Because I write here, too

I'm responding to Paul's post earlier tonight.

The Orange are an improbably accomplished basketball program. We get 15 feet of snow a year, and we are a basketball power. That's jarring, really. That's insane. It shouldn't be overlooked. It's to Boeheim's credit. Period.

I think it is difficult to look at our team since 2003, however, and find a single year where we overachieved. Worse, I think this year was Boeheim's best coaching job since Carmelo. And we missed the tourney. How can we, an aspiring top program, be most happy with our coach in a season where we fell embarrassingly short of the NCAA tournament? That's crazy. Something is wrong.

This year and last year burn most immediately in my mind. It is shocking that we lost to UMass twice in one year inside the Dome. It is worse that we were up by 19 points at half in the second game. There were entire months in the 2006-2007 season which could only be described as brutal.

Each year since 2003, we have struggled for long stretches despite heralded recruiting classes and relatively grand pre-season expectations. So I think the responsible thing to do is get concerned. I'm not saying we jump off any bandwagons, or we ship Boeheim off to a retirement facility, but we do have to get worried. A little. At least a wee.

Finally, because I always end this way, some optimism: As I said on the phone tonight, if you were trying to create a blueprint for winning national championships in this age of One-and-Done, you'd recruit one great class and suck horribly for a year so nobody leaves, recruit a second great class and suck again, recruit a third great class and -- BAM! -- dominate. Maybe that's Boeheim's evil plot. Whatever. I'm down.

Email to Chris: Syracuse Post-Mortem

I was writing this as an email to Chris, who I spoke with on the phone after leaving the scene of another Orange debacle. It turned into a blog post. My basic point is we need to keep things in perspective before we declare this season a massive failure and/or declare that Boeheim sucks. Please comment if you think I'm wrong.

I was musing on your comment earlier; if I may paraphrase, "why do we suck when other good programs don't?"

I think we need to step back for some perspective here. Just a glance at the teams who have won the title this century shows how hard it is to stay on top. Along with us, Maryland, UConn, and Florida have missed the tourney at least once since winning it all. Michigan State hasn't missed, but they play in a much easier conference (I think we'd have made the tourney this year if we played in the Big 10). The other champions are North Carolina and Duke.

Even those schools and other powerhouses have hard seasons every now and then. UCLA and Georgetown have only recently seen a resurgence to the upper echelons. Kentucky is a little down. Kansas has won 1 title in 50 years, and they're supposed to be a powerhouse program way above us.

Yes, teams are winning with young players, but they also have a mix of experience. It's worth saying one last time before we put this season to bed: out of our 7 main players, only one of them played for us last year! Maybe Boeheim deserves the blame for some of the departures the program has seen, but two junior guards going down with ACL tears is pretty brutal.

So I don't really think our program is underachieving. I think it was a job well done by Boeheim to have us on the bubble at the end of the season. I think the team consistently played poorly at the end of games, whether it had a large lead or was in a battle down the stretch. I think that is at least partly due to fatigue, and at least partly due to youthful inexperience, and at least partly due to youthful panic.

So let's take a deep breath and start getting excited about next season.

-Paul


I want to get back to being hated, like we were after the Championship. Chris once pointed out to me that in sports, to be hated is to be envied and feared. I get the sense people kind of like us right now. We got a raw deal last year, and this year we suffered through some injuries. People feel a little sorry for us. Next year we'll take a major step towards making the Orange an annoyingly good team again.

Revisiting the NCAA Preview

While I pass the time before the first women's basketball game I've ever made appointment viewing (Syracuse v. Hartford), I quickly analyzed the rankings I made at the beginning of the season, on November 19. Basically I put the NCAA teams first, then the NIT teams, then the teams that made the mysterious CBI. For the rest of the division I teams I just assigned them their ranking according to InsideRPI from Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com. It's a computer system, so it's imperfect (unlike my rankings), but it's good enough for our purposes. Before I copy/paste my excel document, here are some amusing and interesting observations:

• In my rankings the only teams that tied were St. Francis (NY) and St. Francis (PA) at 330. To my delight, the computer at the end of the season had the same idea putting them at 313 and 314!
• I correctly picked 37 of the field of 65 in November. Not too shabby!
• My highest ranked team to not make the tournament was, of course, Syracuse at 15 (NIT). After that it was Ohio State at 16 (NIT), Virginia at 19 (CBI), and Missouri (RPI: 117). Missouri was my highest ranked team not to play in the post season.
• The team that made the biggest leap was Alabama State who used my ranking of 335 as motivation for a run to their conference's regular season title and the accompanying automatic berth in the NIT.
• Other big jumpers: Cleveland State (306 to NIT), UTEP (297 to CBI), Stephen F. Austin (287 to NIT), and Valporaiso (283 to CBI).
• The biggest jump to the NCAA...The Drake! I had them at 252 and commented that they were "One of the only Valley teams not to have at least one successful season in recent years." In retrospect I should have realized that it was their turn, and a 3-year walk-on would lead them to one of the best regular seasons in MVC history.
• Other big jumpers into the dance: UMBC (230), Oral Roberts (221), St. Joseph's (206), Miami (197), and Mount St. Mary's (196).
• I think the InsideRPI uses a number twice because its rankings only go up to 341 and yet it ranks 342 teams; I found all 342 of my teams on its list. N.J.I.T., the Independent school that went 0-29 this year, gets a 341 final ranking. I had them at 317 coming in.
• My 342nd ranked team coming in was Maryland Eastern-Shore who went 4-28, good enough for a 338 RPI.
  
