The 2016-17 season is underway, and with it comes the first edition of Talking Hoops with Ted Sarandis here on Hoopville. Here, we talk about first impressions and what to look forward to on the season.
We start with a look at Tuesday night’s Champions Classic, which ended with the best game on the young season as Kansas beat Duke on a late jumper in a terrific back-and-forth game. From there, we talk about four clear top teams at the moment, and how those teams rely on freshmen or veterans to varying degrees, then some early games of note like North Carolina looking impressive and UConn losing two straight. We also touch on how veterans will be key players for teams stacked with young talent, and that has already proven true.
As we get into all the big conferences, the ACC stands out in terms of depth, while the Big Ten could provide a great race for the top. We see Villanova as the team to beat in the Big East with a few challengers, one of them a very interesting team to follow in Georgetown as they try to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
We look out west at a Gonzaga team that will be better and an interesting Pac-12 beyond Oregon, and with Washington losing to a short-handed Yale team recently, we segue to the Ivy League, home to a consistent winner in Yale’s James Jones and now a league tournament.
The early season tournaments are about to start, and we take a look at several of them in some detail. The Maui Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis look to be the ones with the best overall fields, while the Charleston Classic could be interesting beyond Villanova as that should be the Wildcats’ to lose.
We close with a look at some of the top players in the country. Ted sees four players who stand out as All-America candidates, with many more who could join.
Enjoy this first episode of 2016-17 and stay tuned for more.
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