College Basketball 2007-2008

[Butterscup1679666578]

Iowa Hawkeyes-Big Ten

 

We will suck.

 

Although now that Alford's gone people might actually go to the games.

 

Pretty much nailed that.

 

Yep.

 

Keys to success: The rest of the Big Ten has to get riddled with injuries.

 

it's wrestling season

 

Hell yes.

[apete6]

DePaul Blue Demons--Big East

 

Last Year: Very disappointing. Should have made the NCAA tourney, but advanced to quarterfinals of NIT, losing @ Air Force by 1 point and missing out on a trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT final 4.

 

Key Losses: Wilson Chandler (1st round pick, NY Knicks), Sammy Mejia (2nd round pick, Detroit Pistons), Marcus Heard (Europe)

 

Key Additions: Mac Koshwal (6'10" PF), Dar Tucker (6'4" SG/SF) Matija Poscic (6'11" C)

 

Best Returning Player: Draelon Burns (6'5" SG). Deadly 3 point and FT shooter with unlimited range...and poor shot selection. Should lead team in scoring and chest bumps. Could average over 15PPG and capable of several 25+ point efforts when he's on fire.

 

x-Factor: Wesley Green (6'10", 285lb Sr. center). After fighting injuries and weight problems, Green will have a chance to salvage his disappointing career at DePaul (top 50 recruit out of HS)

 

Projected Starters: Will Walker, Draelon Burns, Karron Clarke, Mac Koshwal, Wesley Green

 

Projected Finish: 17-13 Reg Season, 10th in Big East (out of 16), NIT berth

 

If the Demons want to make the NCAAs:

Burns needs to be huge and make good decisions on his shot selection. One of the "point guards by committee" has to step up and make good decisions distributing the ball. Wes Green needs to be a low post presence on offense and defense. Freshmen and juco transfers need to live up to their Top 15 recruiting class billing. Coach Wainwright needs to get the team off to a good start following 2 consecutive years in which the team has suffered NCAA-crippling losses in the first month of the season.

 

If the Demons want to actually make noise in the NCAAs:

Mac Koshwal has to be THE MAN. According to scouts, Mac could be one of the DePaul greats...or he could follow Wilson Chandler and Quentin Richardson in the "2 years in college group" that make a bigger impact on the NBA than in college.

[Andy]

Ball State plays, incredibly, six games out of conference more difficult than, in my estimation, the best non-league game other than Kansas State that Notre Dame has.

 

Butler

Georgetown

@Valparaiso

@Purdue

@Indiana State

Illinois State

 

Stupid Kevin White.

[salukifudd]

SIU. Regular season MVC champions, 29-7 record, and 4 points away from an Elite 8 berth. We are predicted to win the Valley again this year and many publications have us in the top 25 (around the 21-25 area). We also lost two of our best players in Jamaal Tatum and Tony Young. Best players on this years team are Randal Falker (who should win MVC Player of the Year), Matt Shaw, and Brian Mullins.

 

Our frontcourt is going to carry us this year with Falker and Shaw starting and freshman Carlton Fay coming off the bench. I'm very excited about this years team. College Gameday is going to be here January 26th for our tilt against Creighton. And we have OOC games against Indiana and Butler at home. Regular season opener is November 17th against NIU.

 

Go Salukis!

[salukifudd]

INDIANA! 3rd in BigTen last year. Eliminated in 2nd round of NCAAs against the eventual Final 4 UCLA Bruins. This year, return 5 players who started games from last year's team. DJ White a year further removed from 2 broken feet. Bring in a top 3 recruit in the nation. Bring in a top 3 JUCO transfer. 2 potential 1st team All-Americans. Top 10 team in the country. Picked to finish 2nd the BigTen. One of the easier schedules in recent school history. Potential Final 4 team if it all comes together quickly, especially on the defensive end.

 

The game at SIU Arena is going to be a good one, do your best to watch it.

[fiver]

INDIANA! 3rd in BigTen last year. Eliminated in 2nd round of NCAAs against the eventual Final 4 UCLA Bruins. This year, return 5 players who started games from last year's team. DJ White a year further removed from 2 broken feet. Bring in a top 3 recruit in the nation. Bring in a top 3 JUCO transfer. 2 potential 1st team All-Americans. Top 10 team in the country. Picked to finish 2nd the BigTen. One of the easier schedules in recent school history. Potential Final 4 team if it all comes together quickly, especially on the defensive end.

