***GWarner27's Pre-Season NCAAB Thread***

Pac 12 Tiers:
Ucla/UW/ARI-Cal-ORE/Wazzu/STAN-USC/OSU-COL/ASU-Utah

pre-season winner: Ucla

Explanation:
-The Lindy's magazine I've been using for this is either filled with drug addicts who can't get clean, or I'm way off. They have Jorge Gutierrez as Pac 12 POTY and Cal as the #11 team in the nation. Wow. I'm sorry but this team is not even guaranteed an NCAA tournament berth considering the fact they are relying upon a big with no knees to stay healthy for an entire season. Gutierrez has never proven he can do anything but defend, even when Jerome Randle and a much better team were surrounding him so how can he be the pre-season POTY?!?!?! They lost Gary Franklin to Baylor late last season and Allen Crabbe isn't exactly someone I want to trust, either. Coach Montgomery is one of the best, but I don't yet trust Smith at the point and I'm not sure Cobbs showed much in a Minnesota uniform either so how in the world will this team score if Harper Kamp goes down?
-Ucla is the top team in the group thanks to their frontcourt. They have a bunch of pros down there and they do return experience at PG despite the huge turnover numbers last season. That should improve, or Ben Howland isn't the coach I think he is, and so should the team. Their big men can play back to the basket and they can use their athleticism to get to the bucket. Froncourt depth is something every team needs in this sport, and Ucla looks like they have more than almost anyone. The wings are big question marks, but the more athletic Wear twin may start at the 3 (at 6'10"). Guard play is going to take this team to the last weekend, or knock them out in the first weekend. Hard to say what will happen, but they can't improve overnight so this may be a team that peaks late in the year.
-Lorenzo Romar will always have athleticism on his team, especially with his big people, but they look very weak inside. The backcourt will be good as always, especially if they can remain healthy, but that's a question with PG Abdul Gaddy returning from an ACL injury. Gone early is PG Isaiah Thomas, who brings pace and scoring with him, and some experienced depth in that frontcourt. Gaddy may not be fully healthy until the holidays because ACL recovery is tricky, but UW has some shooters in Ross and Suggs. They'll run all game long like always, plus Aziz N'Diaye has an extra season of organized basketball under his belt so maybe he'll learn not to foul when he's swatting shots. N'Diaye doesn't have offensive game besides the flush, but he could be a big problem for interior scorers or penetration.
-Arizona misses Derrick Williams already, even though they haven't played a game. He shot so well from the perimeter and in terms of FG%, which leaves Sean Miller with questions on who will put the ball in the basket. They lost PG Momo Jones who transferred back closer to home, but that makes it easier with a stud PG entering in freshman Josiah Turner. Hard for me to tell you about him as I'm just going off other people's information, but he's supposed to be very good. The 'Cats return depth and experience, especially in the group of 3pt shooters they return, but inside they don't have much scoring. Rebounders return and a good shot blocker in Nytaschko (sp?), but they will rely on the guards for scoring.

NIT considerations:
-Oregon has a ton of talent in the form of transfers, so I think it will take a little while for them to come together. If they do, they could be an NCAA tournament team thanks to a solid coach in Dana Altman and some high-profile movers.
-Wazzu lost a ton with Klay Thompson's graduation and DeAngelo Casto taking the rebounding with him to Turkey, but like Momo Jones leaving Arizona it will give Coach Bone the opportunity to spread out his guards into a fast-paced three-guard lineup. Inside is a huge question as everyone on the team is a perimeter player it seems.
-Stanford returns Josh Owens and a bunch of sophomores who got experience last year, but I'm not a Johnny Dawkins believer and they're not good inside.

Great stuff GW.

I haven't studied the Pac-12 too closely yet, but Washington is really going to miss Isaiah Thomas. Aside from his big shot making ability, he was the sole facilitator on that team and was responsible for running a high-efficiency offense despite the breakneck style of play. Without him, I don't think they'll be able to run up those video games scores. They have some great shooters, but who is going to get them the ball? Tony Wroten is really hyped up but will endure at least some freshman growing pains. N'Diaye is a defensive force. No more Bryan-Amaning on the offensive boards could mean difficulty getting second shots.

I could see some value on UW unders if the books don't adjust to the losses from last year's squad.

