Everything's going to be all right

That's the buzz around Syracuse, surprisingly, following last night's setback in Providence. Folks around here are taking a realistic approach to the defeat, acknowledging the razor thin bench and accepting the inevitable dip in the Big East road. It could be worse. The Orange could have lost 4-straight, including losses at Seton Hall and at Cincinnati. Oh wait... that's what Georgetown is going through right now. The same Georgetown I tabbed as the disappointing team in the Big East this year. Allow myself to pat...myself...on the back.

The Orange have a week to get healthy, and then it's into The Gauntlet, version 2.0. West Virginia. At Villanova. At UConn. Georgetown. Villanova. I'll break that down next week. In the mean time, let's all just keep calm. Everything's going to be all right.

Right?

Getting Dicey

Just in case this is your source for Syracuse basketball news, check out all the latest (surprisingly extensive) injury news from Mike Waters in today's Post-Standard.

The summary: No Rautins. No Mookie. Maybe no A-O. Devo is banged up but will play. Harris missed two practices for unknown reasons, but traveled with the team today. DeShaun Williams impregnated Julie Boheim. Wait, I made that last one up.

Go Orange.

Red Hot Louisville

I gotta say, I'm nervous about this Louisville game. And its not because Louisville is red hot. That might actually be a benefit to Syracuse. I think Louisville is due for a loss. I think they might be playing over their head just a tad. I don't think they have as much talent as UConn or Pitt.

I'm nervous because, in the six days since that Pitt loss, the doubts crept back in about this Orange team. I'm pretty much back to where I was before that Notre Dame game. Here's what I said going into that one:

"Frankly, Syracuse is STILL a mystery to me... We'll know more after Saturday. If this team is for real, there is no reason to lose at home to Notre Dame, with the taste of that ugly performance still fresh. If they lose to Notre Dame, they're not awful, but they're not a top 10 team."

Well, substitute "Sunday" for "Saturday" and "Louisville" for "Notre Dame," and that's how I'm feeling right now. That Notre Dame game was fantastic. Best performance of the season. Really, except for a brief, inevitable run from the Irish, Syracuse dominated that 2nd half. But was it Syracuse at it's absolute best, a peak to strive for but rarely to be attained again? Or was it Syracuse clicking, as they should be in most games? We'll know more after Sunday.

Louisville is better than Notre Dame right now. More talented. But SU has to hold serve at home in this conference, if it is to be considered among the elite. Win, and we're at Louisville's level. Lose, and we're at Notre Dame's. With that in mind, here's my Big East power poll, divided into the key tiers. Note the top-heaviness:

Pitt
UConn
Marquette
Louisville
---------------
Syracuse
Georgetown
---------------
Notre Dame
West Virginia
Villanova
Providence
---------------
Cincinnati
St. John's
---------------
South Florida
Seton Hall
Rutgers
DePaul


I predicted a home defeat against Louisville going into the gauntlet, part 1. Now? I think we win. But I'm not sure...

P.S. Getting to the dome 4 hours before gametime to get good seats with my crazy Freshmen buddies. Busting out the "orange hair" I haven't used since I was an undergrad. Good times.

Georgetown Thought

Georgetown shot 2 of 16 from 3pt range in last night's home setback against West Virginia. Final: 75-58.

In their 88-74 win over Syracuse a week ago, the Hoyas were 12 of 21 for threes. Georgetown is shooting 33.8% for the season. If they just shoot their average in that game, Syracuse wins. I'm just sayin'... Beware Georgetown's 3-point shooting when you're filling out your brackets in March.

Actually, the Big East 3-point shooting standings are interesting. Notre Dame's 3-point shooting has, so far this season, eaten a whole wheel of cheese AND pooped in the refrigerator. I'm not even mad. That's amazing.

3-Point Shooting
		GP	3PM	3PA	PCT
1.	Notre Dame	17	160	387	41.3
2.	Connecticut	18	87	229	38.0
3.	Marquette	18	131	354	37.0
4.	Villanova	18	113	311	36.3
5.	Pittsburgh	18	115	323	35.6
6.	Syracuse	20	126	362	34.8
7.	Louisville	17	131	386	33.9
8.	Georgetown	17	106	314	33.8
9.	Cincinnati	20	143	428	33.4
10.	West Virginia	18	119	359	33.1
11.	Providence	19	134	417	32.1
12.	South Florida	18	97	305	31.8
13.	Seton Hall	18	111	354	31.4
14.	St. John's	18	79	262	30.2
15.	Rutgers	19	93	324	28.7
16.	DePaul	19	98	363	27.0

(Stats provided by STATS LLC and stolen from ESPN.com)

Dajuan Blair is good

Much better than Luke Harangody.

That was a Paul Harris game. Well, it was a Pittsburgh game first and foremost. Ugly, no flow, high turnovers. Every offensive possession for the Orange was a battle. Syracuse was down by 7 with a little over 7 minutes to play. Against any other team, that would be no problem. Against Jamie Dixon's Panthers, that felt insurmountable.

It all went wrong after Paul got into foul trouble. The technical was inexcusable. The fifth foul, the offensive charge, was rightly criticized by Jay Bilas. Other than the foul trouble, Paul was brilliant. He clamped down on taller players, blocked shots, and played, well, Pittsburgh-esque basketball. So again, a double-digit road loss that is hard to gauge.

I would be more concerned about the road play of Syracuse if not for the Memphis game, when the Orange played superbly amidst a fantastic crowd. I'm mildly concerned about Devendorf, who looked rattled as the predictable taunts rained down on him. Chris pointed this out to me long ago: some guys you don't want to taunt, because they'll use it as motivation. I'm not sure if Devendorf, for all his emotion, is that kind of a guy.

Ultimately, that's an expected bounce back victory for Pitt, and Syracuse will be back in bounce back position at home against Louisville on Sunday.

Quick Predaction: Notre Dame and Pittsburgh

Notre Dame...