 

well said, excellent post...

[Warpticon]

arkansas. returning all players from last year,s team. sec freshman of the year patrick beverley returns after a brilliant run in the under-19 tourney. seen senios make this a top-heavy class, and that,s a big reason the razorbacks are favored to win the sec east. the talent is certainly there; whether they make it that far depends on how much more pelphrey can get out of them than stan heath did.

[/i]

[Guest]

UCLA:

 

Expected starting lineup:

 

5 Lorenzo Mata-Real SR | 6'9 | Huntington Park, CA

4 Kevin Love FR | 6'10 | Lake Oswego, OR

3 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute JR | 6'7 | Yaounde, Cameroon

2 Josh Shipp JR | 6'5 | Los Angeles, CA

1 Darren Collison JR | 6'0 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA

 

Key Backups:

 

G Mike Roll JR

F Alfred Aboya JR

F Nikola Dragovic SO

F James Keefe SO

G Russell Westbrook SO

 

A likely preseason top 5 team, UCLA will finally have a strong inside presence during the Ben Howland era to go along with their strong guard play. Love, Mbah a Moute and Shipp will have to take over Arron Afflalo's scoring load and you have to think their chances of winning an NC look better with Brewer, Horford and Noah now in the NBA. I will be disappointed if they don't make their third straight Final Four.

 

Key loss: G Arron Afflalo to the NBA. Incoming freshmen: F-C Kevin Love (Lake Oswego, OR, Scout 5 stars) and F Chace Sanback (Los Angeles, CA, Scout 4 stars).

 

P.S. UCLA is neck and neck with Florida for the best recruiting class in 2008. :)

[E.J.]

Michigan

 

 

 

projected starting five:

 

Jerret Smith, Junior, Guard, 5.7 points per game

 

Manny Harris, Freshman, Guard, DNP last season

 

Ron Coleman, Senior, Guard, 5.7 points per game

 

DeShawn Sims, Sophomore, Forward, 3.4 points per game

 

Ekpe Udoh, Sophomore, Forward, 5.0 points per game

 

 

 

 

Michigan will be lucky to make it to the NIT this year. I don't expect much at all from them, but I am looking forward to seeing what John Beilein can do as the new head coach. Anything is better than Amaker.

[illiniguy]

DePaul. Haven't heard much, but losing Mejia and Richardson can't help

 

how about PENN STATE??? are YOU in?

 

Nittany Lion Basketball: We have JuCo Transfers!

 

Nittany Lion Basketball: Hey we play good teams like Illinois and Ohio State! Come see their talented players!

 

And this is the nicest thing that will be said about U of I basketball in this thread over the next couple of months. At which point some IU fan will get under illiniguy's collar and he'll go off and we'll all have as much fun with IU/UI as we did last year.

 

And you forgot Wilson Chandler Derwood. DePaul's gonna be in a world of hurt :(

 

I think Illinois squeaks into the tourney again. (God help me I've got us 22-9 heading into the BTT) It'd be nice to not choke away a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left this time.

 

There will be a bunch of hype surrounding the UI/Mizzou game on here. Missouri will be undefeated at the time and talking about how they'll finally snap the streak against a 3 loss Illini team. Illinois will up it's winning streak against Mizzou to 48 consecutive games.

 

UI/IU #1 will be overexposed before their first matchup in Bloomington. Gordon will score 28 and IU wins by 11. IU fans around here get real obnoxious.

 

IU/UI #2 will be overexposed before their 2nd matchup in Champaign. Chester Frazier holds Gordon to 13. Orange Krush plays their cell phone ringtones at every IU free throw, Gordon is booed every time he touches the ball. Illinois wins by 6. UI fans around here get real obnoxious.

 

Shaun Pruitt is 1st team all Big 10.

Randle 2nd team.

Frazier 3rd.

 

The Big 10 is wayyy down this year. You've got 4 at the top(OSU, MSU, IU, Wisky) 2 question marks in the middle (UI, PU), some teams that need a year(Minnesota, UM, PSU??), and dreck(Iowa, NU)

 

I think the Big 10 gets 5 teams, and I think we're better than Purdue, to the point that we could slide in to the 4 spot.

 

Oh and every talking head will talk about what a down year it is for the big 10 for the 19th consecutive season. At least one team will again make the Final 4, and it won't be IU.