Thanks JFen

In all honesty, I think you need to take a longer look at Washington because they'll play the same way if not faster this year if it's up to Romar. There are certainly questions at the point in terms of health, but Abdul Gaddy was their PG before Isaiah took over last year when he tore his ACL. Gaddy was the distributor and was probably better at it than IT because he doesn't shoot as well, but I can certainly understand the question about whether or not he'll be healthy/stay healthy.

You're right about losing Bryan-Amaning as he took all their interior scoring with him as N'Diaye is only going to block shots and dunk, plus Gant is a perimeter player trapped in a tall body.

I would be stay away from unders with UW all year long unless they play some teams that like to play like a snail (Wisconsin) or head on the road to play someone who knows they can't beat them running like TAMU last year

SWP

I still think Washington is the team to beat in this conference. The remaining teams in the conference, IMO, match up better with UCLA than they do with Washington. I just don't believe in any of the UCLA guards.

Oregon will be an interesting team to watch, much like Iowa St. in the Big 12. With Olu Ashaolu and Tony Woods (if Altman can get him to do anything) on the interior, and Devoe Joseph transferring in at a guard spot, it'll be interesting to see how they all fit together. Throw in super-freshman Jabari Brown (who may lead this team in scoring), and a kid in Brett Kingma (outstanding shooter) who I think has a chance to be an extremely dangerous weapon, and this team will be intriguing. I'm going to stay away from them early and see how they all come together, but they might be a good team to look at as a dog come December and onward.

I know I said I'd stay away from Oregon early, but with the Festus Ezeli suspension for Vanderbilt, the dogs might be worth a look as a double-digit dog in the opener. Ashalou should have a field day inside.

*Ducks

On the subject of Cal, I agree with you. That's a team that overachieved last year, and I'll need to see it to believe it this year. Lots of question marks for me on that roster.

SEC Tiers:
UK/Vandy-MSU/UF-Ole Miss/Bama-LSU/ARK-AUB-UGA/USC/TENN

pre-season winner: Kentucky

Explanation:
-Wanted to pick Vandy as the winner, but the crowd in the Georgia Dome will make every game in the SEC tournament like it was Rupp East. Kentucky is the big bad team they've wanted to be ever since they got rid of Tubby Smith and to tell you the truth I gained a lot of respect for their fanbase after seeing how they showed up throughout Houston for last year's Final Four. They are going to have their growing pains as a young squad, but Calipari's had experience breaking in freshman PGs and he's got another good one plus a deep recruiting class behind him. It looks like the biggest recruits are the best ones, but they return Terrence Jones who is an extremely versatile "4" who needs to prove himself, imo. He's lanky and athletic, but that only gets you so far when you face guys with bulk and I'm not sure he is a good enough perimeter shooter to not work on his interior moves. That's his only question, while Doron Lamb returns with his 3pt% near a coinflip. Also have a good defender in Darius Miller picking up where DeAndre Liggins left off (what a dumb move that was).
-Vanderbilt has questions about their NCAA tournament performance as a very good team last year was bounced in the first round when they couldn't hold on to a lead. Richmond was certainly talented, but the game showed that they can't rely on John Jenkins smooth stroke for everything. He is a villain when you consider how well he shoots the ball, especially at the line, but Jeffery Taylor looks like the key to the team getting further in the tourney. He completely forgot how to shoot (and dunk) last year and it at least cost them the win @UF, but it started to affect his defense, too. Taylor is a stopper and if he can bring some offensive game that will really help C Festus Ezeli on the interior. Point guard was considered a fatal flaw going into the season, but Brad Tinsley emerged and played really well. They have depth behind Tinsley with Kyle Fuller who brings a different skillset being able to drive the ball to the hole and then Stallings added some quality freshman guards. Inside is depth even with the departure of Andre Walker, as Steve Tchiengang and Lance Goulburne return to their do-everything roles. This team will be scary good.
-Renardo Sidney is going to help MSU flourish or bring them down in flames. He is an NBA player who hasn't put it together yet, but if he does he'll be scary. Rick Stansbury sort of sold his soul to keep him in Spurrier-like fashion, but he's survived so far with it and he also has his PG back. Dee Bost will run the show after declaring for the draft and missing the deadline to stay at MSU before returning after a suspension last year. Having him for the entire year will be great for them, although they'll miss Ravern Johnson's scoring after he decided to leave the progam probably not soon enough after attacking Stansbury on twitter then receiving his own suspension. They add a transfer from UTEP in Moultrie who's a versatile 4 player that will complement Sidney inside. Their 3pt shooting is a question, considering who they lost, but they do return some role players in the backcourt. If they can keep their talent on the floor, it will be a good year. That's yet to be seen, though.
-Florida has been a darling ever since they won the back-to-back titles, but Billy Donovan has left a lot to be desired. He was dominated in the Elite 8 by Brad Stevens last year and I really blame him for keeping an extremely talented team out of the final weekend because he just didn't put it together with gameplans and poor strategy. Mike Rosario is a huge get for them, a transfer from Rutgers, but there isn't much room for him considering how deep their guards are with the addition of Fr. Bradley Beal. Their best bet is to use a four-guard lineup, but that will really hurt them on the glass and Irving Walker is too short to guard anybody. I expect their pace to be insane, which Soph. prospect Patric Young should be able to handle as he's a hybrid big, but behind him they don't have much especially when you consider two of his backups were suspended for breaking into a car. They probably make the tournament, but away from home they are very vulnerable and I will be looking to play against them a lot this year.

