Season is almost upon us. Midnight madness tonight, first games in just over 3 weeks (November 7th). Should be a great season.

Potentially big news out of Xavier right out of the gate - preseason 2nd team all A-10 center Kenny Frease has been suspended indefinitely by the team. No specification on exactly what he did (I didn't bother to look around much), so who knows how long it will take him to get back.

Any thoughts on the upcoming season?

Sleepers/disappointments?
Breakout players or POY candidates?
National champs?

UNC starts its National Championship run @ Late Night w/Roy. Im not saying undefeated however I do believe that they will win the NC this year.

Saw Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter at the Duke football game today. Sulaimon has verballed, Carter is on the fence still.

These would be great players to have, but I think everyone at Duke wants Shabazz Muhammad.

Disappointments = Louisville.

Good, but many have put them up there as a Final Four contender. I just don't see it. They are deep, but that doesn't always translate to good.

Vanderbilt, while I think very good, it's very tough to put them as a Final Four contender when they haven't been able to do anything in the NCAA Tournament recently.

I think the Big XII is going to be extremely weak. They may struggle to keep more than 2 teams in the top 25. Similar to how the Pac 10 has been as of late. Outside of Baylor, you have quite a drop-off. Look for it to be an extremely competitive league with some noise made from Iowa State. Missouri will be down a bit, so will KU and Texas, K-State will be worse as will Colorado. A&M might be the 2nd best team and they likely aren't a top 25 squad.

The Pac 10 will be improved, but I don't see them again having anyone in the top 20. UCLA is probably the favorite, Washington is right there, California and Arizona in the mix.

Can't wait for the year though. Some fan-freaking-tastic OOC match-ups. Big games too. Much better than last year, and with the NBA out of commission likely for the year, CBB will be in the spotlight.

swamisez;934897 wrote:

These would be great players to have, but I think everyone at Duke wants Shabazz Muhammad.

Good luck with that. Have there been new developments with his recruitment? A few weeks ago, it seemed like he was definitely staying out West.

Not sure Shabazz will be able to turn down Big Blue...

Just saw this on ESPN..
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7102568/ncaa-declares-kansas-jayhawks-freshmen-ben-mclemore-jamari-traylor-ineligible
Kansas will be without 2 freshman this year.

Azubuike24;936447 wrote:Not sure Shabazz will be able to turn down Big Blue...

That wouldn't surprise me honestly.

I think this is the year Duke wins it all again, then Coach K retires.

Festus Ezeli is suspended 6 games by Vanderbilt. Going to miss games against Oregon, NC State and (most likely) Texas.

And Vandy is my pick as a disappointment. They'll be solid like usual, but that's not a top 10 team.

First game back...Louisville.

Vanderbilt is getting a ton of preseason love. While they are good, I can see them losing 5 or 6 in conference play. Teams like Florida, Alabama, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Mississippi could be potential losses. They will definitely lose to Kentucky once, if not twice.

wildcats20;936505 wrote:Just saw this on ESPN..
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7102568/ncaa-declares-kansas-jayhawks-freshmen-ben-mclemore-jamari-traylor-ineligible
Kansas will be without 2 freshman this year.

Huge loss for Kansas...last year with Selby's suspensions, now this....what the hell is going on in Lawrence?

Outside of Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor, there aren't too many weapons on that team. Gonna be a rough year, in my opinion.

CBS Sports' All-Americans:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/15749934/preseason-all-americans-sullinger-or-barnes-for-poy

All-America first team
	Jordan Taylor -- Guard -- Wisconsin
Taylor doesn't blow you away with his athleticism, but he just does everything well. He can score and distribute, and he knows how to win. He'll enter the season as the elite floor leader in America, but he'll have some competition throughout the year from guys like Tu Holloway and Kendall Marshall.

	John Jenkins -- Guard -- Vanderbilt
Jenkins is best shooter in the country, but he's no longer one-dimensional. He's expanded his game and is now able to score in a variety of ways, though he's still best when drilling shots from deep.

	Harrison Barnes -- Forward -- North Carolina
Barnes got off to a slow start last season but finished strong and helped the Tar Heels win the ACC title. He hit his stride shortly after Kendall Marshall moved into the starting lineup. He should pick up right where he left off.

	Thomas Robinson -- Forward -- Kansas
Robinson only played about 15 minutes per game last season, but he'll get the chance to be "The Guy" this year now that the Morris Twins have left. He's relentless and should be good for plenty of double-doubles this season.

	Jared Sullinger -- Center -- Ohio State
Sullinger was a double-double machine a year ago right from the start, and there's no reason to think he won't be better this season now that he's a year older and without some of that baby fat that's long defined him. That's a scary proposition for opposing big men É and the Big Ten in general.

Azubuike24;935131 wrote: I think the Big XII is going to be extremely weak. They may struggle to keep more than 2 teams in the top 25. Similar to how the Pac 10 has been as of late. Outside of Baylor, you have quite a drop-off. Look for it to be an extremely competitive league with some noise made from Iowa State. Missouri will be down a bit, so will KU and Texas, K-State will be worse as will Colorado. A&M might be the 2nd best team and they likely aren't a top 25 squad.

Colorado is in the Pacific 12 now, although I agree with what you're saying. The Big XII is not going to be very good at all this year as a whole.

Agree. Brain fart on Colorado. May be actually a fun race to watch, just won't be exceptional at the top.

Coaches poll came out. UNC 1, followed by UK, OSU, UConn, Syracuse, and Duke.

After that you have Vandy, Louisville, Memphis, Florida, and Pitt. I know teams can come out of nowhere, but does anyone believe there's even a chance that one of those top 6 doesn't end up winning it all?

Tarheels with 30 of the 31 first place votes. Kentucky gets the other.

Kentucky plays six games against the top ten.

GOONx19;940018 wrote:Kentucky plays six games against the top ten.

UCONN/Cuse/Pitt/Louisville do as well (ok, I dont actually know with their unbalanced schedules). I also dont know their OOC schedules.

Connecticut and Syracuse have VERY weak schedules. Louisville, Kentucky and North Carolina on the other hand, do not, they are brutal. Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Florida, all good schedules, not great, but definitely challenging. Same with Memphis, but they are still in C-USA too.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14971156/2011-early-season-tournament-guide

Early season tournament brackets and teams involved. Maui should be great. 5 top 25 teams plus Georgetown and Tennessee.

I'm interested in the Puerto Rico tip-off too. The Preseason NIT field is horrible this year. That's seriously the best they could do? Congrats on your title Syracuse.

Georgetown and Tennessee, unfortunately, will be terrible. Both will be lucky to be above .500.

I'm excited for the season. I'm hoping my Orange can win it all this season. If Jardine doesn't play like a tard...they've got a shot.

Seems like MSU has been in the Maui for the last like decade. Gonna be weird with them not there

Terrence Jones put up 52 points in tonight's Blue vs White game. Yes, it's just an inter-squad game, but everyone says he's a different player this year, and tonight showed why. I'd actually say he's underrated coming into the season. Most people have him in the top 15-20 players in the nation, but he might possibly have a shot at NPOY.

http://www.nj.com/college-basketball/index.ssf/2011/10/uconn_mens_basketball_might_be_barred_from_2013_ncaa_tournament.html

UCONN might be banned from 2013 NCAA tournament