• I can't emphasize enough how brilliantly Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku played on defense against Luke Harangody. Ignore the reigning conference player of the year's 25 points. It's his 9 for 28 shooting that begins to tell the story. Harangody has a fantastic touch. Of the 9 shots he did make, probably 5 or 6 of them were tough, away from the basket shots. The credit probably should start with Boeheim, who drilled into Jackson and Onuaku the need to stay down and between Harangody and the hoop.
• On the other end of the floor, I was amazed at what a lackluster defender Harangody is. Matched up mostly with Jackson, he gave up 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He committed only one foul and got only one block. He might win player of the year again based on his offensive skills, but Harangody is not going to make a good pro.

Pittsburgh...

• I was disappointed that Louisville knocked off Pittsburgh the other night, first because I wanted to play Pitt while they were undefeated and second because Pitt now has the bounce-back factor going for them, just as Syracuse had going against the Irish.
• Pitt is allowing only 63.6 ppg in the Big East. Syracuse is scoring 82.2 ppg in conference (including 59 in the ugly South Florida win). Something's gotta give. I think Pitt's Howland-Dixon defense slows down the Orange. In a lower scoring game, threes become even more valuable. If Flynn, Devo, and Rautins are hitting, Syracuse will pull this one off. I'm skeptical, though. That defense, with that crowd... doable, but unlikely. Pittsburgh, 70-68.
  

Money Pi¢k$: NFL Conference Championships

I'm starting a new running feature called Money Pi¢k$, and by starting a new feature, I mean I came up with a good idea for a running feature but I'll probably forget about it and never do it again. Here's the premise: you know how whenever sports experts make picks against the spread, they always say that they're picking, "for entertainment purposes only?" Well, I decided to go in the opposite direction. These picks are strictly for illegal gambling purposes, and should be taken right to your bookie. Bet the contents of your wallet, your car, your house, your child's college savings... I am that confident. Here we go...

Philadelphia -4 over ARIZONA

This morning I woke up to discover the tide of picks shifting to the Cardinals. For the first time, people are starting to buy into this Arizona team. Brian Billick, for example, admitted on Mike and Mike to changing his mind on this one over the course of the week, and picked the Cards.

I thought about it, and it makes sense. The offense is as good as advertised, and they're playing at home. This is NOT the Arizona defense of the regular season. Get that out of your head. These guys are playing well. The NFL, more than any other league, is affected by intangibles. Run the season again, with the Cardinals defense playing with this confidence level, and I think Arizona is a 10-win team.

That said, let's remind ourselves of how good the NFC East is. Let's also recall that the road the Cardinals took to get here traveled through two NFC south teams, which in retrospect was probably overrated.

Speaking of "-rated," this Eagles defense might be under the aforementioned "-rated." I was surprised last week when I saw that Philly had the 3rd best total defense in the regular season. Say what you will about Andy Reid, but Jim Johnson is a genius: the Bearded Blitzer. I think they get after Warner and win the turnover battle.

On the other side of the ball, everything is setting up for one last massive disappointment for Philly from my boy, the tragic Donovan McNabb...but not just yet. I'm taking the Eagles here. (Note: when I pick McNabb to win the Super Bowl, it won't be a Money Pi¢k.)


PITTSBURGH -6 over Baltimore

Yesterday I was talking to a Steelers fan about this game. He was ragging a little bit on Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, and predicting a Steelers blowout (30+ points to less than 20 points, to be precise). I forget which show I saw it on, but I believe it was Ron Jaworski who pointed out that Ed Reed is missing tackles this year because of a bum shoulder, running film of him blowing an open field tackle. Interesting. I do think that Ray Lewis made some nice adjustments at the beginning of the year to his steroid cycle, which explains his rejuvenation. Credit where credit is due there. Ha ha ha, just kidding! I don't want to get in any legal trouble here!

My Steeler's friend says the best part of the Raven's defense is their line. Remember that when you start talking yourself into Willie Parker having an amazing day based on his performance last week.

I hesitated to agree with my friend's prediction of a rout, instead suggeting the game would be what we all think it is going to be: a low-scoring, classic cold weather battle of defenses. Aren't we all just drooling over that prospect? One last, final, last cold weather classic in a year that has had a few? Yeah, me too. Which makes me think it might be wishful thinking...

The key here is Joey Joe-Joe Junior Flacco. Yeah, he's looked solid. Solid enough that the utterly useless Dan Dierdorf proclaimed during the Titans-Ravens game that he was never going to call Joey Joe-Joe a rookie ever again after he threw that TD to Derrick Mason (underrated throughout his career, by the way) in the first quarter. I listened, and I don't think Dierdorf ever did use the word rookie in reference to Junior Flacco. He managed to stick with the term "young" whenever Joey Joe-Joe made a bad play. Well done, Dan Dierdorf.

(Speaking of the coverage of that game, I think a fantastic football game was almost ruined by both the commentary and the directing. Wait...I'm going to search for the technical director of that game and call him out. OK, I can't find his/her name. Whoever it is, if you're reading this, let me give you some constructive criticism. Instant replay should be your number one priority in between plays, not sideline shots. Chris Johnson's injury was a key storyline, but not to the point where we needed to see him in between every other 4th quarter play. Give us replays instead! One example: that play when Joey Joe-Joe almost stepped out of the endzone. Needed a replay there. Best of luck with your career. Keep working at it!)

Don't tell Dierdorf, but I'm re-instituting the label "rookie" for Junior Flacco for this game. If the game is close, you have to like Ben over Joey Joe-Joe in the fourth quarter. If (and I think this is likely) the Steelers open up a two score lead in the first half, you're looking at Junior Flacco needing to make some plays. Ultimately, I don't think he can do it at this point in his career. It's the Steelers by at least a TD.

There you go... Money Pi¢k$: picks you can wager actual money on. Now go do it!

Salary Cap Considerations

First, read this excellent article referred to me by my brother Dan. Shawn Hoffman of Baseball Prospectus points out that a salary cap in baseball might be devastating to small market teams, believe it or not.

Chris actually was the first one to get me thinking outside the box about the value of parity, particularly in baseball. Frankly, it's delightful to see the Yankees lose. It was cool to root for the Rays this year, and smaller teams in general.

Chris has also criticized the NFL because "he doesn't know who is good," and that has really played out this year. Still, I think the NFL regular season is ridiculously compelling because of the parity. I haven't been into fantasy that much, and I'm still addicted to watching football on Sunday almost in spite of myself.

