Season previews
It’s a funny thing about Florida. The 2004-05 squad won 24 games, won one NCAA Tournament game and 58 percent of their offense left for the NBA.
No one thought they'd be a title contender after that. Back-to-back crowns later, shouldn't we have second thoughts about not giving this year's group a chance?
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Who’s the face of college basketball?
That’s the question posed by ESPN’s Andy Katz. Without the fab five at Florida, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Katz wonders who will be this year’s face of college basketball. It’s a far cry from two years ago when one couldn’t escape the J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison highlights.
This year the focus is on guys like Tennessee’s Chris Lofton, UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough, Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert or Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel, all preseason All-Americans and upperclassmen.
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Jeff Green never put up big stats for Georgetown last season, but everyone knew how integral the junior swingman was to the Hoyas’ Final Four run. The Big East player of the year was arguably the nation’s best defender, Georgetown’s go-to guy in the clutch and set the tone for efficient, solid play that typified a 30-7 Georgetown squad.
But was Green so good that his early departure to the NBA is scaring off supporters for another run to the Final Four?
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It's a funny thing about this year's freshman class. There may be some disagreement about the No. 1 recruit (some say USC's O.J. Mayo, others go with K-State's Michael Beasley), but there's very little disagreement about the top 5.
Whether it's Beasley or Mayo at No. 1 (take your pick between rivals.com and scout.com for that), the rest of the top 5 almost always includes Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, Indiana shooting guard Eric Gordon and UCLA center Kevin Love. Rivals has Duke's Kyle Singler ahead of Love, but that's about the only variant.
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For the moment, pardon my indulgence.
Never been the biggest fan of Big Ten basketball. Whether it was downplaying Illinois’ remarkable 2004-05 season, ignoring Michigan State’s chances to beat Duke in the 2005 NCAA Tournament or bemoaning the ACC-Big Ten Challenge each season (win some games, then!), the league has never appealed to me.
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Everyone’s got an opinion when it comes to who’s No. 1 in men’s basketball. And it’s one of those season when it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a consensus.
But after a season where Florida rolled to its second-straight NCAA Tournament title, a little variety at the top will be refreshing.
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Midnight Madness has gone the way of the summer movie. It used to be a simple thing with skits and a scrimmage. Now it takes fancy cars, fireworks and a bit of panache.
Then again, considering how much I enjoyed The Bourne Identity and Transformers, a bigger show isn’t all that bad -- especially when I think of just how excruciating Midnight Madness could be. Hanging around in the gym on a Friday night just to see an exaggerated scrimmage? Ugh. Fans could use a little entertainment.
Enter the Jerry Bruckheimer version of Midnight Madness.
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