College Basketball: 5 Teams Flying Below The Radar

1: University of Miami

I can understand why some people would have problems with this choice as a team that is flying under the radar. They finished in the Associated Press top 25, made it to the second round of this year's NCAA Tournament, and took Texas to the wire before bowing out.

But my sentiments are that this Hurricane team was knocked as overrated all season long, and they really didn't deserve the label.

They beat Duke, showed they could hang with Texas, a trendy Final Four pick, and won 23 games, good for 5th in the ACC.

Most analysts have serious doubts about the mettle of this Miami team. Are they really that good or was the non-conference schedule soft? Did they get lucky against Texas and Duke or are they capable of beating ranked teams regularly?

The answer to all of these questions will be answered next season with a resounding yes.

The team loses four seniors, and only two of them were regular contributors, Anthony King and Raymond Hicks. Both players were solid, but certainly not spectacular.

More importantly, the team regains the services of assasin Jack McClinton, a 1st team All-ACC performer who flirted with draft before declaring he would return to scorch the nets in Coral Gables for one more season.

Throw in the fact the team also returns both point guards (Eddie Rios and Lance Hurdle), a big man who showed flashes of brilliance all season (Dwayne Collins), and the addition of a Rivals.com Top 100 small forward, DeQuan Jones, who comes to South Beach with the reputation of being able to score in bunches.

All of these factors, combined with an influx of young talent in the front-court, and the Canes are poised for another NCAA tournament berth, and a run at a Top 3 finish in the ACC.

2: University of Illinois

I know they lose two of their top 3 scorers in Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle, but this team is finally getting old enough to make the leap out of the bottom half of the Big 10 and they showed why in their run in the Big 10 tournament.

The glaring weakness for the Illini in 2007-2008 was their inability to score. Bruce Weber coached teams always play with a sense of defensive urgency, but this team lacked a consistent scorer all season, some one who they could turn in crunch time.

This problem should be alleviated with the coupling of University of Kentucky transfer Alex Legion, and the return of troubled but talented junior Jamar Smith, a key player who was forced to sit out last season with legal issues.

Add in that the Big 10 conference aside from Michigan State and Wisconsin looks rather vulnerable, and the Illini could surprise some people if they continue to improve.

Trent Meachem, Calvin Brock, and Chester Frazier all return to give Illinois senior leadership, and rising sophomore point guard Demetri McCamey showed flashes of brilliance with 31 points against Indiana in early February, and 26 against Purdue in the middle of March.

Most importantly for this team is their coach. Bruce Weber has become maligned in recent years for his inability to recruit top-tier talent to Champagne. I really don't see the issue. So he lost out on Eric Gordon, he wouldn't have him next year anyways. He couldn't keep Derrick Rose in state. He wouldn't have him either.
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