On the other hand...last year was one of the best NFL regular seasons in memory precisely because there was one dominant team. Actually, there was one dominant team and a couple really, really good teams. Remember the hype for the Cowboys-Pats, Indy-Pats, and Giants-Pats games? Ridiculous.

Predaction: Georgetown and Notre Dame

Main thought:
Frankly, Syracuse is STILL a mystery to me. How can you draw any conclusions from a game with such a ridiculous FG% disparity in the first half, and with Rautins playing only 9 minutes? We'll know more after Saturday. If this team is for real, there is no reason to lose at home to Notre Dame, with the taste of that ugly performance still fresh. If they lose to Notre Dame, they're not awful, but they're not a top 10 team.

Further thoughts:

• Must've been wishful thinking picking Georgetown as the disappointing team of the Big East this year in my rankings. Could be SU. Could be ND. Heck, it could be a team playing great at the moment.
• I briefly forgot how good a coach JT-III is. I still think, when SU is playing reasonably well, and Georgetown isn't hitting 57.1% from three, that the SU zone is a rough matchup for his offense. He's 3-4 lifetime against the Orange, but the Hoyas have been ranked much higher than the Orange the last few years.
• I've never been more impressed by a guy who didn't hit a FG until 13 minutes to play. Greg Monroe is a stud. Chris texted me and called him "A taller, better Jeff Green."
• Rick Jackson had a tough game. His 4 turnovers were glaring. But he still ended up with 17 points on 8-10 shooting. Chris saw it first; this guy is going to be a star.
• A-O, meanwhile, was invisible on offense. He has to be more of a presence on that end against these marquee teams. On the other hand, maybe 23 points and 18 rebounds from the Onuaku-Jackson tandem should be enough.
• I loved Devendorf tonight. Nice game from Harris, and outstanding effort as usual. Couldn't ask any more of Flynn.
• Kris Joseph looked like a freshman. Kristof Ongenaet was more of a presence, but the game was out of his league. No Mookie Jones for his 3-ball? OK, coach. Forget I asked.

Saturday, noon, The Dome...

• Look for a big game out of Onuaku. He relishes matching up against the stud centers.
• Pay attention to Rautins's demeanor, if he plays. He was clearly rattled by the injury tonight. He seems to be a psychologically sensitive guy. If he plays, and misses his first couple shots, that could spiral into a longterm slump.
• With the Rautins injury, let's see if Boeheim takes the opportunity to start Devendorf. I wouldn't complain. He is clearly starter-caliber. However, Chris has convinced me that Rautins is better player when he starts. A quick analysis of his best games this year and last year confirms it. Devendorf, on the other hand, is clearly still a force coming off the bench.
• Call me crazy, but I still believe Syracuse is more talented than Georgetown. They're more talented than Notre Dame, too, and will prove it with their best first half of the season. F'ing McAlarney makes it interesting in the second half, but Syracuse never gives up the lead and wins it by 10.
  

Predaction: Into the Gauntlet

Reaction: First 4 Big East games.

• Obviously, the best part of SU's performance in the first 4 matches of Big East play was Andy Rautins. From a worryingly bad slump to start the season, Rautins has re-established himself as the team's best shooter.
• Another thing I loved during these first 4 games was that all of the key players had at least one game where they played fantastic. The Rutgers game was particularly pleasing for the effectiveness of the inside game. Harris and Onuaku combined to shoot 19 of 22. Who do you focus your defense on now if you're an SU opponent?

Prediction: Gauntlet Part 1 - January

@Georgetown: Win. We matchup well against the Hoyas and our zone has given all but JT-III's most talented teams trouble.

Notre Dame: Win. Kyle McAlarney? Meet Andy Rautins. For once, a shootout with the Irish will work in our favor. If our offense is clicking, we're set.

@ Pittsburgh: Loss. A tough, great place to play. Speaking of which, I don't think I commented on how great the Memphis crowd was. For all our Memphis readers, well done. Your energy came through the TV-set.

Louisville: Win. SU holds serve at home. The dome is rockin' this year.

@Providence: Loss. Just seems like we'll lose to an inferior team at some point. I think it's decent Providence.

3-2? I'll take it.

The 2nd Annual-ish Insanity NCAA Rankings

For those of you who just about gave up on my promise of ranking every single team in Division I... gotcha suckas!! This year the rankings are even more insane, with 5 more D-I teams than last year!

A few notes on my method... I went conference by conference, taking a cursory look at each squad then giving them an approximate ranking out of 347. Afterward, I went back and shifted them around a bit. In short, it's highly unscientific, completely subjective, and borderline reckless journalism. In other words, it's classic Sports Sauna. I am, however, willing to GUARANTEE that 95% of the teams will be ranked accurately, +/-100. (In other words, I can only be off by more than 100 spots for 5% of the 328 teams.)

Here are the sources/facts I considered for the rankings, in order of importance:
1. My own knowledge (admittedly limited)
2. Results through Friday, January 9.
3. ESPN.com's college basketball team pages
4. Complete Blue Ribbon College Yearbook, courtesy ESPN.com
5. Google search

• Tip: the best way to look up a particular team is using CTRL-F to search through the entire page.
• Sometime soon I'll draw up a bracket based on my rankings, as well as rank the conferences.
• Last year's ranking
• Last year's pre-season bracket
• Last year's reviewed ranking after the bracket was released in March.
  

