Preseason NIT Preview: North Bracket

One of the most prestigious and exciting college basketball preseason tournaments is the Preseason NIT. Created in 1985, the Preseason NIT always features teams that are sure to make some noise come March. Just last year, Final Four crasher VCU made it to the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden. 

The breakdown of the Preseason NIT is quite simple. There are 16 teams, which are broken into 4 pods. Each of the pods is hosted by the highest-ranked team. The winner of each pod then makes it to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals and finals. 

This is the first of a four-part series taking an in-depth look at each pod. Today, we are looking at the North Regional, which features Syracuse and Albany and takes place in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. 

Syracuse Orange

2010-11 Record: 27-8

2010-11 Postseason: NCAA Tournament, 3rd Round

Key Losses: Rick Jackson

Key Players: Scoop Jardine, Kris Joseph, Brandon Triche

Overview: This Syracuse team has potential to do major damage this year, not just in this tournament, but in the season overall. Coming off a disappointing loss to Marquette in the third Round of last year's NCAA Tournament, the Orange are going to be as hungry as ever to make an impact early in the season, starting the season ranked No. 5 in the country.

What will make this team so dangerous this year is that they really didn't lose much from last year's impressive squad. Of the men who played 30 or more games for Syracuse last year, only one of them, Rick Jackson, isn't returning. That makes this a highly-experienced team featuring 10 juniors and seniors on the roster.

Everyone knows what to expect when they play Syracuse. Jim Boheim will throw his patented 2-3 zone defense and the guards are gonna be fast and shoot the lights out. Last year, Jardine and Joseph were incredible, shooting 41 percent and 45 percent from the field respectively and combining to go nearly 36 percent from three-point range. All of this means that if a team doesn't come in shooting well from the start, it may be a long day for them against the Orange.

The biggest question for Syracuse will be who will fill up the middle in Rick Jackson's place. Jackson was an absolute machine in the middle for Syracuse last season, averaging 10.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game, and, in a lot of respects, was one of the major reasons the 2-3 zone worked as well as it did. A lot of the duties are going to fall onto sophomore Fab Melo, who disappointed both on and off the court last year, yet his play may decide how well Syracuse does the entire season.

Manhattan Jaspers

2010-11 Record: 6-25

2010-11 Postseason: None

Key Losses: Demetrius Jemison

Key Players: George Beamon, Michael Alvarado, Rhamel Brown

Overview: Last year was a tough season to be a Jasper. After a quick 2-0 start, the Jaspers went on to lose 15 straight, leading to a ninth-place finish in the MAAC and the hiring of a new coach, Steve Masiello. The good news for Manhattan is that they are not losing a lot from last year's team. George Beamon, the Jaspers' leading scorer, returns for his junior season and is the centerpiece of an experienced team featuring seven juniors and seniors. 

The loss of Demetrius Jemison will certainly hurt the Jaspers, as he was their leading rebounder and presence in the paint, but sophomore Rhamel Brown looks like he will be ready to pick up the slack. Brown averaged 7.1 boards and game, and led the team with 2.2 blocks. 

The key for the Jaspers this season will be to get their shooting going. Last year, Manhattan only averaged 60 points a game and were terrible behind the three-point line. If the Jaspers can find some way to get hot behind the arc this season, combined with Brown playing a strong center, they may just be able to surprise some people.

Albany Great Danes

2010-11 Record: 16-16

2010-11 Postseason: None

Key Losses: Tim Ambrose

Key Players: Logan Aronhalt, Luke Devlin, Blake Metcalf

Overview: Last season was tough for the Great Danes. Albany had a good amount of talent on the roster, but just couldn't get over the hump, leading to their .500 finish and a fourth-place finish in the America East. The biggest problem for the Great Danes last year, as will be this year, was their general lack of experience. Albany's roster has no seniors on it and features four freshmen.

The loss of star player Tim Ambrose will hurt Albany more than anything else though. Ambrose led the team in points, assists and steals, and was really one of their only three-point options throughout the year. Even though he's only one player, the loss of a guy who does that much for you is sure to hurt the team's production as a whole.

Head coach Mike Brown will certainly have his work cut out for him this season with this young bunch. Albany already played their first game against No. 11 Pittsburgh and was blown out 89-56. Obviously Albany won't be seeing competition like that night in and night out, and playing teams like that early will help Albany in the long run in the America East, but it certainly won't give the Great Danes much confidence if they run into an even better Syracuse team in the pod.

Brown Bears

2010-11 Record: 11-17

2010;11 Postseason: None

Key Losses: Peter Sullivan, Garrett Leffelman

Key Players: Tucker Halpern, Sean McGonagill

Overview: The last team in the North Bracket is yet another middle-of-the-road pack in the Brown Bears. Last season, Brown struggled in what was a highly-competitive Ivy League, finishing seventh in the league above only dreadful Dartmouth. Brown is another young team, with six freshmen on the roster this season. Brown is also going to struggle with size all season, seeing as their tallest player is 6'9", and he's a freshman who may not see much playing time this season.

Last season Brown took a ton of three pointers—three different players took over 100 attempts from beyond the arc—and Brown basically lived and died off their threes. I really don't expect that to change much, as due to Brown's lack of size, they will need to rely on their shooters to put up points.

Brown already has had their first game, a blowout victory over Division III Johnson and Wales, where they shot almost 50 percent from deep. Although not a great barometer for how well the Bears will do this season, it does show how the Bears can succeed: Good ball movement and great shooting.

Predictions

The matchups in the pod are going to be Syracuse vs. Manhattan and Albany vs. Brown, with the winners and losers playing against each other in the championship and consolation rounds, respectively.

In the Syracuse-Manhattan game, I have to go with Syracuse. The Orange are just too good, and although Manhattan may be able to put up a fight, I just don't see them even being close in this one.

For Albany-Brown, I'm going with Albany, if for no other reason than that Albany has gone up against Pittsburgh and Brown has faced Johnson and Wales. I feel like Albany will be much better prepared for the game, and although both teams are young, Albany's players have more experience and I think that will be the difference.

In the consolation game between Manhattan and Brown, it's going to have to be Manhattan. Their size and age will be too much for the Bears, and although Manhattan struggled last year, I just think that, barring an epic shooting night from Brown, the Jaspers will be able to get the victory in this one.

As for the championship game between Syracuse and Albany, it's hard to argue against Syracuse. They have experience, they have talent and they have the home court. As much as I'm hoping that Albany will at least be able to give Syracuse a game, I'm just not sure it's going to happen. Syracuse is the No. 5 team in the country for a reason.

So that wraps up the North Regional. Be sure to check in tomorrow as I preview the East Regional, featuring Virginia Tech and George Mason.