. They have exactly zero proven players returning.....and of those zero they are all freshmen or sophomores to be....could be scary to be Jayhawk fan next year.

[JHawkBCD]

And whoever thinks Kansas belongs in the preseason Top 25 is crazy. They have exactly zero proven players returning.....and of those zero they are all freshmen or sophomores to be....could be scary to be Jayhawk fan next year.

Whether they belong in the Top 25 or not is inconsequential, but if the only reason a person is dissing KU is because of "zero proven players", they need to look no further than this year's tournament to prove to them that you don't need to know what the fuck you're talking about to earn a living as a sports writer.

Sincerely,
Billions and billions of broken brackets

[Mook]

JHawk - I may have misread your post but I don't think Kansas has any proven players. If so, who are they?

Giddens: Maybe, had a nice freshman year and I'm hoping the shooting slump he went through was a mental thing. I think he'll be OK, but he certainly wouldn't be considered proven or reliable at this point.

Moody: OK, he's probably the closest thing to a proven player they have right now. Although he's a nice story and a consistent player he isn't the kind of player to lead a team to the promised land.

Robinson: Totally unproven. I think he'll be solid, but he hasn't proven anything.

Kaun: Totally and completely unproven. He has a long way to go before becoming an adequate D1 player.

Giles: Looked great when he played. Like Robinson, I think he'll be a fantastic player, but once again, it is not really based on any real acccomplishment as a frosh.

Hawkins: Proven, but like Moody, you better not be counting on J-Hawk if you plan on doing much more than Missouri.

Chalmers: Looked great in the McDonald's game, but totally unproven.

Wright: See Chalmers

Downs: This kid actually seems to have an attitude, and I'm not just talking about his pouting at the McD's game. I hope he pans out. But, like Wright and Chalmers, totally unproven at the college level.

I'm not saying Kansas can't be good if people step up. They appear to have decent talent, they just don't have anybody who has really shown anything yet, that is why they shouldn't be on a preseason top 25 list (which I agree is totally inconsequential). If they made the list it would be because their name is Kansas and not because of anything any of their players has proven on the court.

Next year should be interesting. I was disappointed to see Galindo transfer out, I thought he was a nice player.

[indyfrisco]

My reasoning for saying KU should be a top 25 team is flawed, but it has proven out in the past. Kansas isn’t top 10 material preseason, but they’ve always reloaded kind of like Notre Dame used to do in football.

Until Kansas proves otherwise (like Notre Dame has), they deserve the preseason top 25 vote in my book. Of course, preseason rankings don’t mean shit in CBB because the season doesn’t mean shit.

[SunCoastSooner]

Daily OKlahoman is reporting that McKenzie has been released from his schollie at OU and that Drew will be following shortyl in suit :(

So much for those title aspirations :(

Oklahoma is doomed to remaining with the reputation of one the greatest programs without a national title and no hope for one.

[Mook]

Alright, I'm way out of the loop on OU.....what the hell is happening with Lavender and McKenzie?? Why are they leaving?

[JHawkBCD]

JHawk - I may have misread your post but I don't think Kansas has any proven players. If so, who are they?

You missed my point.

It doesn't really matter that much whether the player is "proven" or not... if the talent is there and the coaching is of quality, the team can rise to the occasion. There's so much parity in D1 nowadays that it makes it totally unpredictable. Not that I'm complaining... hell, this year's tourney, despite my team's first round exit, was the most entertaining tourney I can remember. So... the point I was trying to make is that the sportswriters don't know a hell of a lot more than you or me when it comes time to rank teams, and the fact that millions of brackets lay in ruins this year like a Sri Lankan Beach Party post-tsunami is evidence of the fact.

[Mook]

Agree completely JHawk....

[RadioFan]

Of course, preseason rankings don’t mean shit in CBB because a champion is determined by both the regular season and an actual playoff, rather than votes at the end of the year.

FTFY

[indyfrisco]

Of course, preseason rankings don’t mean shit in CBB because you can go 0-30 during the regular season and win 4 games in a row in the conference tourney to get a shot at the NC.

FTFY

FTFY

[MuchoBulls]

Here's our per CBSsportsline:

South Florida
Early departures: None.

Graduating contributors: Terrence Leather, Brian Swift and Maryln Bryant were the best three players on last season's team. And last season's team went 5-11 in Conference USA.

Staff turnover: None.

Immediate outlook: The race for last place in the Big East begins with USF in pole position