• Here's the whole kit and/or kaboodle. The columns go final status/RPI, my original ranking, team, conference, and original comments. Enjoy! As always, I apologize about the formatting...

NCAA	2	North Carolina	ACC	I was much more afraid of Hansbrough after his freshman year.
NCAA	3	Memphis	C-USA	Can you win 6 straight NCAA games against competition stronger than almost everyone in your conference? I say no, even with this talent.
NCAA	4	Kansas	Big 12	Business as usual for Kansas: 1-seed, and an early departure in the tournament.
NCAA	6	UCLA	Pac-10	Loss of Afflalo, tough Pac-10 keeps ranking down but Howland makes them title threat
NCAA	1	Georgetown	Big East	I don't love this pick, but I don't love anyone else any more. I think JT-III is brilliant. Hoyas will win it all from a 2-seed.
NCAA	8	Tennessee	SEC	Bruce Pearl is pretty sleazy, but dang if he isn't a good coach.
NCAA	14	Texas	Big 12	I think they'll be OK without Durant. PG DJ Augustin is only a sophomore.
NCAA	23	Duke	ACC	Duke-haters: meet Kyle Singler.
NCAA	10	Louisville	Big East	Live by the three, die by the three. Cards shot a ton but ranked 234th in percentage. But Pitino still won 24 games!
NCAA	38	Wisconsin	Big 10	No Alando Tucker? No problem. Bo knows coaching.
NCAA	39	Xavier	A-10	They lost Justin Cage, but X still marks the team to beat in the A-10.
NCAA	62	Stanford	Pac-10	7' Soph Brook Lopez inelligible for fall semester. Make-up call for putting Stanford in tourney over SU?
NCAA	9	Washington State	Pac-10	Love the Bennett family style
NCAA	11	Vanderbilt	SEC	Don't look now, but Vandy might be turning into an SEC powerhouse.
NCAA	13	Pittsburgh	Big East	Some familiar faces are gone, others are still hanging around. The Panthers are still in the top tier of the Big East.
NCAA	27	Connecticut	Big East	I revelled in their misery last year. I can't hope for them to be as bad again.
NCAA	7	Michigan State	Big 10	Tom Izzo + 5 returning starters = Sweet Sixteen at least
NCAA	25	Notre Dame	Big East	Colin Falls is gone, so Kyle McAlanery steps into the role of "white guy who hits 45% of his threes."
NCAA	161	Clemson	ACC	11 return, but who's the point?
NCAA	252	Drake	MVC	One of the only Valley teams not to have at least one successful season in recent years.
NCAA	20	Purdue	Big 10	The other Indiana powerhouse is also rolling in the talent.
NCAA	24	USC	Pac-10	OJ Mayo sounds much grosser than Carmelo
NCAA	36	Marquette	Big East	Golden Eagles might be the program that benefited the most from the Big East move. They've got a nice run of consistency going.
NCAA	69	Oklahoma	Big 12	Jeff Caple is on the right track in his 2nd year, trying to be the first Coach K player to succeed as coach of a major program.
NCAA	12	Gonzaga	WCC	Let's be honest, this kind of consistency would be remarkable in ANY conference.
NCAA	18	Butler	Horizon	The poor man's Gonzaga
NCAA	70	West Virginia	Big East	He might recruit better, but there's no way Huggins gets better results with this program than Beilein.
NCAA	197	Miami	ACC	These are hard times for Miami President and SU alum Donna Shalalalala. Shoulda stayed in the Big East, Don'!
NCAA	5	Indiana	Big 10	Most talent the Hoosiers have seen in a long time.
NCAA	26	Mississippi State	SEC	NIT semifinalists are ready to roll.
NCAA	56	UNLV	Mountain West	Kruger's got a foundation for a solid program built.
NCAA	101	BYU	Mountain West	OK, I'll come right out and say it: I'd like to see BYU change its nickname from "Cougars" to "Mormans."
NCAA	30	Oregon	Pac-10	No, Ernie Kent hasn't been fired yet.
NCAA	40	Texas A&M	Big 12	You don't lose an all-time great PG and a fantastic coach without taking a step back.
NCAA	34	Arkansas	SEC	Still waiting for a make-up call for Arkansas getting into the NCAAs ahead of Syracuse…
NCAA	22	Kent St.	MAC	All five starters back from a 21-win team? There's your conference champ.
NCAA	155	South Alabama	Sun Belt	Ronnie Arrow returns to a team he coached from 1988 to 1995. Whack.
NCAA	31	Davidson	SoCon	My college-away-from-college could be good enough to get an at-large bid, if needed.
NCAA	60	Arizona	Pac-10	Lute's leave of absence is bad start.
NCAA	44	St. Mary's	WCC	St. Mary's is led by F Diamon Simpson (14.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 1.3 spg)
NCAA	17	Kentucky	SEC	Good, not great Wildcat team. Great coach, though.
NCAA	35	Kansas State	Big 12	Top freshmen Michael Beasley joins a solid team. Success hinges on coaching, managing the blend.
NCAA	160	Baylor	Big 12	Program has stabilized, but hasn't improved.
NCAA	206	Saint Joseph's	A-10	Hawks lack talent, miss the postseason for the second straight year.
NCAA	37	Western Kentucky	Sun Belt	Hilltopper = best mascot ever.
NCAA	41	Temple	A-10	Owls return conferences top two scorers. The body of John Chaney remains retired.
