For the next five days, I?ll be covering five college basketball teams a day. The rankings are based on the Preseason AP Poll that was released on November 6th. Fans can get their preseason fix with several notable tournaments this weekend, including the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
15. Boston College Eagles: I was on record last March jocking a potential deep postseason run by the Eagles. I watched them during the ACC Tournament and came away very impressed. Unfortunately, they had to run into Villanova in the Sweet 16, another team I was a fan of. BC lost that game by a point on overtime and also lost their best player in the offseason. Craig Smith averaged nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds a game but he’s not playing for the Timberwolves. This is now Jared Dudley’s team. Dudley can potentially score about 20 points a game and fill the void left by Smith. Another player to watch is senior Sean Marshall, who, to quote the annoying Dick Vitale, “can flat out shoot the trifecta.” Despite a lack of big names besides Dudley, this is a great team that plays well together. They’re well coached by Al Skinner and won 28 games last year.
14. Memphis: The best news all offseason was that coach John Capliari is staying put. The bad news is the Tigers lost Rodney Carney, Shawne Williams, and Darius Washington, three players that combined for 43 points a night. They may not be a #1 seed again or advance into the Elite Eight again, but they should be the powerhouse in Conference USA again. Memphis does have a trio of talented sophomores in Chris Douglas Roberts, Antonio Anderson, and Robert Dozier. I think they’re a bit overrated in this poll, they should probably be in the 20s somewhere. I wouldn’t expect this team to win 33 games again but Capliari is going to keep them at the top of Conference USA.
13. Texas A&M: Suddenly, Texas A&M may be becoming a basketball school. Last year’s phenomenal run should create tons of momentum for this season. They ended the Gerry McNamara era at Syracuse, which I have to applaud because the hype had grown and I was getting sick of it. The Aggies didn’t have any huge losses in the summer so they return the same team that nearly beat LSU, a team that made the Final 4. A&M has what you often need to be a great team: a great big man and a great guard. Acie Law scored 16 points a game last year and is a senior leader for A&M. Then there’s Joseph Jones, a guy that also scored over 15 a game. These two will keep teams honest. Another name to watch is Josh Carter, a sophomore guard. This is a team that went to its first NCAA Tournament in 19 years last season. I expect a deeper run this year and then I expect the Aggies to be fighting teams off for the services of their coach, Billy Gillespie.
12. Duke: The Reddick era is over in Durham. So is the Shelden Williams era. And the Sean Dockery era. And the Lee Melchionni era. The effort to rebuild/reload took an even bigger hit when Greg Paulus went down with an injury to his foot. He’s out indefinitely. Duke had a typical great recruiting class and guys like Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer could have an immediate impact. Duke doesn’t have any seniors so if any year is a rebuilding year, this could be it. I don’t think Duke is as good as North Carolina or Boston College. But knowing that, Coach K will build this team into a 1 or 2 seed.
11. Alabama: Apparently, the SEC has become a college basketball powerhouse. There was always Kentucky and Florida, but now there’s LSU and Tennessee. And don’t forget Alabama. They went down in the 2nd round of the tournament…to UCLA… by three points. You might want to watch out for point guard Ronald Steele (above), he’s one of the best in the nation. He chose to stay at Alabama and out of a 2006 NBA Draft Class that included point guards like Jordan Farmar, Dee Brown, Kyle Lowry, Rajon Rondo, and Marcus Williams. JeMareo Davidson gives the Tide a very nice inside presence, as does Richard Hendrix. Bama is going to miss Chuck Davis, who couldn’t get a medical redshirt after sustaining a knee injury. But Alabama played the grueling SEC regular season and postseason without him. They should advance into the Sweet 16 and beyond if Steele, Davidson, and Hendrix are healthy.