1	North Carolina	ACC	BC loss was a fluke. This is the team to beat.
2	Connecticut	Big East	UConn v. UNC in the finals? Gouge my eye out with a spoon!
3	Oklahoma	Big 12	Blake Griffin is better as a sophomore than Tyler Hansbrough will ever be.
4	UCLA	Pac-10	Allow 58.2 ppg. Ben Howland is amazing.
5	Duke	ACC	Last year experience was a weakness. This year it’s a strength. Thaaat's NCAA basketball!
6	Pittsburgh	Big East	One big win so far (Georgetown) may not be as big as it appears.
7	Wake Forest	ACC	My theory: soph G Jeff Teague IS Jonny Flynn
8	Xavier	A-10	Lost 3 best players from a 30 win team, but still the cream of the A-10.
9	Marquette	Big East	Three excellent seniors. If I'm a Marquette fan I've got high hopes.
10	Syracuse	Big East	Frankly, this team is still a mystery for me. I'm more guarded in my optimism than most around here.
11	Michigan St.	Big 10	Easily your Big 10 champs
12	Kansas	Big 12	Win against Tenn sign that Kansas is heating up for conference play, as usual.
13	Villanova	Big East	Experienced, talented, but not a title threat.
14	Texas	Big 12	Everyone loves AJ Abrams, but in losses to Ark and Mich St he had 7 and 8 points.
15	Notre Dame	Big East	You can keep Harangody. McAlarney scares the crap out of me.
16	Memphis	C-USA	2-2 against the Big East. Just join up already!!
17	Texas A&M	Big 12	Surprising to me: Billy Gillespie misses A&M more than A&M misses Billy Gillespie.
18	Davidson	Southern	They lost their three biggest televised games, all on the road. Don't dismiss them.
19	Louisville	Big East	Non-conference sched was no cakewalk, but if this team was top-tier, it should be undefeated right now.
20	Ohio St.	Big 10	No seniors, but they do have the great Thad Matta.
21	Baylor	Big 12	Balanced offense, nice defense = 18.1 scoring margin into conference play
22	Dayton	A-10	Only loss was @Creighton. Picked up big win against Marquette.
23	Gonzaga	WCC	Still easily at-large worthy.
24	Butler	Horizon	Lost 4 starters from 30-win team, but you don't rebuild at Butler. You reload.
25	Florida	SEC	NIT streak ends at one. Back to the NCAAs.
26	California	Pac-10	Mike Montgomery takes over and improvement is immediate.
27	Clemson	ACC	Undefeated non-conference with big wins against teams like…um…Illinois?
28	Arizona St.	Pac-10	Sun Devils still smarting from NCAA snub. Join the club.
29	West Virginia	Big East	Say what you will about his tourney performance, Huggins can recruit. Flat-out recruit!
30	Georgia Tech	ACC	I don't know who this Gani Lawal guy is, but he's putting up some great numbers.
31	Saint Mary's	WCC	The Aussie-heavy Gaels are in good position to get an at-large.
32	UNLV	MWC	Remind me again why Lon Kruger is not in a major conference?
33	Vanderbilt	SEC	Vandy going for its third straight NCAA tournament, best streak ever.
34	Wisconsin	Big 10	Played some big non-conference games but didn't win any.
35	BYU	MWC	Lost Trent Plaisted, but have two players averaging 18+ ppg.
36	Temple	A-10	4 return from the surprise conference tourney champs of last year.
37	Arkansas	SEC	Wins over Oklahoma and Texas are impressive. 1-1 road record isn't.
38	Minnesota	Big 10	Neutral court win over Louisville was impressive in otherwise lackluster schedule.
39	Utah St.	WAC	Still the class of the WAC
40	Michigan	Big 10	Beilein's done it. Back to the tourney.
41	Tennessee	SEC	Perhaps as overrated as their win over Georgetown.
42	Evansville	MVC	Only non-conf losses were @Butler, @UNC.
43	Maryland	ACC	Got their revenge for last season's loss to American. Next step: back to the tourney.
44	Kentucky	SEC	Year 2 of the Gillespie era. If they barely miss the NCAAs again, how much longer will he last?
45	Arizona	Pac-10	Chase Budinger is very, very good…just not great.
46	Creighton	MVC	Altman going for a remarkable 11th straight 20-win season.
47	Georgetown	Big East	One team is bound to disappoint in the Big East. I think it's the Hoyas; DaJuan Summers overrated?
48	San Diego St.	MWC	Steve Fisher returns his starting lineup from an NIT team.
49	Illinois St.	MVC	No non-conf losses, but weak sched eliminates chance of at-large.
50	Tulsa	C-USA	Handed Texas A&M its only loss. Watch out for the Golden Hurricane in March.
51	Siena	MAAC	Safe bet to return to the dance
52	Boston College	ACC	Win over UNC=tourney bid. Loss to Harvard=upset in first round.
53	Purdue	Big 10	Bubble bound after starting conference 0-2.
54	Drake	MVC	Wins over Iowa, Iowa St. proves this is the best team in Iowa
55	Florida State	ACC	McD's Frosh Chris Singleton leads the Seminoles onto the bubble.
56	Alabama	SEC	Sr. PG Ronald Steele withdrew from the draft. He's key for their chance to dance.
57	Missouri	Big 12	4 return from a 16-16 team. Decent shot at the tourney.
58	Northern Iowa	MVC	Hung 105 on Auburn.
59	E. Tenn. St.	A-Sun	Watch out for the Bucs in the NCAAs: two players average 20+
60	Stanford	Pac-10	New coach Johnny Dawkins went undefeated in non-conference, Duke-style.
61	Middle Tenn. St.	Sun Belt	Rolling to a 5-0 start in conference. You'll be pondering them for an upset in your bracket.
62	Washington	Pac-10	Huskies feature a Freshman G named Isaiah Thomas!!
63	UAB	C-USA	Brutal non-conference sched will pay dividends in conference play.
64	VCU	Colonial	Eric Maynor, who hit the buzzer-beater to upset Duke in 07, wants more in his senior season.
65	Oklahoma St.	Big 12	These guys can score. 85.9ppg and 5 players in double digits.
66	UTEP	C-USA	Senior G Stegon Jackson dropped 31 on Wake Forest in a 3-point loss.
67	Miami (OH)	MAC	Deep, talented.
68	Providence	Big East	Friars have NIT written all over them.
69	LSU	SEC	Trent Johnson arrives, success is sure to follow soon.
70	Duquesne	A-10	Led by senior G Aaron Jackson: 17P/5.8R/6.1A
71	USC	Pac-10	In DeMar DeRozan, the "D" might stand for disappointing