NCAA	52	George Mason	Colonial	Larranaga's veteran team will return to the NCAAs.
NCAA	67	Villanova	Big East	Villanova illogically got a bid over SU last year. This time they'll be on the wrong side of the bubble.
NCAA	61	Siena	MAAC	Nine fairly talented underclassmen combine with four pretty good upperclassmen to make this the team to beat in the conference.
NCAA	84	Winthrop	Big South	A year after reaching the second round, farther than any team in conference history, Winthrop stays the course with longtime assistant Randy Peele taking the reins.
NCAA	191	San Diego	WCC	San Diego's plan to catch Gonzaga is to hire Mark Few's assistant, Bill Grier.
NCAA	221	Oral Roberts	Summit	Streak of NCAA appearances ends at two with departure of three-time conference player of the year.
NCAA	57	Georgia	SEC	Pesky team that no one wants to play
NCAA	157	Boise State	WAC	They play good basketball in Boise too, but not good enough to hang with the WAC elite.
NCAA	175	CS Fullerton	Big West	Bit of a dip after all-time leading scorer's departure.
NCAA	180	Cornell	Ivy League	The Big Red should be content with Ivy League respectability.
NCAA	96	Austin Peay	Ohio Valley	Last year's regular season conference champs could repeat.
NCAA	149	American	Patriot	If you root against them, you're a terrorist
NCAA	169	Belmont	Atlantic Sun	Lost the two centers that keyed their back-to-back NCAA trips.
NCAA	230	MD Baltimore County	America East	Three transfers will help
NCAA	102	Miss. Valley State	SWAC	Defending regular season conference champ will break through to the NCAAs this year.
NCAA	119	UT-Arlington	Southland	UTA plays on a stage. Literally. If you dive for a loose ball on one side, you might slide off the edge.
NCAA	139	Portland State	Big Sky	Will be in the mix again
NCAA	196	Mount St. Mary's	NEC	9 out of 10 Mount St. Mary's students agree: their basketball team doesn't totally suck.
NCAA	166	Coppin State	MEAC	Did you know: Coach Ron Mitchell's nickname is "Fang."
NIT	15	Syracuse	Big East	The Orange will go as far as their McDonald's All-Americans take them, as the Glory Years of Orange hoops roll on.
NIT	16	Ohio State	Big 10	Never overlook the greatest coach in College Basketball. He's at his best when playing the underdog.
NIT	43	Arizona State	Pac-10	I always liked Herb Sendek
NIT	91	Virginia Tech	ACC	Next year Va Tech will be back in the picture.
NIT	79	Florida	SEC	Hope you took photos, Billy. You'll never have it so good again.
NIT	111	Illinois State	MVC	Lots of turnover to Valley rosters this year, but Redbirds return four key starters.
NIT	152	Mississippi	SEC	Rebuilding is painful in the SEC
NIT	215	Umass	A-10	Tough schedule begets tough year.
NIT	46	Dayton	A-10	Four starters return to put Dayton on the NCAA bubble
NIT	106	Creighton	MVC	Even Dana Altman can't take a team in transition into the NCAAs in this brutal conference.
NIT	181	Nebraska	Big 12	Does interim AD Tom Osborne even know Nebraska has a basketball team?
NIT	186	Florida State	ACC	Al Thornton gone from an NIT team. Geyeheyehey! (grabbing collar)
NIT	28	California	Pac-10	Pac-10 surprise. Watch out for Soph Ryan Anderson
NIT	29	VCU	Colonial	Remember Eric Maynor, the guy who burried Duke in round 1? He's back.
NIT	32	Southern Illinois	MVC	The best directional-Illinois.
NIT	51	Minnesota	Big 10	Everyone outside of Kentucky knows Tubby Smith is a pretty good coach.
NIT	53	Maryland	ACC	Strawberry is gone, but Gary will wring everything he can out of his guys.
NIT	73	New Mexico	Mountain West	The Pit, meet Steve Alford. Coach, meet The Pit. Go have some fun.
NIT	108	Oklahoma State	Big 12	OSU has dropped a bit and the rest of the conference will make them pay.
NIT	121	UAB	C-USA	Where are they now: Mike Davis coaches here.
NIT	114	Charlotte	A-10	Coach Lutz is rebuilding. Good Freshmen take them to the NIT.
NIT	217	Akron	MAC	The NCAA passes over a deserving MAC team once a year. Last year it was Akron. They enter rebuilding mode this year.
NIT	262	Rhode Island	A-10	Hard to win at Rhode Island without a coach who cheats.
NIT	306	Cleveland State	Horizon	Outclassed in this conference.
NIT	59	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	Lots of talent could have the Gauchos on the bubble in March.
NIT	65	San Diego State	Mountain West	Steve Fischer is like, "Whaa? What's with all these former Big 10 coaches?"
NIT	33	Utah State	WAC	One of the most consistent mid-majors returns to the NCAAs
NIT	287	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	10 new players!
NIT	172	Morgan State	MEAC	Some young talent here.
NIT	178	UNC Asheville	Big South	Looking for their first winning season in seven years, the Bulldogs scheduled 16 home games. Well played.
NIT	268	Robert Morris	NEC	ESPN describes their logo as "Samuel Adams lager-style."
