College Basketball Top 20 for 2008-2009
College Basketball November 10th. 2008, 3:30pmHow we think they’ll end up in the rankings. We really, really like Stephen Curry, but we don’t smell another insane run like last year, which is why we opted for this video as a lead-in to the rankings.
1. Connecticut. Just a guess, but Thabeet has a monster year, and is taken No. 1 overall by the Thunder.
2. North Carolina. Will Green, Ellington and Lawson focus more on improving their NBA stock?
3. Pittsburgh. Only injuries slowed them last year.
4. UCLA. Imagine if the Final Four title-less drought reached four?
5. Gonzaga. Fall for this trap every damn time.
6. Louisville. Still don’t trust Sosa at PG, and still seem a bit selfish offensively.
7. Michigan State. Should only lose to Purdue in the Big 10.
8. Florida. Cautiously optimistic despite lack of interior scoring.
9. Oklahoma. Bandwagon will be full by February.
10. Arizona State. Lack of interior depth and talent is why we didn’t pick the Sun Devils to get to the F4.
11. Notre Dame. Har-ran-gody, clap, clap, clap- clap-clap.
12. Georgetown. Might lose one or two games in the sorry Big 10; in the Big East, 5-6 losses is likely.
13. Wake Forest. Higher if the offense shows more explosiveness.
14. Villanova. Scottie Reynolds’ junior year will closely resemble his awesome freshman one.
15. USC. Athletic and terribly fun to watch.
16. Tennessee. Everyone’s underestimating the loss of Lofton.
17. Purdue. Shouldn’t lose more than three league games.
18. Memphis. Not buying it the hype.
19. Texas. Everyone’s underestimating the Augustin loss.
20. Duke. So will Greg Paulus start at PG tonight against Presbyterian?
Other random picks from around the web: Rush the Court has Louisville over UNC in the final. Gary Parrish of CBS Sports has UNC, Louisville, Connecticut and UCLA as the No. 1 seeds. Jeff Goodman at Fox has UNC No. 1. Andy Katz of ESPN has Michigan State. No. 4, sort of shattering our “Final Four sleeper” pick earlier today. The only surprise at SI.com is that Purdue is No. 5.
55 Responses to “College Basketball Top 20 for 2008-2009”
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November 10th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
i sure hope not, and THEN it will be official!
again, davidson, not making the tourney
November 10th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
not this guy. you’re forgetting that the Vols lost Jujuan Smith, too.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
lost Derrick Rose; gained Tyreke Evans.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Where is Miami TBL?
November 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
We really, really like Stephen Curry, but we don’t smell another insane run like last year, which is why we opted for this video as a lead-in to the rankings.
Didn’t you have Davidson in your Final 4?
November 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I can’t find the Hoosiers
November 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Shouldn’t Maryland be #6?
/On drugs.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Never mind. I’m an idiot.
–
November 10th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
is there going to be a PM Roundup today?
November 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
“10. Arizona State. HERB SENDEK is why we didn’t pick the Sun Devils to get to the SWEET 16.”
/fixed
November 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
avoid espn.com if you dont want to be inundated with unc crap. captain white supremacy is becoming the favre of basketball
November 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Sendek is a fucking joke. Couldn’t handle the ACC, that pussy. Julius Hodge made him look good for 4 years.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
11. Notre Dame. Har-ran-gody, clap, clap, clap- clap-clap.
His fat retarded ass is overrated.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
You have to be kidding!! Duke at #20. They are way better than that. Gonzaga and Wake are both ranked way to high.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Not this year – still too young – but next year look for Southern Illinois to return to the Sweet 16, and possibly the Elite 8. Two more years, maybe, and Chris Lowery will bolt for a top-20 job.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
so im counting two NIT teams from last year in your top ten. am i missing any?
November 10th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
that’s ok. you underrated tx football team for 1/2 the season also. keep reading those nyc newspapers.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
…says commenter “Coach K”
November 10th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Coach K is right, Wake will be much improved from their promise in last year’s 2nd half, but not that improved.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
obviously you haven’t seen how we play at Wisconsin.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
And I’m calling shenanigans on Thabeet having a monster season. He’ll get bitched down low by anybody with a single muscle in their body. He can block shots, that’s it.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
seriously though. singler pulled a dunleavy. he put on 25 pounds of muscle and got into great shape so he can actually play well the last ten minutes of a game. i would not discount him from taking acc player of the year honors especially if CWS is hurt for the start of the year when you get to pad stats.
they actually have bodies down low now and even if they arent great they have enough of them to rotate and keep them fresh and spread out fouls. but the prospect of the plumlee twins next year is exciting as hell.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
that’s ok. you underrated tx football team for 1/2 the season also. keep reading those nyc newspapers. shawn
East coast bias isn’t only reserved for MSM.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
@bsanders. Same deal with Arkansas this year. We lost something like 92% of our scoring from last year so we are young as hell, but got some stud freshman this year. Going to be better than expected this year, but the next two we will be balling.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
all that east coast bias putting oklahoma, ucla, gonzaga, and asu in the top ten
November 10th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Holliday’s going to the A’s? That sucks.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Too high: UConn, Florida, Tennessee, Texas
Too low: Louisville (doesn’t matter who their point guard is as long as they have guys who can shoot, and they do), USC (they were way more than Mayo last year), and sadly… Duke (Nolan Smith will be starting)
November 10th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Despite my hatred to Duke, I hope Zoubek has a monster season. Went to high school with him and had to go to student-athlete dinners and stupid captains dinners with him. Real cool dude, even for a Dukie.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I cant wait for Miami to beat Duke again this year
November 10th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Not as much as me dying.