72	Bradley	MVC	Only MVC team to start conference 4-0, but the road gets tougher soon.
73	VMI	Big South	Score 96.7, give up 85.5. Could be a tough 1st round matchup.
74	Buffalo	MAC	Been a couple years…time to make that drive and catch a Bulls game or two.
75	TCU	MWC	Overall record belies struggles on road, including losses @Charleston, @La. Tech.
76	Portland St.	Big Sky	Quality. Won @Gonzaga and lost by 1 @Washington.
77	St. John's	Big East	Win over ND reveals Red Storm as bubble threat.
78	LaSalle	A-10	Experienced team may finally be a factor in the conference.
79	George Mason	Colonial	Another nice team for Larranaga.
80	Saint Louis	A-10	Good: allowing 55.6ppg. Bad: 0-3 on the road.
81	Illinois	Big 10	The future is not now. But it's coming.
82	St. Bonaventure	A-10	The long road back may finally be winding in the right direction.
83	Rhode Island	A-10	Losses by 3 @Duke, 1 @Prov eliminated any hope at ending on the right side of the bubble.
84	South Carolina	SEC	New Coach Darrin Horn will miss the good years at Western Kentucky.
85	Cornell	Ivy	A virtual lock for the conference championship, NCAAs
86	Kansas St.	Big 12	No Beasley, no NCAAs
87	Boise St.	WAC	Success of the football team is starting to rub off on the basketball program.
88	NC State	ACC	Missed all three chances at quality non-conference W's: @Davidson, Marquette, @Florida.
89	Penn St.	Big 10	Cupcake schedule will be enough for the NIT.
90	Belmont	A-Sun	Return 4 starters. Nice offensive balance with 4 players in double-digits.
91	Washington St.	Pac-10	Negatives: one of the best backcourts in the nation is gone. Positives: Tony Bennett
92	Austin Peay	OVC	No team has won more games in the Ohio Valley in the last 6 seasons.
93	Utah	MWC	CBI last year, NIT this year, NCAA next year?
94	St. Joseph's	A-10	Coach Martelli was brilliant in getting the Hawks into the tourney last year. Won't do it again.
95	Iowa	Big 10	2nd year coach Todd Lickliter struggling to replicate success he had at Butler.
96	Niagara	MAAC	Strong on offense, defense AND special teams
97	Kent St.	MAC	Couldn't pull out a marquee non-conference W, but this is a good team.
98	UCF	C-USA	Senior G Jermaine Taylor averages 23.1ppg with 39% from 3-pt range
99	Iowa State	Big 12	3rd year Coach McDermitt has been hit hard with transfers, including Wesley Joshson to SU.
100	Nevada	WAC	Freshman F Luke Babbitt is scoring 15.2ppg
101	Ohio	MAC	Hot coaching prospect John Groce gets to work.
102	Navy	Patriot	Lost the conference's all-time leading scorer, but could be a Donte Greene-like situation.
103	Arkansas St.	Sun Belt	John Brady led LSU to the Final Four a few years ago. He's got the Red Wolves playing well.
104	Seton Hall	Big East	Pirates live and die with Soph G Jeremy Hazell's offense, 3-point shooting.
105	UC Riverside	Big West	USC transfer Kyle Austin the highlight of many new faces at a program on the rise.
106	Wis.-Green Bay	Horizon	Has rebounded since early season loss to D-II Rollins College.
107	Harvard	Ivy	Junior G Jeremy Lin is the best player, hero of the BC game
108	George Washington	A-10	GW beat Harvard who beat UNC, so GW has a case for #1!
109	Cincinnati	Big East	Jr. G Deonta Vaughn needs to lift his scoring back to last year's levels for Bearcats to make noise.
110	Murray St.	OVC	Disappointing non-conference doesn't dampen high hopes overall.
111	Virginia Tech	ACC	One scorer and one rebounder = another weak ACC team from Virginia.
112	Virginia	ACC	One scorer and one rebounder = one weak ACC team from Virginia.
113	New Mexico	MWC	Remind me again why Steve Alford is not in a major conference?
114	Pacific	Big West	Suspensions in wake of alleged sexual assault killed Tigers this year.
115	Richmond	A-10	Best player blew out his knee in summer league.
116	Northeastern	Colonial	Beat Harvard, who beat BC, who beat UNC.
117	Wis.-Milwaukee	Horizon	They'll be back in the tourney in the next couple years.
118	Long Beach State	Big West	Coach Dan Monson's already showing massive improvement off his 6-25 debut
119	Georgia	SEC	It took The Tornado Tournament for Georgia to earn an NCAA bid last year. Tough road again.
120	Tenn-Martin	OVC	I don't know much, but I do know it's good to have a guy who scores 26.5ppg (Lester Hudson)
121	Cal St. Fullerton	Big West	Shooter Josh Akognon averaged 17.5 in 8 defeats, 30.7 in 7 victories.
122	Miami	ACC	Another year, another insignificant Miami basketball team.
123	Houston	C-USA	Rebuilding, but still one of the quietly solid mid-major programs under ol' Tom Penders.
124	Ark.-Little Rock	Sun Belt	All five starters return from a 20-win team. Look for them in March.
125	Jacksonville	A-Sun	Nice program momentum: RPI in coach's 1st 3 years: 331, 201, 164
126	DePaul	Big East	A year away from being interesting.
127	Fairfield	MAAC	Towards the top of the conference.
128	Auburn	SEC	15 players have left the program during coach Jeff Lebo's reign.
129	Jackson St.	SWAC	.4 seconds away from the NCAAs last year.
130	Texas Tech	Big 12	Pat Knight is no Bobby Knight; these guys can't defend.
131	Southern Miss	C-USA	Larry Eustachy is in his fourth year here. Who knew?
132	Western Kentucky	Sun Belt	Rebuilding, so we may have to suffer the NCAAs without the best mascot in college sports.
133	Mississippi St.	SEC	Came up empty in their biggest non-conference games.
134	Old Dominion	Colonial	Should improve on last year's 18 wins, a down year for this program.
135	North Dakota St.	Summit	Entire class was redshirted 5 years ago with 1st season as full-fledged D-I team in mind.
136	Appalachian St.	Southern	Bombs away! Top four scorers all shoot the three. Potential first round nightmare.
137	Rutgers	Big East	Freshman G Mike Rosario's 17.6ppg is only double-digit average.