NIT	335	Alabama State	SWAC	No improvement here. Just a sloppy, sloppy team.
CBI	19	Virginia	ACC	Virginia doesn't have much, but in Sean Singletary they have more than most ACC teams this year: a star point guard.
CBI	50	Miami (Ohio)	MAC	Star Tim Politz shot 62% from the field last year.
CBI	58	Tulsa	C-USA	C-USA's best shot at a second bid.
CBI	63	Ohio	MAC	Well-rounded team will compete for the top of the MAC ladder.
CBI	76	Nevada	WAC	A dip with the departure of Fazekas, but not as much as you'd think.
CBI	86	Washington	Pac-10	Tougher schedule won't help NCAA bid
CBI	100	Utah	Mountain West	The 100th best team celebrates it's 100th season playing college basketball.
CBI	125	Houston	C-USA	Finally, finally legitimate again.
CBI	129	Bradley	MVC	Seven new players, but they'll still be a tough team for anyone.
CBI	146	Rider	MAAC	6'11" F Jason Thompson is a stud: 20.1/10.1, plus 2.2 blocks
CBI	162	Old Dominion	Colonial	The winningest class in school history is out. Long road back in tough conference.
CBI	203	Cincinnati	Big East	Hideous last year, but eight newcomers arrive to help.
CBI	240	Richmond	A-10	Can't do much worse than last year's 22-loss season.
CBI	259	Brown	Ivy League	Their gimic? Get to the foul line. Eh.
CBI	283	Valporaiso	Horizon	How good is the Horizon League? Valpo jumped at the chance to move here from the Summit.
CBI	297	UTEP	C-USA	In disarray with 6 freshman brought in to replace four kids kicked off the team last May.
66	47	Texas Tech	Big 12	Not at lot to work with, but Bobby Knight will scrape out an NCAA bid.
68	179	Georgia Tech	ACC	6'10" senior Ra'Sean Dickey inelligible for first semester. Make-up call for putting Georgia Tech in tourney over SU?
71	135	IUPUI	Summit	We might see this palindrome on the bracket in march
86	74	Wright State	Horizon	Tourney team lost its best player but remains in the mix in a great conference.
98	164	Sam Houston State	Southland	It's Bearkats with a "K."
100	144	Wake Forest	ACC	Goodbye, Skip.
102	64	NC State	ACC	Still a year away from playing with the top of the ACC.
103	71	Illinois	Big 10	Illini slip back into the pack
107	80	Southern Miss	C-USA	Where are they now: Larry Eustachy coaches here.
108	45	Providence	Big East	Herbert Hill is gone, but four starters return.
111	257	Middle Tenn. State	Sun Belt	Some potential but nothing better than middle of the Sun Belt stuff.
113	87	Alabama	SEC	Their best player, PG Ronald Steele, is not healthy.
114	116	Seton Hall	Big East	Dangerous, but won't be a factor.
115	75	CS Northridge	Big West	Top three scorers return to put the Matadors right in the mix.
116	256	Marist	MAAC	Last year was their shot, and they blew it by losing in the conference tournament.
117	21	Missouri	Big 12	Small team, but that's not a problem for coach Mike Anderson's Nolan Richardson-inspired style.
118	89	Niagara	MAAC	Charron Fisher (20.6 ppg) returns to a team that made the NCAA as a 15-seed.
119	99	Western Michigan	MAC	Like Kent State, return all five starters.
122	54	Missouri State	MVC	The Bears save their coach's job with a conference tournament victory and an NCAA bid.
123	236	Wagner	NEC	Everyone returns to a mediocre team.
124	66	New Mexico St.	WAC	High expectations and a star Frosh, Herb Pope
126	85	UNC Greensboro	SoCon	SoCon player of the year, Kyle Hines, returns.
127	220	UNC Wilmington	Colonial	Last year the Seahawks tied a shot clock era record with a mere two field goals in the first half against George Mason.
128	150	Duquesne	A-10	Feel-good story of the year if the three transfers caught in last year's shooting make the Dukes competitive
129	247	Indiana State	MVC	No Sycamores in the tournament this year.
131	168	Boston College	ACC	10 underclassmen replace the guys I loved to hate in BC's Big East days.
133	167	Georgia Southern	SoCon	Happy Days are here again as Georgia Southern returns to its usual spot: an above-average SoCon team.
134	141	Northern Iowa	MVC	6'6" is tall enough to be a dominant C in the Valley: Eric Coleman averaged 13.1, 9.1 last year.
136	195	Illinois-Chicago	Horizon	The Flames are rising. What is this…Southern California? (Topical humor!)
137	42	Saint Louis	A-10	Rick Majerus pushes a decent team into the tourney
138	174	South Carolina	SEC	Two talented transfers are elligible, but whoever heard of a major conference team building success on transfers?
139	235	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	Streak of conference finals appearences ends at two
140	147	Pacific	Big West	Last season was an anomoly. Pacific will be towards the top again.
141	124	North Texas	Sun Belt	Still some left overs from last year's tourney team.
142	156	Loyola (Md.)	MAAC	The last time Loyola won the MAAC (1994) the late Skip Prosser was their coach. The next time is coming soon, but not quite yet.
