Though it makes for a good debate, no sport can match the passion of college basketball. Ahhhh, Billy Packer. Dick Vitale and Coach K. Returning from college Thanksgiving week with the sole purpose of vegging out on the sofa for days, inhaling the Maui Invitational. March Madness. We’ll be doing a Top 20 each week this season, so stick around – we’d love your input.

11. Marquette (20-11) – Come on, bring the ridicule. We know it’s coming, and we’re armed and ready. Dominic James? Quite possibly the best returning player in the Big East. You can keep Aaron Gray, and we’d be jealous if you had Roy Hibbert, but we wouldn’t be disappointed in James. He just might be the best player in the country you don’t know about. If we had point guard rankings, it would be Alabama’s Ronald Steele 1, and Dominic James 2.

The remainder of the team will not conjure up images of a group that’s ready to make a run to the Final Four. In fact, we’re hard-pressed to tell you about the other players. The backcourt is strong – there’s Wes Matthews (three-point specialist), and Jerel McNeal (another good guard). Simon-Bibby-Dickerson they are not. Another terrible threesome they aren’t: Lowry, Ray, Foye.

The early schedule is forgiving, but in league play, the Golden Eagles will obviously struggle against the mammoth frontcourts of Georgetown, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. No matter. It matters in March, and that’s when guards rule.

They’re still an intriguing pick to make a run. A title? We’re not nearly ready to go there because the frontcourt remains a question mark. We’ll rank them high for now, and admit fault when they flip in January.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Dominic James
NEWCOMER TO WATCH: F Lazar Haywood
BLIND GUESS AT MARCH PENETRATION: Second Round

Cracked Sidewalks (Marquette Basketball Blog)

12. Alabama Crimson Tide
13. Texas A&M Aggies
14. Syracuse Orangemen
15. Wisconsin Badgers
16. Pittsburgh Panthers
17. Okalahoma St. Cowboys
18. Memphis Tigers
19. Creighton Blue Jays
20. Villanova Wildcats