138	Nebraska	Big 12	Why is Nebraska so bad at basketball? Oh yeah. It's in Nebraska.
139	Mississippi	SEC	Worse than the Andy Kennedy incident, PG Chris Warren's 19.6ppg are out for the season.
140	Mercer	A-Sun	Started season with wins over Alabama, Auburn and an OT loss to Ga. Tech. What the…?
141	Cleveland St.	Horizon	Damn you Cedric Jackson
142	Umass	A-10	Step back for the Minutemen this year. Allowing 72.8ppg.
143	Cal St. Northridge	Big West	Brutal non-conference sched will pay dividends in conference play.
144	American University	Patriot	On the right track for a second straight conference title.
145	Alabama St.	SWAC	Keyed by intimidating 7-1 center Chief Kickingstallionsims
146	Ill-Chicago	Horizon	Won @Vandy, @Ga Tech but stumbled early in conference.
147	Jacksonville St.	OVC	Slaughtered a very good VMI team.
148	Lamar	Soutland	Cardinals hope to avoid peaking too early and actually qualify for the postseason.
149	UC Davis	Big West	In it's 2nd season as D-I, a mid-major program to keep an eye on down the road.
150	Hofstra	Colonial	JUCO transfer, 2nd leading scorer (13.2) Cornelius Vines grew up in Syracuse.
151	Southern Illinois	MVC	Talented team is struggling, in danger of missing NCAAs for 2nd straight year.
152	East Carolina	C-USA	If you recognize the name of coach Mack McCarthy, you must be an NCAA junky.
153	Robert Morris	NEC	Last year's regular season conference champ wants to dance this year.
154	Stetson	A-Sun	One of my favorite nicknames: Stetson Hatters. Clever!
155	South Florida	Big East	Exhibit 1-A for bashers of Big East's bottom. Still, almost beat UVA at home.
156	Akron	MAC	Zips are young. Expect a step back this year.
157	New Mexico St.	WAC	Best player, Herb Pope, transferred to Seton Hall in September.
158	Weber St.	Big Sky	Lacking a star to lead them back to the NCAAs. Look for them next year.
159	San Francisco	WCC	Jr. F Dior Lowhorn scoring 20+ppg for the second year in a row.
160	Oral Roberts	Summit	3-time defending conference champs lost 4 starters.
161	Charleston	Southern	Wins over TCU and South Carolina gives coach Bobby Cremins reason to be optimistic.
162	San Diego	WCC	Nice win @Miss St. heading into conference play.
163	Morehead St.	OVC	5-1 start to conference came via an easy early schedule
164	Tulane	C-USA	One step back following two steps forward for Gary Williams protégé Dave Dickerson.
165	Wyoming	MWC	Definitely the best team in Wyoming
166	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	Turns out Stephen F. Austin was born in Virginia!
167	Oakland	Summit	Winning non-conference record signals Grizzlies are legitimate threat in league.
168	Liberty	Big South	Solid. Beat Virginia and played Clemson, DePaul, and Saint Louis tough.
169	Wright St.	Horizon	Has had a 6-game lossing streak and more recently a 6-game winning streak.
170	Indiana	Big 10	Awful, but Tom Crean will have them back quicker than you think.
171	Alabama A&M	SWAC	Pre-season league contender off to a slow start in conference.
172	Portland	WCC	Can score, but not defend…just like almost every team in the conference.
173	Bowling Green	MAC	Louis Orr coaches here. Go Orange!
174	Brown	Ivy	Lost two key players, but still a challenger.
175	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	Star PG is redshirting with an injured wrist. Gauchos could be good next year.
176	Vermont	Am. East	Back to the tourney after rebuilding last year.
177	Montana	Big Sky	JUCO transfer Anthony Johnson scored 30+ in first two conference wins.
178	Rider	MAAC	Ryan Thompson's (16.7ppg) older brother Jason was a lottery pick from Rider last year.
179	Oregon	Pac-10	After years on the hot seat, this could be it for Ernie Kent.
180	Northwestern	Big 10	Slim hope to beat last year's conference win total of 1.
181	Long Island	NEC	Picked to finish last in conference last year, challenging for title this year.
182	Oregon St.	Pac-10	I would've said this was the worst major conference team if not for their win over USC.
183	Hawaii	WAC	Reasonably played all their non-conference games at home except a random trip to Illinois.
184	Morgan St.	MEAC	Rewarded for conference's toughest non-conf sched with wins over Maryland, DePaul.
185	South Alabama	Sun Belt	G Dominic Tilford is shooting 46% from 3
186	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	Colonels average 75 per game.
187	E. Washington	Big Sky	Aptly named head coach Kirk Earlywine recently arrested at 1:55am for DUI.
188	Southern	SWAC	24-year vet coach Rob Spivery says they're top 3 in the conference.
189	Pennsylvania	Ivy	Not many wins against a tough non-conf sched, but will be tough in conference.
190	Colorado	Big 12	Lost to Montana St. in 2nd game. Geheyeheyehey! (Grabbing collar.)
191	Tennesee St.	OVC	Brutal road swing included a 102-58 drubbing by Kentucky
192	Air Force	MWC	Lost at home to Stonybrook on the eve of conference play.
193	Idaho St.	Big Sky	Win over Utah signals outside shot for first NCAA bid since the 80s.
194	Sacred Heart	NEC	Dave Bike (Sacred Heart '69) is in his 31st year as head coach.
195	Idaho	WAC	The third best team in Idaho
196	Charlotte	A-10	5-7 start proves how far this program has fallen.
197	Columbia	Ivy	Coach and Oswego grad Joseph Jones has improved squad from crap to not awful.
198	Eastern Illinois	OVC	Beat Western Illinois, but Southern and Northern Illinois wouldn't give em a game!
199	Mount St. Mary's	NEC	Brutal non-conference sched didn't kill them. It made them stronger.
200	Prairie View	SWAC	3-0 start in conference
201	New Orleans	Sun Belt	Talked NC St, Ole Miss, and Tulane into a visit. Beat the latter.
202	Troy	Sun Belt	Is Coach Don Maestri on the hot seat in his 28th season at this once-excellent mid-major.
203	Lehigh	Patriot	Knocked off Rutgers at the Pit.
204	Western Illinois	Summit	Score under 60ppg.