144	272	Marshall	C-USA	New coach Donnie Jones was a Billy Donovan assistant. Expect great recruiting and sub-par game coaching. (Bah-doom ching!)
145	145	Chattanooga	SoCon	Look out world: Mocs changed logo from mockingbird to train.
146	81	ETSU	Atlantic Sun	Unfinished business will motivate last year's regular season champs to win the conference tournament this year.
147	109	UW-Green Bay	Horizon	A point guard away from making the Horizon a three-bid league(!)
148	107	Holy Cross	Patriot	No running diary of Bill Simmons's Alma Mater in the NCAA this year
149	110	Hampton	MEAC	Interesting game log for 6'8", 225 lbs Matthew Pilgrim's Freshman year.
151	320	Lamar	Southland	Dumped by their 7'1" center, who left to play pro in Europe, it could be a long season.
152	55	UC Irvine	Big West	This is the year for the Anteaters. They'll upset UCSB in the conference final.
153	105	Auburn	SEC	Veteran team might not be too bad.
154	95	Appalachian State	SoCon	Three seniors gone from an NIT team. Only a small step back.
155	228	Penn State	Big 10	The only good Penn State team I remember is that one with the twins.
156	138	William & Mary	Colonial	Yet another CAA program on the rise.
157	176	St. John's	Big East	The anti-Glory Years roll on…
158	224	DePaul	Big East	Very young this year, and not in a "2003 Syracuse" way.
160	120	Colorado	Big 12	Jeff Bzdelik will at least have them competitive this year.
161	88	UCF	C-USA	Somehow convinced Nova, Mississippi, and Uconn to play them at home.
162	244	La Salle	A-10	Maybe they'll make the conference tournament this year.
163	97	Jacksonville	Atlantic Sun	Program on the rise, looking for a third straight conference Freshman-of-the-year award.
164	198	Tulane	C-USA	Slightly above-average program.
165	148	New Orleans	Sun Belt	Reigning Sun Belt player of the year Bo McCalebb could make noise in his senior year.
166	133	Sacred Heart	NEC	Bad D and decent offense might be enough in this conference.
167	184	Air Force	Mountain West	If you haven't noticed by now, I buy into the idea that the NCAA is cyclical. Air Force cycles back down this year.
168	143	Fordham	A-10	Another solid, upper classmen-led team in a solid, upper classmen-led conference
169	163	Oakland	Summit	Did you know: this college is located in Michigan!!! WhaaaAAAA?
170	254	Northeastern	Colonial	Tough at home, in conference. But who isn't?
171	128	Michigan	Big 10	John Beilein is a genius, but even he can't win with this bunch.
172	98	LSU	SEC	2 years post-final four, team is a mess… 6'11" frosh Anthony Randolph could be the cleaner.
173	312	Arkansas-Little Rock	Sun Belt	They welcome a 6'11" transfer from Purdue, but I always say, "A big man who can't make it at Purdue can't make it at Ark-LR.
174	237	Colgate	Patriot	Still not a threat to the Orange
175	241	Lafayette	Patriot	Last Patriot team to start giving scholarships moves out of cellar this year
176	289	Fairfield	MAAC	Overachieved to post a winning conference record last year.
177	249	Iowa State	Big 12	Starting guard and leading scorer dismissed, two other guards transferred.
178	213	South Florida	Big East	Coach Stan Heath was fired by Arkansas, even though his buddies on the NCAA finagled a tourney bid at SU's expense.
179	288	Hartford	America East	You know you're bad when you're hoping for big things from a Citadel transfer.
180	49	UW-Milwaukee	Horizon	In mid-major terms, they're loaded. Vets, transfers, freshmen will all contribute.
181	273	Delaware	Colonial	Trying the quick fix (transfers) for a 5-win team. I don't like it.
182	321	Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt	A rebuilding Sun Belt team is a bad team.
183	126	Yale	Ivy League	The best bet to end the 19-year Penn/Princeton stranglehold.
184	239	Central Michigan	MAC	Did you know: there is no Southern Michigan University!
185	193	George Washington	A-10	Colonials drops back into the pack this year.
186	83	Santa Clara	WCC	Veteran team remains in the mix at the top of the conference.
187	243	Toledo	MAC	This conference is so tough, one step back can be the difference between finishing third and finishing third from the bottom.
188	127	Northwestern State	Southland	Demons substitute like demons, with full line changes. Remember these guys beat Iowa in 06?
189	132	Murray State	Ohio Valley	The only school ever to get a single-digit seed (9 in 98) is always near the top of the conference.
190	151	Quinnipac	NEC	The Oregon of the NEC. Big spenders.
191	214	Iowa	Big 10	Decent seniors might make them competitive.
192	113	Weber State	Big Sky	No show this year for Harold "The Show" Arceneaux's Alma Mater
193	94	Vermont	America East	Good regular season and NIT again
