As I review the NCAA season, I think it is important not to be biased by the results of the NCAA tournament. There could be glory and goats a plenty, draft stocks improved and destroyed, coaches who become legends or possibly lose their jobs. There is so much parity in the NCAA tournament, it deserves a review of its own. This review focuses on the regular season:
Blazer Blog's Preseason Top Ten:
1 Louisville- Got this one spot on. Ended #1, and my pick to win the tournament.
2 Kentucky- Missed this one badly. With Noel, I think they'd be a dangerous tournament team, but, at the same time, nowhere near deserving a #2 ranking.
3 Indiana- Solid pick, the 3rd #1 seed.
4 Syracuse- Underachieved at the end of the year, but a dangerous tourney team.
5 UCLA- Never did achieve a great ranking, though did win the Pac-12 (as predicted here!)
6 Kansas- I was all aboard the Elijah Johnson bandwagon for a breakout year. I was right that Kansas would be great, with a POY candidate, but it was McLemore who emerged.
7 NC State- Offensively a fun team to watch. Defensively, makes me cringe. Had big wins and terrible losses.
8 Ohio State- Ohio State should make a final four run. Craft and Thomas have been solid all year.
9 Arizona- Didn't achieve greatness over the second half of the year, got a lower seed than they should have received.
10 UNLV- The injury to Moser was devastating, as he still isn't the same player. Bennett has been great, but he needs more.
Preseason All-America picks:
G- Peyton Siva/Louisville
G- Isaiah Canaan/Murray State
F- Shabazz Muhammad (if eligible)
F- James McAdoo/UNC
C- Cody Zeller/Indiana
Postseason All-America picks:
G- Trey Burke G/Michigan
G- Ben McLemore G/Kansas
G- Russ Smith G/Louisville
G- Victor Oladipo G/Indiana
F- Kelly Olynyk F/Gonzaga
Coach of the year: Jim Crews/St. Louis- An amazing story, filling in for the deceased Rick Majerus. St. Louis plays defense admirably and has upperclassmen at all positions. An awesome coaching job.
Guards led the way this year, which is why the position gets 4 first team All-American nods from Blazer Blog. The first team from preseason disappointed majorly. Only Zeller would still get a nod on a lower All-American team.
End of year top ten:
1 Louisville
2 Gonzaga
3 Indiana
4 Kansas
5 Miami
6 Duke
7 Ohio State
8 Georgetown
9 St. Louis
10 Michigan State
Looking back, I did a decent job of projecting the season. Some injuries derailed the chances of some teams I thought would do well, and Kentucky was a blatant miss on my part (For the record they should be great again next year- grain of salt not needed- look up Andrew Wiggins on youtube and you'll see why)
Final Note- I am still disgusted at the elimination of the Big East. Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh all felt the need to go to the ACC and eliminate the greatest basketball conference over the last 10 years. The ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big-12 have all had impressive years, but the Big East has been the leading conference in sending teams to the dance every year. Games like the 7OT game vs Syracuse and UConn in the Big East tournament will be missed. No more McNamara moments. It is all a damn shame in my opinion. The new Big East- the Catholic 7 + Xavier, Butler and Creighton- will still be successful, and a power conference in its own right, though the conference could be even better by allowing UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida to remain in the conference. Temple could potentially be poached from the A-10, along with VCU and St. Louis, to create a still dominant 16-team conference. Unable to happen, this year's NCAA tournament is the swan song for the Big East, one which I anticipate Louisville winning (A Big East member). Football can be blamed to an extent for all of the conference realignment, though men's college basketball also makes a lot of money too. Neglecting big money for bigger money is hurting college athletics. Within 10 years it would not surprise me to see 4 power conferences of 16-20 teams- The ACC, (new Big East), Big Ten and Pac-12/Big 12. Should it happen? NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOO! I can't say it adamantly enough. Will it? That's the 64 thousand dollar question I don't want the answer to.
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