I am gonna try and not go off. I figure that lasts till about the 4th game of the season. I am very anxious to see Illinois play this year. Sadly I have comcast so I won't get most of their games. MIKE TISDALE.

[SouthSideRyan]

I too will have the pleasure of missing most of U of I's games due to BTN/Comcast. The recruiting gets from the past 2 weeks have me excited again after I was way down on things. I really think Frazier and Randle will be much improved this year. I'm counting on DMac to add some scoring, cause we're gonna struggle to break 60 without him and Alexander adding some offensive punch.

[Guest]

What is up with you guys and not getting BTN? That it has gone through a full CFB schedule and still not shown up for a majority of Midwesterners w/o satellite is awful.

[Jon]

Thanks to the BTN, all but 3 of Northwestern's games will be on TV. I love it. Of course, we'll probably be without Kevin Coble for a while...

 

Plus all games on the BTN starting this week will be broadcast in HD.

[rawaction]

UCLA:

 

Expected starting lineup:

 

5 Lorenzo Mata-Real SR | 6'9 | Huntington Park, CA

4 Kevin Love FR | 6'10 | Lake Oswego, OR

3 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute JR | 6'7 | Yaounde, Cameroon

2 Josh Shipp JR | 6'5 | Los Angeles, CA

1 Darren Collison JR | 6'0 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA

 

Key Backups:

 

G Mike Roll JR

F Alfred Aboya JR

F James Keefe JR

F Nikola Dragovic SO

G Russell Westbrook SO

 

A likely preseason top 5 team, UCLA will finally have a strong inside presence during the Ben Howland era to go along with their strong guard play. Love, Mbah a Moute and Shipp will have to take over Arron Afflalo's scoring load and you have to think their chances of winning an NC look better with Brewer, Horford and Noah now in the NBA. I will be disappointed if they don't make their third straight Final Four.

 

Key loss: G Arron Afflalo to the NBA. Incoming freshmen: F-C Kevin Love (Lake Oswego, OR, Scout 5 stars) and F Chace Sanback (Los Angeles, CA, Scout 4 stars).

 

P.S. UCLA is neck and neck with Florida for the best recruiting class in 2008. :)

 

Best team in the nation, IMO.

[rawaction]

INDIANA! 3rd in BigTen last year. Eliminated in 2nd round of NCAAs against the eventual Final 4 UCLA Bruins. This year, return 5 players who started games from last year's team. DJ White a year further removed from 2 broken feet. Bring in a top 3 recruit in the nation. Bring in a top 3 JUCO transfer. 2 potential 1st team All-Americans. Top 10 team in the country. Picked to finish 2nd the BigTen. One of the easier schedules in recent school history. Potential Final 4 team if it all comes together quickly, especially on the defensive end.

 

well said, excellent post...

 

Taking a page out of CRs book.

 

My projected starting lineup:

 

F/C- DJ White- 6'9 Senior

F- Lance Stemler- 6'8 Senior

G/F- Jamarcus Ellis- 6'5 Junior (JC Transfer)

G- Eric Gordon- 6'4 Freshman

G- Armon Bassett- 6'2 Sophomore

 

Key bench players:

 

G AJ Ratliff- 6'3" Senior

F Mike White- 6'6 Senior

F DeAndre Thomas- 6'8, 300lb Junior (JC Transfer)

G Jordan Crawford- 6'4 Freshman

 

Key losses: Roderick Wilmont (12.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG), Earl Calloway (9.6 PPG, 4.3 APG).

[Guest]

Best team in the nation, IMO.

 

I think and hope so, raw. Gotta win it all this year because I figure the whole starting lineup will be in the NBA next year and while the 08 class is probably the best ever in UCLA history, I'm not confident in a team with 4 freshmen starting.

[Magnetic Curses]

i think the illini are still in the upper echelon of the Big Ten. weber's a good enough coach to take a bunch of defensive minded players into the tourney.

 

but dmac, semrau, and tisdale better be able to fill it up, because we can't score.

[hawkeyecub]

I'm pumped about Lickliter. Can't wait for the season, even without expectations.

 

I think they'll be around .500 because of an extremely weak non-conference schedule. It will be nice to see an actual system and a team that takes care of the basketball.