Bubble teams: Alabama & Ole Miss
-Bama's depth is a serious question, as is their 3pt shooting which was atrocious last year (29%) and might have been what kept them out of the tournament. They have two solid bigs who can dominate the game in JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell, but not much depth behind them. They return PG Trevor Releford, who was very impressive last year, but behind him are freshman (albeit highly-touted ones). Depth is a concern for them, so expect defense to be a serious theme again this year and Anthony Grant will slow the pace as much as he can.
-Ole Miss lost a lot, PG Chris Warren was their heart-n-soul and Graham was a very athletic wing player. They return a dominant shotblocker and a couple good forwards, plus the PG role will have some experience after Soph. Dundrecous Nelson played quite a bit last year as a freshman. Depth behind him is a serious question, but Andy Kennedy is on the hot seat based on unreasonable expectations so I expect him to be well-prepared for each game, if not overprepared.

Not sure what to make of: LSU & Arkansas
-LSU will play defense, but I'm not sure about how well they score and about their frontcourt besides Storm Warren
-Mike Anderson will run, but I don't think he has the players right now for his system despite a great recruiting class

Race for worst BCS team in the country: Georgia vs. USC vs. Tennessee

Like you said on Miss. St., they could be really good, or pretty mediocre. If Sidney's head is on right, there isn't a team in this conference that can stop the duo of him and Arnett Moultrie.

I would expect Florida to turn up the tempo as well. We could see a lot of a Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Brad Beal, Mike Rosario, Patric Young lineup. I'll be interested to see exactly what Donovan does with this group. They will struggle on the glass. Need Erik Murphy to play some big minutes for them, which I'm not convinced he can handle.

Can't blame you for the Washington thoughts, they didn't lose a ton and they can still play exactly the same just have slightly different pieces in there. I think Ucla is the best team, so I'll differ to them, but they will waste the interior players if they can't get the little guys to bring the ball down the court and not give it to the other team.

As for Oregon, I agree they're exactly like Iowa State except a better coach. Can't play them early until I watch them play together, and I'm not sure Tony Woods will be anything but a reserve for them to be completely honest

How in the hell can UF defend with that lineup? If I were the opponent I would post up Walker every play because Young can't do anything except double-team and there's no other big to help out when he leaves his man. I honestly think they're going to struggle to get stuff right and their normally weak OOC schedule actually has some quality teams with Ohio State, Arizona, Texas A&M and Syracuse all featured. Could be a rough year for Billy when you compare their expectations and how they always lose a game they shouldn't and that's without these tournament teams adding losses.


I feel like I've given MSU too many chances, but I'm back on the bandwagon yet again

It will definitely be interesting to see. Lots of offensive firepower for the Gators, and the deepest backcourt in the country, so they can run all night. But they will probably need to play some sort of a zone defense with that lineup.

and when they do, they won't be able to rebound at all.

I understand they have some good players, but I'm starting to think they're going to really struggle unless they get some big guys to play better than expectations (and to be good they probably need them to be way better).

My plan is to go through the other conferences then go through schedules to prepare for teams I want to fade based on the expectations (i.e. Florida, Cal)

I really like Alabama this year. I think Grant is a good coach and the team plays FSU-like stifling defense. I hear you about the outside shooting but they have some highly touted guards coming in. If they can provide anything from the perimeter, the Tide's defense and low post game is good enough to take the team a long way.