205	Princeton	Ivy	Former Tiger Sydney Johnson progressing slightly in 2nd year of his rebuilding effort
206	Iona	MAAC	Took Wisconsin to OT, but just a mediocre squad.
207	UC Irvine	Big West	Improved down stretch last year, could do it again.
208	Colorado St.	MWC	2nd year coach Tim Miles has yet to win in conference.
209	IUPUI	Summit	Won @Seton Hall.
210	Quinnipiac	NEC	Have several scorers, including Jr G James Feldeine (19.1ppg)
211	Santa Clara	WCC	6-10 C John Bryant leads Broncos with 17.4ppg
212	North Texas	Sun Belt	Need to pick up the pace to get their 3rd-straight 20-win season.
213	Texas-San Antonio	Southland	Crazy turnover in 3 years Brooks Thompson has been coach.
214	Wagner	NEC	6th year coach Mike Deane graduated from SUNY Potsdam.
215	Western Carolina	Southern	Catamounts have suffered from departures, graduation and non-graduation.
216	Wichita St.	MVC	Have lost by single-digits to all the best teams on their schedule.
217	Rice	C-USA	One of the underrated colleges for having an absurd name.
218	Montana State	Big Sky	I have nothing to say about Montana State
219	Texas A&M-CC	Southland	Rewarded for tough non-conf schedule with win over Georgia.
220	Manhattan	MAAC	3rd year Coach Barry Rohrssen is a Ben Howland disciple. I like it.
221	Marshall	C-USA	2nd year coach Donnie Jones is a Billy Donovan disciple Oooooooohhhh!
222	Binghamton	Am. East	Ex-SU recruit Tiki Mayben transferred here from Umass
223	Indiana St.	MVC	League doormat upset Northern Iowa to kick off another brutal season in the Valley.
224	Tennessee Tech	OVC	I have nothing to say about Tennessee Tech.
225	La.-Monroe	Sun Belt	Slow start, but deep team should be a factor in conference.
226	James Madison	Colonial	Fun Fact: JMU's campus is divided in half by interstate 81.
227	Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt	Signed a couple malcontents from UNLV. Not surprisingly, they've been disappointing.
228	Georgia Southern	Southern	Started promising season with nice win over Houston.
229	Cal Poly	Big West	Marker for the Big West; its worst team beat the best team in the Big Sky.
230	Hampton	MEAC	Only scoring 56.5 ppg, within no one in double figures.
231	South Dakota St.	Summit	Jackrabbits took down Iowa St. before starting conference with 2 losses.
232	Missouri St.	MVC	They used to be called Southwest Missouri St. I was wondering where they went.
233	Delaware	Colonial	Three players average more than 15 a game.
234	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	Rough start, but experienced lineup + JUCO transfers could translate to conference wins.
235	Marist	MAAC	Not this year, but down the road Coach Chuck Martin will have a nice little team.
236	Denver	Sun Belt	Joe Scott, previously of Air Force and Princeton, runs the latter-named offense here.
237	Youngstown St.	Horizon	The middle of the conference standings is an improvement for the Penguins.
238	Radford	Big South	Returns 5 starters from a team that finished 7th in Big South.
239	Lipscomb	A-Sun	Proud holders of the title: "Worst Team to Beat Indiana this Year"
240	Drexel	Colonial	Took down St. Joe's in the Palestra earlier this year.
241	Colgate	Patriot	Colgate somehow recruits from all over the country. Just check out their roster.
242	UNC-Asheville	Big South	Blown out by the Campbell Fighting Camels earlier, but started Big South 3-1.
243	Ball St.	MAC	This is the year this once solid program starts to turn things around.
244	S. Carolina St.	MEAC	Off a 20-loss season, Bulldogs are back in running for conference championship.
245	San Jose St.	WAC	Failed to take advantage of a weak non-conference schedule.
246	Loyola (MD)	MAAC	Throttled fellow bottom-dweller Canisius, so that's something.
247	Cen. Conn. St.	NEC	Lost a 4-year starter, return the rest of last year's starting lineup.
248	Texas St.	Southland	Top two scorers both have initials BB! How interesting, how bizarre!
249	Georgia State	Colonial	Slight mprovement in 2nd year in the conference.
250	IPFW	Summit	29-year old Dane Fife is youngest coach in D-I and entering his 4th season.
251	Chicago St.	Indep.	Senior backcourt averages 42.7 ppg.
252	Lafayette	Patriot	15-15 last year is unlikely to be matched.
253	Hartford	Am. East	Non-conference sched @ Uconn and Stanford will pay off with a nice conference season.
254	Florida International	Sun Belt	Banking on JUCO transfer JC Otero's return from injury next month.
255	Holy Cross	Patriot	Injuries derailing this season.
256	Seattle U	Indep.	Leading scorer's name is Austen Powers!
257	UMKC	Summit	Program on steady decline will improve this year.
258	Coastal Carolina	Big South	Nicknamed the Chanticleers, which, as it turns out, is a rooster.
259	The Citadel	Southern	It's The Citadel. Not Citadel.
260	Charleston Southern	Big South	Soph G Jamarco Warren averages 21.4 but needs help.
261	Towson	Colonial	Pat Kennedy won at Florida St. and DePaul, but still can't win in 5 seasons at Towson.
262	McNeese St.	Southland	Respectable final scores @TCU, @LSU, @Texas A&M
263	Louisiana Tech	WAC	Some talent, balance, height but not getting the results so far.
264	Valparaiso	Horizon	Don't look for them in March.
265	Northern Illinois	MAC	Can score but can't defend.
266	Nicholls St.	Southland	Coming out of 4 years of probation related to an academic scandal, Colonels are a year away.
267	Texas-Pan American	Indep.	Part of the new Great West Conference next year.
268	Longwood	Indep.	Longwood Lancers pride themselves on their phallic imagery.
269	Ark.-Pine Bluff	SWAC	Snagged a win at SMU amidst 11-game road trip to start season.
270	Albany	Am. East	Only teams to beat Albany by more than 11 are Kansas and Nova.
271	Central Arkansas	Southland	Leading scorer's name is Marcus Pillow!
272	Central Michigan	MAC	The second-worst directional Michigan.
