2008-09 NCAA College Basketball Preview: Top Conferences
November 11th, 2008College Basketball is finally upon us. With the addition of NCAAB, sports fans are geared for another winter of NFL, NCAAF, NBA and NCAAB. Prime season for sportsbooks and gamblers and this college basketball season tips off with a lot of question marks and unknowns. Freshmen will have their coming out party and seniors will bid farewell to a great collegiate sport. Will your team secure a bid this season in March? Which conference is the best in college basketball? The Documented Handicappers have the inside scoop on this NCAA college basketball season.
This year the Big East could possibly send 10 teams into the postseason. Think about that, 10 teams. The 2008-09 Big East Conference could very well go down in history as one of the top conferences in the history of college basketball. The Big East boasts 16 solid basketball teams that could beat any team on any given day. Led by Louisville, UCONN, Notre Dame, Pitt, Marquette, Villanova, Syracuse and not to mention defending regular-season champs Georgetown to name a few. Louisville may be the most talented team of the bunch but UCONN, Pitt and Notre Dame will surely give them a run for their money.
Top 5 Prediction: Louisville, UCONN, Pitt and ND
It would be really hard to argue that any other conference would be second best other than the ACC. With the #1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and perennial contender Duke at the top of the conference, the ACC is always a powerful conference. North Carolina is not only the defending regular-season champs and defending ACC Tournament champs but National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough returns for a senior season. The Tar Heels do have the most talented and athletic teams in college basketball and anything less than a National Championship would be a disappointment for Roy Williams Tar Heels. The only thing that could stand in there way are injuries or a bad game in March.
Top 5 Prediction: North Carolina, Duke, Miami, VT, Clemson
The SEC takes the three spot, which is debatable, but with teams like Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky is really worth arguing? Tennessee is thought to be the top team in the SEC East this year as well as the best team in the entire SEC. Bruce Pearl landed some big recruits such as Scotty Hopson, Bobby Maze and Emmanuel Negedu and all three should be able to contribute and help void the losses from players that have moved on. Kentucky and Florida will both compete for second in the SEC East and we feel that Billy Gillispie will have his kids in shape and ready to play hard. Kentucky could surprise some teams this year. The SEC West should be controlled by LSU and Alabama but will not be as competitive as the SEC East.
Top 5 SEC Teams: Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Alabama.
Kansas won’t repeat as National Champions this year but the 2nd pick in the NBA draft has come from the Big 12 the last two years and Blake Griffin of Oklahoma could possibly be drafted in the Top 5 in the next NBA draft. The Big 12 is led by Texas who has their entire team returning minus D.J. Augustin. The Longhorns are clearly the cream of the crop in the Big 12 and Blake Griffin and Oklahoma and even Baylor will compete for the Big 12. Kansas has to be considered a threat simply because they are returning National Champions and they have a pretty good head coach in Bill Self. On the other hand Kansas has zero returning starters and zero returning double-digit scorers. It may be safe to say that Kansas will take a year to prime their youth.
Top 5 Prediction: Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (dark horse)
The Pac 10 might have been the best league last year but teams like UCLA, Stanford and USC seem to be reloading. Kevin Love left UCLA for the NBA along with Russell Westbrook so Bruins lose two key components to last years Final Four. Darren Collison is returning to possibly star in one of the nation’s premier backcourts. UCLA should win the Pac 10 again this year simply because Ben Howland has lost numerous players in recent years to the Draft and still finds ways to compete. Arizona State and Southern Cal will show signs of competitive basketball along with Washington and Arizona. All in all the Pac 10 is pretty much rebuilding but are worthy of mention.
Top 5 Prediction: UCLA, Arizona State, Washington, USC, Arizona.





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