Welcome to the 09-10 Season! I’m glad to be back for my third year analyzing college basketball and am hoping for another great season. I’m also on my third season as a manager at Susquehanna University, so I will be sure to give updates throughout the season on how the Crusaders are fairing. I welcome any comments and will continue to post videos and polls all season long. I’d like to wish my good friend Matt Blue and former Susquehanna assistant coach a lot of luck in his first season as an assistant at Lafayette College in the Patriot League.
I like the Spartans to win it all.
Bracketman’s Top 20
- Michigan State- Great defense carries the Spartans as always
- Kansas- At least we KNOW the Jayhawks will fight for one another!
- Texas- Explosive team with the potential to unseat the Jayhawks in the Big XII.
- Villanova- Love Jay Wright’s squad as he adds another great class.
- Kentucky- A great class combined with Meeks and Patterson makes for a potential title run, but at what cost?
- North Carolina- Loaded as usual, but I don’t see a repeat title in Chapel Hill.
- West Virginia- Athletic and not-without their own problems, we’ll see if Mazzula and Bryant can team up with Ebanks and company to win the Big East.
- Purdue- This squad impressed me when they knocked out Washington, they should challenge MSU for the Big Ten.
- Duke- Duke and UNC for the ACC, what else is new?
- Washington- I love the way Lorenzo Romar’s team plays and I like them to win the Pac-10.
- Oklahoma- No Blake Griffin but the Sooners are plenty good.
- California- Mike Montgomery’s team was a disappointment in March, this year will be different.
- Tennessee- The Vols rebound from a down year.
- Butler- This is the year Butler is a legitimate Final Four sleeper.
- Illinois- Bruce Weber is feeling hotter after a sour loss in March.
- Connecticut- UConn just reloads and contends for another Big East title.
- Wake Forest- The Deacs don’t want people to forget about them, can they learn to defend?
- Louisville- Scandal ridden and with a lot to prove, this may be too high to even rank the Cards.
- Minnesota- Tubby Smith has done a great job at Minnesota, this year he wants a deep tourney run.
- Seton Hall- Surprised? Don’t be. The Pirates have the talent to be a top 5 Big East team and have plans for a deep run into March.
Five to Surprise
Seton Hall- Bobby Gonzalez has the program going in a great direction after a very rocky start. The Pirates will now use the services of three impact transfers in Herb Pope, Keon Lawrence and Jeff Robinson. As I said, I like the Pirates to shock the Big East and make a deep March run.
Butler- They are now a perennial tournament darling, but this year they return such depth and experience that they can be considered a dark horse Final Four contender.
Virginia Commonwealth- Grant and Maynor are gone to bigger things but the Rams will once again be dancing.
Cincinnati- The Bearcats have a very talented roster and a coach who I believe in… Another team that shoots up the Big East ladder into the upper echelon.
Rider- The Broncs must knock off Siena, but they are ultra athletic and stand a fighting chance to go dancing, where they could be very dangerous. We will find out more about this team with an early season trip to Kentucky.
Season Storylines
The Bluegrass State- No state may be more hotly contested this season with John Calipari on at Kentucky and Rick Pitino feeling some serious heat about his past transgressions. I won’t hide the fact that I don’t think very highly of either of these two coaches, no matter how many games they win in their careers. I am shocked that Louisville has administered no penalty to Pitino, but that is the nature of big time basketball….at least we all know why they call him Slick Rick. Calipari on the other hand has destroyed schools on his way to prominence and will once again be in the title hunt at Kentucky.
The Big East- The monster conference lost so much talent, yet it has reloaded. Nobody expects the conference to be nearly as strong, but it will still be very formidable and could still find a way to get eight teams into the tournament. I like Seton Hall, Cincinnati and St. Johns to all rise thru the standings while Louisville, Syracuse and Marquette all take steps back.
Memphis- How the Tigers handle the departure of Calipari will be a great storyline to follow throughout the year. Josh Pastner takes over and should stabilize the program, but it doesn’t look like the Tigers will be the favorite in Conference USA. Can they claw their way into the Dance?
National Champ- Obviously the pick that everyone has been waiting for: my national champion. I have an itch to pick West Virginia, but Bob Huggins NCAA struggles just totally ruin that pick. After much thought I had to go with Michigan State, who I believe is hungry to return to the Title game and prove their worthiness. Never bet against a Tom Izzo team that was embarrassed and the Spartans got licked by North Carolina. I like Michigan State to beat Texas for the National Title.