I agree they should play great defense and they have a great coach combined with a very talented starting frontcourt, but they are going to have serious problems with depth even with the two HTs coming in. No 3pt shooting is a serious problem at this level and I'm not sure they can get by without it

MWC Tiers:
UNM/UNLV-SDSU/CSU-WYO/AFA-TCU-BOI

pre-season winner: New Mexico

Explanation:
-I'm a serious buyer on Steve Alford's team. They have some road games on the OOC schedule that may be good spots to play them early in the year against bad BCS teams, Arizona State/Oklahoma State/USC, and they welcome a contender in the A10 to The Pit when St. Louis comes in on New Year's Eve. Losing PG Dairese Gary isn't as much as a problem as you'd think because they return a soon-to-be phenom in Kendall Williams. Williams really impressed me as the go-to-guy for UNM as a freshman on the road @Dayton when I had the Flyers because he did everything to keep his team in the game. He is lightning quick and can shoot the three ball, while Ucla transfer Drew Gordon will own the interior. Gordon missed a lot of the season last year as a late transfer, but when he got in the game he was impressive and looked like the player Ben Howland expected him to be. Along with Gordon, the Lobos have size and return two veteran role players to play the off-guard and center positions while a scorer from Australia enters the program as a freshman. A big transfer from ASU named Demetrius Walker will be in to play the wing and this is definitely the SDSU from last year.
-A new coach heads to UNLV from BYU of all places, but Dave Rice is a Rebels alum. Rice wants to up the tempo and maintain the defensive intensity Lon Kruger taught before he left for Norman. A great shooter returns in Ucla transfer Chase Stanback who should be reinstated despite an offseason DUI charge. Problem for the Rebels is that Stanback is their only real shooter, while their other players are complimentary at best. UNLV returns experience and a lot of big bodies, but I think scoring will be a real problem if they are forced to play a half-court game. Trips are scheduled to Wisconsin and Illinois (a rematch from the tournament last year), while the Rebs welcome Cal and USC to Vegas so they are in much better shape than UNM even if they lose the road games. Could definitely see myself on the Rebs when Cal comes to town.

Bubble teams: San Diego State & COlorado State
-SDSU is a shell of their former selves losing PG, SF, PF, C and key reserves. They return a defensive-minded SG in Chase Tapley and an awesome 3pt shooter in James Rahon so they should be all-set with the deep shots. Their frontcourt is far weaker than last year with only Tim Shelon returning, who should put up some good numbers with more playing time, so expect them to play quicker and they have a deep backcourt to do it.
-CSU loses their best player from last year and I'm not sure how they can replace him. Their coach really impressed me last year with an awesome decision to play the 2-3 zone against Southern Miss to steal a tournament game, then did the same thing and took SDSU to the wire in conference play. He should be able to get the most out of his guys, just not sure there's much there.

a top 25 attempt (so far):
1) UNC
2) Ohio St
3) Kentucky
4) Duke
5) UConn
6) Vanderbilt
7) Syracuse
8) Michigan
9) Pittsburgh
10) Louisville
11) Wisconsin
12) Ucla
13) Mizzou
14) New Mexico
15) Marquette
16) Cincinnati
17) Washington
18) Baylor
19) Clemson
20) Arizona
21) West Virginia
22) Mississippi State
23) UNLV
24) Alabama
25) California

I haven't done a ton of preseason research, but I have to give my thoughts on the two teams I follow the most.

I have to respectfully disagree on Wisconsin being #11.  They lack depth.  After Taylor, Gasser, and Bruesewitz, I don't see much scoring.  Berggren showed flashes, but he'll struggle to be the main guy down low this year.  I'd put them towards the bottom of the top 25.  I see them winning 11-12 Big Ten games this season because the conference is down. 

Also, I think Xavier deserves to be in the top 25.  Holloway and Lyons are a great back court.  Even though Lyons is inconsistent, sloppy, and can't shoot, they'll fill it up this season.  Frease being suspended is a huge concern, but they have a solid group of freshmen and transfers.  I see them pushing for a 3-5 seed even though they'll suffer a few losses with their tough non-conference schedule.