[CubColtPacer]

INDIANA! 3rd in BigTen last year. Eliminated in 2nd round of NCAAs against the eventual Final 4 UCLA Bruins. This year, return 5 players who started games from last year's team. DJ White a year further removed from 2 broken feet. Bring in a top 3 recruit in the nation. Bring in a top 3 JUCO transfer. 2 potential 1st team All-Americans. Top 10 team in the country. Picked to finish 2nd the BigTen. One of the easier schedules in recent school history. Potential Final 4 team if it all comes together quickly, especially on the defensive end.

 

well said, excellent post...

 

Taking a page out of CRs book.

 

My projected starting lineup:

 

F/C- DJ White- 6'9 Senior

F- Lance Stemler- 6'8 Senior

G/F- Jamarcus Ellis- 6'5 Junior (JC Transfer)

G- Eric Gordon- 6'4 Freshman

G- Armon Bassett- 6'2 Sophomore

 

Key bench players:

 

G AJ Ratliff- 6'3" Senior

F Mike White- 6'6 Senior

F DeAndre Thomas- 6'8, 300lb Junior (JC Transfer)

G Jordan Crawford- 6'4 Freshman

 

Key losses: Roderick Wilmont (12.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG), Earl Calloway (9.6 PPG, 4.3 APG).

 

The only thing I will say to that is that Holman will almost certainly be getting more critical minutes than Mike White by the middle of the season. Crawford, Ratliff, and Holman will probably be the big 3 bench players for IU this season, with Thomas and Mcghee playing some and White struggling to get into the rotation.

[rawaction]

 

The only thing I will say to that is that Holman will almost certainly be getting more critical minutes than Mike White by the middle of the season. Crawford, Ratliff, and Holman will probably be the big 3 bench players for IU this season, with Thomas and Mcghee playing some and White struggling to get into the rotation.

 

Ya think? I think Mike White's experience from last season will help him get playing time to start the year, and if he performs, he will stay in the rotation. Holman is so raw right now. I really hope he contributes big time (wingspan is amazing), but I'd imagine at best, he'd get 4-5 minutes/game with possibly more if DJ is in severe foul trouble. I think McGhee will redshirt. He's scrawny and IU has a lot of talent in his spots (2G, SF).

[SouthSideRyan]

UCLA will lose like 2 games all (regular) season.

[Guest]

ESPN/USA Today Poll:

Rank  Team                 Record  Pts
 1.  North Carolina (10)  0-0     739
 2.  UCLA (12)            0-0     734
 3.  Memphis (8)          0-0     731
 4.  Kansas (1)           0-0     669
 5.  Georgetown           0-0     625
 6.  Louisville           0-0     620
 7.  Tennessee            0-0     598
 8.  Michigan State       0-0     503
 9.  Indiana              0-0     479
10.  Washington State     0-0     464
11.  Duke                 0-0     390
12.  Marquette            0-0     381
13.  Oregon               0-0     360
14.  Gonzaga              0-0     252
14.  Texas A&M            0-0     252
16.  Texas                0-0     216
17.  Arizona              0-0     205
18.  USC                  0-0     189
19.  Arkansas             0-0     173
20.  Pittsburgh           0-0     160
21.  Stanford             0-0     158
22.  Kentucky             0-0     155
23.  Southern Illinois    0-0     137
24.  North Carolina State 0-0     119
25.  Villanova            0-0     111
Others Recieving Votes: Kansas State 94, Syracuse 69, Ohio State 65, Clemson 56, Connecticut 55, Butler 42, Davidson 39, Xavier 38, Alabama 31, Mississippi State 30, Florida 26, Wisconsin 21, Illinois 16, Washington 12, Brigham Young 12, Nevada 8, Bradley 7, Virginia 7, Virginia Commonwealth 5, Utah 4, Baylor 3, Old Dominion 3, Saint Joseph's 3, Fresno State 2, George Mason 2, Utah State 2, Notre Dame 1, California 1, Maryland 1.

[SouthSideRyan]

Coaches that get polled are usually idiots, but I'm feeling more optimistic seeing those rankings.

[UK1679666180]

I'm excited about UK basketball again, Gillespie should inject some life into the program and has done well with recruiting so far, he signed Patterson and Legion at the last minute and has 2 good recruits for '08.

 

I'm looking forward to some uptempo basketball again.

[Brian]

the marketing geniuses at my school came up with this gem

 

http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/ilch/graphics/melafusic-splash2.jpg

 

since not very many people care enough to even go to games, they didn't even bother with midnight madness and came up with this bad boy (MELAFUSIC = UIC FLAMES !!)