/Kevin Duckworth
November 10th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Why do you have Purdue so low? I’ll admit, 5th is a bit high of a ranking from SI, but most people place purdue in the 9-11 range. Especially when you expect them to both beat Michigan State and lose no more than 3 league games.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
they only play once this year and its at cameron, not gonna happen sorry man.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
His name still makes it sound like he belongs in High School Musical 24.5
November 10th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Last year was really fun. Watching a 20 year old freshman go 6-23 from the floor night in and night out made all the purists’ dicks get hard.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Butler isnt on the list? O.K. Carry on.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
FUCK DUKE
November 10th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Moleman is right on the money.
In order of conference finish
ACC: UNC, Duke, Miami
Big East: Notre Dame, Louisville, Syracuse, Uconn
November 10th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
This will be my first basketball season with the Big Ten Network. Say what you will about the quality of teams in the B10, I’m really looking forward to watching tons of game this year.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Put down the pipe…seriously. He probably won’t do much in the NBA but as for college ball, he is killing fools in one of the toughest (if not the toughest) conference in the land.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
What about UAB?
November 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Duke will lose at Purdue. BOOK IT
November 10th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Purdue would have been a contender if Martin didn’t leave. That is a big hole that the Boilers didn’t expect to have to fill. He did a lot of stuff for them that I’m not sure that they have replacement for. I really like their team. They play hard and physical and sometimes ugly, but usually effective.
I hate Duke, but they are likely too low. I wish they were only 20th.
Carolina is the only team to pick #1. However, basketball still is only played with 1 ball and defense is half the game. Neither one of those things give an advantage to the Heels.
Love ND’s squad. Not sure if they can play better than they did last year. If they do, watch out for the Irish.
Pitt will start about 16-1, as they do every year. They will flame out in the 2nd round by scoring 43 points as they do every year. They are painful to watch.
Michigan State and Florida are the 2 teams that I think are way too high.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Louisville’s problem at guard isn’t Sosa’s play at point, It’s getting 4 legit starters enough minutes . McGee,Smith,Knowles, and Sosa are all going to see time on the floor, whomever defends well enough to keep Pitino smiling will end up getting the most minutes.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I haven’t read any of the comments here, but I totally agree with your assessment about UT TBL.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
im really sad to have not included UAB despite picking them to win CUSA above memphis. after reading some more lately, i have soured on them a bit, and lowered expectations. However, i do still like them to win CUSA.
texas or tenn, Sean Jean?
November 10th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Also, miz is right about losing JuJuan. Both those guys were such a huge part of our team over the past few years, and why we were so successful. That being said, I also think those two guys were a big reason we never advanced further than the Sweet 16. This year we have the type of talent to go further in the tournament, should it mature and turn into a complete team in time for that to happen. Remains to be seen, but the talent is absolutely there. No doubt. Not to mention Tyler Smith is probably the most complete basketball player we’ve ever had at UT.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
What’s so special about Miami?
no PM roundup on mondays
November 10th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
TBL: Oh I’d definitely go with Tennessee if you are talking the entire season. Texas is really going to miss Augustin, especially Abrams. I think we’ll start slow and probably be somewhat under the radar, but once we get some experience I’m hoping for a pretty good outcome. Just a lot of question marks on our team.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Luke Harangody is my hero.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Honestly, what goes through your head to put Duke at 20? Returning 4 starters and the entire bench from a 28-6 team, has 2 stud freshmen and one project coming in, and let’s not forget has probably the best coach in the game at the helm. You put Georgetown @12 even though they’re only returning 3 starters, lost in the second round last year as well, and was picked 7th in the preseason Big East by the coaches. People need to stop judging Duke on the basis on 2 games, especially considering that everyone on the team had the freaking flu.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
How about more videos of Deron Washington smacking his nuts against Greg Paulus’ face?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-6fFGm5En4
November 10th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Luke Harangody is my hero.
Sucks to be you
November 10th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
ASU #10
how long before that ones regretted?
November 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Last year you ended up being right with not believing Duke was as good as it’s mid-winter #2 ranking, and I don’t think they deserve the #5 in the AP Poll they have until we see how good the new guys are. But man, TBL it is pretty obvious you weren’t ranking them #20 based on any logic, just either 1. A dislike for Duke, or 2. Wanting to raise some controversy for the comments section. Actually, I think it’s a little of both.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I don’t expect Xavier to be on the list, but they will be good this year. They’re replacing a lot of guys who left, but have a couple of highly touted freshmen (Frease in the middle, Holloway at PG) that are supposed to be great.