194	251	Wofford	SoCon	Four starters return with plenty of room for improvement.
195	267	North Dakota State	Summit	Best team to not be elligible for the NCAAs this year. (Just up from D-II)
196	304	Southeastern Louisiana	Southland	Their season hinges on how well their 5'9" point guard plays. Geyeheyehey! (Grabbing collar.)
197	72	Col. Of Charleston	SoCon	Where are they now: Bobby Cremins is in his 2nd season as head coach.
198	136	TCU	Mountain West	Third year in the MWC is the charm. TCU returns to respectability.
199	154	Wichita State	MVC	You know how Winthrop keeps popping up in the NCAAs? Their coach is now here.
200	310	Gardner-Webb	Atlantic Sun	A-Sun doesn't play football so Runnin' Bulldogs head to the Big South next year.
201	276	Bowling Green	MAC	Louis Orr, reigning John Chaney Memorial Award holder for the most emaciated-looking coach, takes over.
202	315	Long Island	NEC	Turns out New York City-style basketball doesn't translate to Long Island.
203	131	Bucknell	Patriot	The Glory Years are over
204	187	Delaware State	MEAC	The only returning starter was the co-player of the year.
205	202	Pepperdine	WCC	Normally solid Waves finished last in the conference last year. With a stellar recruiting class coming in it won't happen again.
207	130	Albany	America East	Trip to Duke on December 17… crazier things have happened
208	238	Central Conn. State	NEC	22 wins and an NCAA bid were a fluke. Disclaimer: I hate all Connecticut basketball teams.
209	296	Tennessee-Martin	Ohio Valley	This team always reminds me of Tee Martin, former Tennessee QB.
210	313	Elon	SoCon	At least they're not the worst team in the Southern Conference.
211	246	Army	Patriot	Won't reach 15-win mark again
212	170	Rutgers	Big East	Same old story: Rutgers lacks talent but is just good enough to beat anybody at home.
213	299	Chicago State	Indep	South Side talent on the roster
214	208	Navy	Patriot	Top two scorers return
215	229	James Madison	Colonial	Everyone returns from a 7-win team. A lock to crack double-digit victories.
216	122	Cal Poly	Big West	I like the balance with a seasoned PG, a shooter, and two shot blockers.
217	142	Tennessee State	Ohio Valley	Guard Bruce Price declared for draft despite missing half of 05-06 and all of 06-07 with ACL tear. He returns, tail between legs.
218	293	IPFW	Summit	Where are they now: Dane Fife, who started for 2002 NCAA runner-up Indiana, coaches here.
219	48	Wyoming	Mountain West	You'll hear from this backcourt before the season is out.
220	194	Columbia	Ivy League	Rare height in the Ivy.
221	274	UT-San Antonio	Southland	Relatively decent program finished last in the conference last year. Expect improvement.
222	173	Florida Atlantic	Sun Belt	Two steps forward, now one step back in their second year in the conference.
223	189	Lipscomb	Atlantic Sun	They missed their chance to win the conference last year.
224	182	Loyola (Ill.)	Horizon	3rd place in the conference last year, they'll drop back into the pack this year.
225	223	Northwestern	Big 10	Last year F Kevin Coble was the best Freshman in the conference not playing for Thad Matta.
227	269	Iona	MAAC	Lead pipe lock: Iona at least doubles it's win total (2) from last year.
228	248	Youngstown State	Horizon	Have to replace top two scorers.
229	68	Montana	Big Sky	Hometown boy Jordan Hasquet leads Montana to NCAAs
230	115	North Carolina A&T	MEAC	Former conference powerhouse on the verge of returning to prominence.
232	82	McNeese State	Southland	Hot coaching prospect here: Dave Simmons came on late but got his team rebounding and defending the best in the league.
233	118	High Point	Big South	They've got the talent, but Winthrop owns the mental edge after beating them twice last year.
234	281	Morehead State	Ohio Valley	Overachieved with 12 wins last year.
235	204	Montana State	Big Sky	Second best team in the state
236	242	Towson	Colonial	Where are they now: Pat Kennedy (FSU, DePaul) coaches here.
237	280	San Jose State	WAC	The Spartans went to England this summer. Good times.
238	159	Eastern Michigan	MAC	Steady improvement here continues
239	250	Southern Utah	Summit	Did you know: Southern Utah was rated in the Top 10 by Consumers Digest for quality and value.
240	104	Boston University	America East	This sophmore-loaded team will peak late to make the tourney as America East's new premier team
241	117	Drexel	Colonial	Coach Bruiser Flint didn't like this year's team enough to schedule as many tough games as last year.
242	192	Fresno State	WAC	22 wins last year won't be matched this year
243	103	Hofstra	Colonial	As steady a program as you'll find in the conference, but not outstanding this year.
244	211	Troy	Sun Belt	A 7-foot Aussie JuCo transfer may help Troy become a mid-major factor.
245	77	Lehigh	Patriot	Takes advantage of Holy Cross and Bucknell down years to win league, bid