273	Army	Patriot	Hasn't had a winning record since Coach K was here.
274	Gardner-Webb	Big South	Close @Oklahoma and @South Carolina in November, pasted by @Kansas St. in December.
275	Boston	Am. East	Terriers played Notre Dame to within 7 at South Bend.
276	North Dakota	Indep.	Part of the new Great West Conference next year.
277	Campbell	A-Sun	They're not the Camels. They're the Fighting Camels.
278	NC A&T	MEAC	3rd straight 15-win season is likely in this putrid conference.
279	Wofford	Southern	Nice G-F combo in Jr. Junior Salters and Soph. Noah Dahlman.
280	Fresno St.	WAC	Unimpressive in non-conference.
281	William and Mary	Colonial	Beat Harvard, who beat BC, who beat UNC.
282	Southern Methodist	C-USA	Matt Doherty plays 3 Senegalese players. Odd.
283	Toledo	MAC	Somehow beat UMass.
284	Canisius	MAAC	All five starters return from the worst team in the conference.
285	Presbyterian	Big South	I wonder if freshman Steven Yien Gatkuoth (Nasir, Sudan) is Presbyterian?
286	Utah Valley	Indep.	Part of the new Great West Conference next year.
287	Northwestern St.	Southland	11 newbies…you'd think one would be able to contribute at least 10ppg, wouldn't you?
288	Bethune Cookman	MEAC	20+ year streak without a winning season ends this year. Maybe
289	Loyola (IL)	Horizon	Lost season opener to D-II Rockhurst
290	Monmouth	NEC	Return 4 starters, but still young. Next year could be better.
291	Western Michigan	MAC	The third-worst directional Michigan.
292	Bucknell	Patriot	Back from whence ye came.
293	Winthrop	Big South	No fifth-straight conference title. Eagles couldn't even beat a D-1 non-conference opponent.
293	SE Louisiana	Southland	You can't fool us with those 4 D-II wins!
295	Texas-Arlington	Southland	Only teams willing to play @the Mavericks were D-II schools.
296	Cal State Bakersfield	Indep.	Only four wins to show from a respectful schedule.
297	Southern Utah	Summit	6 newcomers this year.
298	Pepperdine	WCC	Yoiks! This team used to be excellent. What happened?
299	Eastern Michigan	MAC	The worst directional Michigan.
300	Miss. Valley St.	SWAC	Played 12 games without a home game - or a win.
301	Delaware State	MEAC	I finally drove through Delaware last week. I didn't see any good basketball teams.
302	Yale	Ivy	Lost to D-I newbie Bryant.
303	Grambling St.	SWAC	Another coach, another rough season in Grambling.
304	South Dakota	Indep.	Part of the new Great West Conference next year.
305	Florida Atlantic	Sun Belt	"I didn't come here to coach. I came here to live." New coach Mike Jarvis. OK…
306	Samford	Southern	Scorred 22 points @Ohio St.
307	USC Upstate	A-Sun	In a short conference, the Spartans start a 7-3 German. Yoiks!
308	Chattanooga	Southern	Odd result: 100-95 loss at Davidson.
309	UMBC	Am. East	Senior F Darryl Proctor averaging 19/9
310	Fordham	A-10	Lost to Columbia at home. Everyone beats Columbia!
311	SE Missouri St.	OVC	As NCAA investigates possible major violations, the Redhawks have already fired the coach.
312	St. Peter's	MAAC	Ithaca native John Dunne got a contract extension for 11 wins in 2 seasons.
313	Florida Gulf Coast	A-Sun	Gator championships not withstanding, I have come to the conclusion that Florida is a football state.
314	Winston-Salem	Indep.	With NC Central, transitioning into MEAC
315	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	Lumberjacks? There's lumber in northern Arizona?
316	St. Francis (NY)	NEC	Slightly better than their PA counterpart.
317	St. Francis (PA)	NEC	Slightly worse than their NY counterpart.
318	SIU Edwardsville	Indep.	Transitioning into the Ohio Valley Conference.
319	UNC Greensboro	Southern	Without a D-I win in non-conference, win @App St was a shocker.
320	Texas Southern	SWAC	1st year head coach Tony Harvey was part of the infamous Quin Snyder Missouri staff.
321	Detroit	Horizon	0-6 start in conference and little chance of improvement.
322	Sam Houston St.	Southland	Turns out Sam Houston was governor of Tennessee!
323	New Hampshire	Am. East	Starting C Dane Diliegro's bro Ross walked-on at Syracuse.
324	Norfolk State	MEAC	Last year was their first D-I winning season ever…was it their last??
325	Fairleigh Dickinson	NEC	Allow 80 ppg.
326	Savannah St	Indep.	No players in double-digits ppg.
327	Centenary	Summit	No winning seasons since 04-05.
328	Kennesaw State	A-Sun	Bad sign that Blue Ribbon didn't bother to preview 4 of A-Sun's 11 teams
329	Loyola Marymount	WCC	If WCC doesn't get two bids, they can blame this RPI killer.
330	Bryant	Indep.	Transitioning into the Northeast Conference.
331	Maine	Am. East	Bears put up 126 this year against MPI. Problem: I googled MPI and couldn't find it. It may not exist!
332	Elon	Southern	Elon spelled backwards is Nole.
333	Coppin St.	MEAC	Tywain McKee dropped 31 on Syracuse, but has no help.
334	Dartmouth	Ivy	Two wins against miserable Furman and D-II Plymouth St.
335	UNC-Wilmington	Colonial	Tough to win when you're giving up 90 points a game.
336	Florida A&M	MEAC	If you haven't figured it out, Florida basketball is terrible.
337	High Point	Big South	Can't think of a funny pun to say "High Point sucks."
338	Md.-Eastern Shore	MEAC	No winning seasons in 25, make that 26 years.
339	Stony Brook	Am. East	Scoring problems: only 39 against NJIT.
340	Sacramento State	Big Sky	Enters conference play 3 wins short of last year's total of 4 wins. Dicey.
341	North Florida	A-Sun	W @Furman was best win…so far!
342	Alcorn St.	SWAC	Lost by 19 to Xavier…Xavier (LA) of D-II
343	Howard	MEAC	Howard's end before it began.
344	Houston Baptist	Indep.	One win so far. This program needs an immersion.
345	Furman	Southern	2 wins, neither over a D-I team.
346	NC Central	Indep.	Winless, all but two games being double-digit defeats.
347	NJIT	Indep.	Winless, all but one game being double-digit defeats.