NCAAB is almost here

A10 Tiers:
XAV/TEM-SLU/CHA/DAY/GW-RICH/BON/UMass/DUQ-SJU-URI-LaS/FORD
 
pre-season winner: Xavier
 
Explanation:
-Not a ton of separation here, honestly this may be one of the most convoluted conferences I've ever seen hence the eight teams in the the two tiers just below the top. Going to be very difficult to see how 3-10 shake out until the season ends. The top two teams are very impressive for a non-BCS conference, so let's start with the best team.
-Xavier got a bid but left without a win in the NCAA tournament last year and were never really in the game thanks to some great play by Marquette. A little blip on the pre-season radar was the suspension of C Kenny Frease, who is very important to everything XU does especially with Jamel McLean's graduation. Frease has an impressive offensive game that has developed in his three years at school, but I expect him to be back by the time the crucial games start (game 5 is @Vandy). The Musketeers backcourt should be great with two solid scorers returning in Mark Lyons and Tu Holloway. Vandy transfer Andre Walker joins the practice squad, and ultra-athletic big guy Jeff Robinson can move into the starting rotation. Lights out 3pt shooter Brad Redford returns from a knee injury and this team should be able to win a few games in the tournament.
-Fran Dunphy's team almost knocked off an extremely talented SDSU team in the second round of the tournament. G Juan Fernandez played unevenly throughout the year and was a contributing factor to the Owls only receiving a 7-seed, but Michael Eric's knee injury hurt their cause, too. Eric's knee should be healed, but the team loses Lavoy Allen who was a really good player for TU. The athletic wings are back in Wyatt, Jefferson and Randall, so expect the squad to make the tournament again and be a factor with their slow pace and tough defense.

Bubble teams:
-SLU will need to get hot early to start getting the notoriety to seriously be in the race. They host Washington, go to BC and New Mexico and then have the conference play to make a name for themselves. BC is probably a win, but they need to make sure they can gel quickly because any bad losses will sting them extra hard. Returning off suspension is Kwamain Mitchell and they had to learn how to play without him last year so that should help. Their pace will be slow and they play good defense so a step up in offensive efficiency will be huge.

Postseason:
-Charlotte has depth problems in their frontcourt, but they return two speedy guards and their horse Braswell in the middle.
-Brian Gregory left Dayton for a project in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, so who knows about the new guy. His roster lost their best player in Chris Wright, plus the talented freshman PG Juwan Staten fled to WVU. Role-playing size returns, but not much in the guard area.
-GW returns a ton, but they've underachieved for years.
-Chris Mooney stayed at Richmond to build again, I guess. He lost a ton from last year's team and should have taken the job at Miami, but instead he's got to start over after losing his top 3 scorers and returns only four guys I remember.

Surprise team: St. Bonaventure
-It's been a while since the team quit the season after their coach was fired with a few games left, but now the Bonnies have the most talented big in the conference who can score in the interior. Besides the top two, I'm not sure who has a guy who can stop him for 40 minutes. They will be using a new PG, but 3 other starters besides stud F Andrew Nicholson return. They should have a better year than we're used to...

I totally agree about New Mexico this year. I'm looking to be on them early and often. I think the Lobos are the team to watch in the MWC. Looking to play them out of conference if the lines are favorable.

You and I are the same page a lot. The Bonnies are in my neck of the woods and they will be one of the most profitable teams to bet on this season. The general public doesn't know a lot about them but St. Bonaventure is a team on the rise for sure.

you are probably right, as soon as I posted the top25 I thought to myself how ridiculous it was and I won't be doing that again. It doesn't really matter to be honest with you, was actually going to post conference strengths but it's impossible because I'd just be ranking them based on the cream of the conference rather than the entire body of it.

Bergren will have to adjust to being the guy inside and you're right that may be hard for him, but man did he look polished last year.

Totally agree on Xavier, the top 25 was done with teams I had looked at so far so believe me I didn't forget them