246	233	Binghamton	America East	Hope down the road as former Hoya assistant Kevin Broadus takes over.
247	260	Utah Valley State	Indep	22 wins last year, tougher road this year
248	271	Nicholls State	Southland	Lost one Aussie who happened to lead the conference in scoring, but bring in two redshirt Aussies.
249	341	Texas State	Southland	Texas State sounds like it should be a sports powerhouse. It's not.
250	216	Florida A&M	MEAC	New coach hired Sept. 20. The Rattlers won't be dancing this year.
251	333	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt	A team without talent plus a recruiting class without talent equals a team without talent.
252	205	Evansville	MVC	No winning seasons since 99-00. The wait continues…
253	123	Eastern Kentucky	Ohio Valley	Meet Jeff Neubauer: a John Beilein protégé and the next hot young coaching prospect.
254	291	Savannah State	Indep	two guards return from 12-win team
255	188	Idaho State	Big Sky	three-time JuCo Champion coach relies on JuCo transfer players
256	322	East Carolina	C-USA	The state of North Carolina should de-annex East Carolina to distance itself from basketball there.
257	311	Stetson	Atlantic Sun	No winning seasons since '00-'01.
258	265	Liberty	Big South	Took third last year in a down year for the conference. Different story this time.
259	255	Norfolk State	MEAC	Yet another MEAC school undergoing coaching transition.
260	92	Penn	Ivy League	I believe a few teams have caught up, but in the end Penn will grab the bid again.
261	90	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Southland	You might recall they led 2-seed Wisconsin 25-7 in the NCAAs last year. They lost four but kept the conference player of the year.
262	212	Samford	Ohio Valley	Bulldogs will take their Princeton-style to the Southern Conference. I checked. It's an upgrade. (25th Conference RPI to 19th).
263	263	Florida International	Sun Belt	Did you know: Florida International boasts five foreign-born players from three different continents!
264	329	St. Bonaventure	A-10	I own a St. Bonaventure hat that I wear with pride.
265	222	Colorado State	Mountain West	Occaisionally, they play good football here. But no good basketball.
266	284	SMU	C-USA	Perpetual rebuilding mode
267	319	Western Illinois	Summit	The fourth best directional-Illinois.
268	190	Buffalo	MAC	Not quite enough talent to hang with the best in this brutal conference.
269	177	Oregon State	Pac-10	Kansas castoff CJ Giles won't save them
270	234	Jackson State	SWAC	Lost nation's 2nd leading scorer from last year.
271	279	Denver	Sun Belt	Awful team starts the long road to respectability under ex-Princeton coach and Peter Carril-protégé, Joe Scott.
272	199	Hawaii	WAC	Slightly below average program
273	93	San Francisco	WCC	High hopes to challenge in conference this year.
274	165	Manhattan	MAAC	Did you know: Manhattan somehow has seven sophomores! (And they're actually pretty decent.)
275	137	VMI	Big South	Team is led by twins, plus last year's NCAA-leading scorer Reggie Williams.
276	232	Coastal Carolina	Big South	All guards and no front court hurts even at the mid-major level.
277	298	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	Second year in conference will be better…slightly.
278	225	Texas-Pan American	Indep	four starters return from 14-15 team
279	253	Central Arkansas	Southland	Second year in D-I has promise, especially in this bottom-heavy league.
280	78	Tennessee Tech	Ohio Valley	Amadi McKenzie shot .608 last year. Look for him in the first round this year.
281	200	Georgia State	Colonial	Where are they now: 2001 Naismith coach of the year Rod Barnes takes over
282	275	South Carolina State	MEAC	Rebuilding year for normally solid program.
283	282	Centenary	Summit	Did you know: nickname is the "Gents"
284	185	Farleigh Dickinson	NEC	Did you know: 25-year head coach Tom Green graduated from Syracuse in 1971.
285	290	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	Did you know: Detroit Piston Rodney Stuckey once played here
286	140	Detroit	Horizon	Brandon Cotton is excellent, but one great player isn't enough in this conference.
287	201	UMKC	Summit	New coach Matt Brown was a long time John Beilein-assistant.
288	286	UC Riverside	Big West	Fourth head coach in as many years.
289	295	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	Ark State is planning on ditching their "Indian" mascot. Bad karma to follow.
290	324	Florida Gulf Coast	Atlantic Sun	Welcome to D-I.
291	334	Alabama A&M	SWAC	No improvement here. Just a sloppy team.
292	226	Southeast Missouri	Ohio Valley	How do I rank these teams? If they return players, I expect slight improvement.
293	210	Monmouth	NEC	Some improvement from 12-season.
