Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a look at the upcoming college basketball season. While he—like many—assumes it's a foregone conclusion that UNC will walk away with the national title, the rest of his top 25 is fairly intriguing. From the SEC, he ranks Tennessee No. 5, Florida No. 17, and Ole Miss No. 24.
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I think Tennessee will actually be better in '08-09 than they were last year, but they won't have as good a record. And by better, I mean they'll advance deeper in the tournament. This past year's team—like Vandy—relied too much on jump shots to operate. They'll be much more post-oriented next season.
Florida and Ole Miss both have awesome young backcourts that gained invaluable experience last year. Both have major questions inside though, as UF's Speights has entered the NBA draft and OM lost their three big guys to graduation. If either team can just play consistently inside, the sky is the limit for either team.
I've said it before—even with the loss of Anthony Randolph, LSU has the talent in place to be good. Now that they have a coach who knows what he's doing, they may be able to maintain the consistency that John Brady never could.
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2 months ago
Wow, FL at 17 seems ridiculously generous.
Ole Miss at 24? I know the Rebels are much improved, but they really faded badly to end the year. Where is Miss. State? The Bulldogs are a top 25 team for sure, ahead of all other SEC teams not named Tennessee.
2 months ago
Ole Miss is my pick to win the SEC in '08-09. Their biggest weapon is their coach, Andy Kennedy.
2 months ago
Andy doesn't often check into the games, Cee.
I agree that Kennedy is good, but he still needs time to prove himself--calling him the biggest weapon may be premature.
Win the SEC over Tennessee? Really?
If so, please clarify who the big-time scorers will be, and if Chris Warren can play under control (shot % and turnovers were terrible last year, especially as the season wore on and the scouting reports went out on the dude).
2 months ago
I think Florida will be better than most people think. They were a very young ballclub last year, with talented sophomores Jai Lucas, Calathes, and Alex Tyus returning!
2 months ago
Agreed FL will be better, Ben.
But Tyus is more of a shot-blocker/rebounder/press guy. Who will replace Speights' points down low? More importantly, who will stop the middle on defense?
Calathes will continue to be a tough match-up for any team, but for the Gators to compete, they will need freshmen big men to contribute in a huge way.
2 months ago
Thanks for the feedback. I think Ole Miss enters the favorite to win the West with the departures of Richard Hendrix from Bama and Jamont Gordon from MSU. MSU also lost Hansbrough (transfer) and Charles Rhodes (graduation), so they have all sorts of questions. Nobody (in the West) returns the experience in the backcourt the Rebels do and Kennedy will have the whole non-conference schedule to work out the kinks with his big men. Arkansas will undoubtedly finish last as they lose everybody - except Beverley. John Pelphrey will be exposed next season as mediocre.
As for the East, Tennessee is the prohibitive favorite there with UF and UK 2nd and 3rd respectively. Patterson will be a monster next year and if there's not the same growing pains next season as there were last season, UK should be dancing again next year, especially considering the huge benefit of the doubt they're always given on Selection Sunday.
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