C-USA Tiers:
MEM-MAR-UCF-SMU/Tulsa/SoMS/UAB-Rice/Utep/ECU-Tulane-HOU

pre-season winner: Memphis

Explanation:
-Not sure I'm confident on where I have SMU, but I know Matt Doherty is excited for this team and wants to push the pace. He's got a talented scorer coming back to his frontcourt where the 'Stangs lost a talented defender and look like they'll struggle to replace him. A good PG returns and may move to SG to make room for a PG transfer, but at least he can go back to the 1 position if things don't work out.
-Josh Pastner looks like he's built Memphis back to where Coach Cal had them, almost. They have too much youth to be a legitimate title contender, but they have one of the deepest backcourts in the country (think Louisville) that can do everything. They'll be able to shoot from deep with a bunch of different guys and their depth is great. Frontcourt isn't really a weakness but it looks like the easiest thing to pick on Memphis for besides youth. Adonal Thomas is supposed to be great, but I'd like to watch him and Tariq Black before I anoint their FC despite having the talent and expectations to be very good.
-Marshall looks good on paper returning three guys in the backcourt who played a ton of minutes. Problems would be a lack of perimeter shooting from these guys and the team as only one wing looks like he can shoot the rock, plus their frontcourt will be very new (and transfer reliant) besides one good defender who returns.
-Central Florida had the biggest collapse of anyone last year from pre-season darling to disaster in conference. Not sure why that happened, maybe the turnovers, but they return Michael Jordan's son Marcus at the 2 and other son Jeff is eligible and can help as a back-up PG. AJ Rompza will start and have the ball in his hands a lot, which is good because he can score well, too. They have a big guy who can do everything back, but a lot of transfers will fill in behind him up front and that's never easy to predict.

Postseason possibilities:
-The Lindy's magazine was very impressed with Tulsa considering they return a lot of their talent, but they need to break in a new PG and have health concerns. Should be able to shoot the ball well and have size combined with depth.
-Shocked to see Southern Miss not do anything with such a good player in Gary Flowers last year, but it just didn't work. Eustachy knows how to coach/build a program and should have success with the size he returns along with his PG. Should be able to score inside, too, I just think the adjustment to not having Flowers to bail them out is going to hurt a lot.
-UAB is here based on their coach and recent success. Lost a ton and have a very young/new team besides PG and one big.

Best player on a bad team: Arsalan Kazemi (Rice)
-All he does is get double-doubles but he doesn't have much help. Ben Braun was forced out at Cal and came to Rice to restart himself, but they haven't improved like I expected. Kazemi is great and has another year left if he doesn't jump to the NBA this year, but behind him isn't much. They return a good PG and have a perimeter shooting big, but besides that they're not a good team. He may be able to carry them quite a bit, but the guy needs help.

MVC Tiers:
CRE-WSU/IndSt-EVAN-Drake-MizzSt/UNI-SIU/BRAD-ILLSt

pre-season champion: Creighton

Explanation:
-A lot has been made of this Creighton Jays team who has a soft OOC schedule and a question mark at coach. I say McDermott is a question mark because he didn't have much success at Iowa State despite some good talent on the team, but the best thing he did is bring his son to play for him. McDermott played well by all accounts in the offseason for team USA and so did the Rutgers transfer Echenique (with the Venezuelan team), so they offer a solid base in addition to returning their PG. They look like they are deep in the backcourt and have those two studs in the frontcourt (McDermott too tall to be considered a guard), but behind their bigs isn't much depth. That's probably the only thing you can really get on them for, and they do have a solid shooter returning up front but he's had injury problems and I'm not sure he's okay to be counted on if any of the starters go down.
-Wichita State has been sort of left to die considering all the press Creighton has gotten despite finishing the year with as much momentum as anyone besides UConn. The Shockers won the NIT and return all of their backcourt, plus they have size and a talented big guy returning even if they lost a lot up front. This seems like a team that can compete with the Jays and don't look like they're getting much love so I would expect Gregg Marshall to use that until they get it. Their home court is a huge advantage as well.

Postseason: Indiana State & Evansville
-ISU made the NCAA tournament last year, but I don't see a weaker conference like this getting three teams barring some unforeseen success by the two above the Sycamores then ISU winning the tourney. They have a really good backcourt as well, returning their PG and some talent at the 2 and the 3 including a great shooter, but their frontcourt is small and looks like they will be the team's achilles heel. Not a good matchup with WSU's height or Creighton's starters.
-Evansville has been making progress and did have a huge win over the national runner-up last year, plus they open the season with a home game against that same Butler team in their new gym. The new gym should keep people excited for a team that went from the basement to the middle of the conference and is now looking to get to the postseason although it's doubtful they'll be in the Big Dance. I think they'll be a CBI or lower tournament team based on the fact that they return 8 of their top 11 guys but don't look great inside and have to replace their PG.

GWarner

tommy


Putting a top 25 up was stupid and I shouldn't have done it. I think you're right, Morris was so crucial to that team and it will take them a while to patch up where he left. Don't hold it against me, ha