294	134	Western Carolina	SoCon	Four super-sophs led by ex-Cincy recruit Nick Aldridge key a rising program.
295	219	Northern Illinois	MAC	The second best directional-Illinois.
296	300	North Carolina Central	Indep	Located in bball hotbed...Poor Man's Davidson?
297	305	Ball State	MAC	Not good anymore.
298	318	Portland	WCC	Hooray! Portland won its first conference tournament game in 10 years last year.
299	316	Idaho	WAC	I think it's more impressive to note Idaho's wins last year this way: "square root of 16."
300	337	Dartmouth	Ivy League	When your university has its own ski mountain, you should stick to skiing.
301	323	Southern	SWAC	Last year Southern turned the ball over once every four times down the floor.
302	278	Rice	C-USA	Lost Morris Almond's 26.9 ppg
303	325	UC Davis	Big West	First year officially in the Big West will be tough.
304	209	Furman	SoCon	Did you know: Furman (1826) is the oldest private institution in South Carolina.
305	300	Winston-Salem	Indep	Located in bball hotbed...Poor Man's Davidson?
305	339	Winston-Salem State	MEAC	Improbably, not the worst team in their new conference.
306	340	New Hampshire	America East	Bad team lost its two best scorers. Geheyehey! (Grabbing collar)
307	303	Harvard	Ivy League	Where are they now: Tommy Amaker takes over as head coach.
308	336	Carolina-Upstate	Atlantic Sun	They entered both the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, AK and the Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, TX in first year of D-I.
309	266	Loyola Marymount	WCC	One senior + 9 underclassmen = long season
310	292	Radford	Big South	Seth Greenberg's brother, Brad, takes over here.
311	183	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	SWAC	19th best FG defense in NCAAs last year. Sign of exceptional coaching.
312	277	Campbell	Atlantic Sun	Nickname is "Fighting Camels"!
313	330	St. Francis (NY)	NEC	What's the difference between St. Francis (NY) and St. Francis (PA)? Nothing. They're exactly the same in every way.
314	330	St. Francis (PA)	NEC	What's the difference between St. Francis (PA) and St. Francis (NY)? Nothing. They're exactly the same in every way.
315	112	Mercer	Atlantic Sun	G James Florence was the only Freshman besides Kevin Durant to lead his conference in scoring last year.
316	332	St. Peter's	MAAC	If you squint, you might see a decent point guard, but it's just a mirage.
317	227	Cal State Bakersfield	Indep	Beat Pepperdine last year
318	231	Canisius	MAAC	Young team, featuring the MAACs co-rookie of the year, still needs time to grow.
319	285	Bethune-Cookman	MEAC	Mediocrity would be outstanding.
320	264	Texas Southern	SWAC	TSU needed a coach. So they hired the one they fired six years ago, who also happens to be the winningest coach in team history.
321	270	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	Bad news: Panthers were the 2nd worst 3-point shooting team last year. Worse news: Panthers were the 3rd worst 2-point shooting team last year.
322	302	Longwood	Indep	Two new JuCos in first year elligible for tourney
323	171	Long Beach State	Big West	Where are they now: Dan Monson takes over as head coach.
324	158	Kennesaw State	Atlantic Sun	D-II champs in '04 aren't tourney elligible until 2010.
325	327	Stony Brook	America East	Still the worst D-I SUNY
326	245	Charleston Southern	Big South	Reinforcements arrive to a team that ended the year with eight players.
327	218	Maine	America East	Tall team relative to conference.
328	153	Grambling State	SWAC	Lot's of returnees from a solid team.
329	294	Louisiana Tech	WAC	The new director of promotions/assistant strength and conditioning coach is Karl Malone.
330	326	South Dakota State	Summit	The only thing South Dakota is worse than North Dakota in is, apparently, basketball.
331	309	Howard	MEAC	Make it five-straight 20 loss seasons.
332	207	Princeton	Ivy League	Last in the Ivy last year?!? New coach, Sydney Johnson, brings JT-III's influence back to Princeton.
333	328	Presbyterian	Indep	Nickname: Blue Hose
334	314	The Citadel	SoCon	The worst team in the Southern Conference.
335	308	Sacramento State	Big Sky	Sac State? More like "Suck" State!
336	338	Alcorn State	SWAC	Poor shooting, poor ball control, plus they lost their two best players. Geyeheyehey!! (Grabbing collar)
337	307	Eastern Illinois	Ohio Valley	The third best directional-Illinois.
338	342	Maryland-Eastern Shore	MEAC	How bad? 4-27 school announced they won't even start looking for a new head coach until January.
339	258	Jacksonville St.	Ohio Valley	Racked with disciplinary issues. Turns out what happens in Jacksonville does not stay in Jacksonville.
340	261	North Florida	Atlantic Sun	9 wins through two seasons in D-I. Due for slight improvement.
341	317	NJIT	Indep	opens at Washington geyeheyehey! (grabbing collar)