Saturday, March 22, 2008

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)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home