Good morning.
Continuing Hoopville’s preseason quick look at all 32 NCAA Division I conferences:
The Big East continues to be a top five conference overall (if not better) that is still definitively headlined by Villanova, and the Wildcats should remain a top-15 team even as they have to replace Josh Hart. More than in recent years, though, Nova is perceived as vulnerable to being knocked off the top of the mountain. Seton Hall is led by the four-player senior core of Khadeen Carrington, Angel Delgado, Desi Rodriguez and Ismael Sanogo that has been together for four years, Providence returns all five starters, and anyone discounting Butler or Xavier does so at their own peril. What could make it tougher for the conference to hog seven NCAA Tournament bids again would be if the bottom of the league comes up and makes it tougher for the middle of the pack to pad win totals, as St. John’s makes improvement and even DePaul returns four starters.
Few might know it what with the conference’s heavy Mountain Time Zone geography, but the Big Sky is actually loaded with individual talent at the top this year. The league’s preseason all-conference team is jam-packed with players you should watch this year if you get a chance, including three players-Montana State’s Tyler Hall, Eastern Washington’s Bogdan Bliznyuk and Victor Sanders of Idaho-who averaged over 20 ppg last year. The title chase should be as open as the light is green for those guys, with Montana State and Idaho favorites if going by experience-we’d go with the Bobcats led by the outstanding Hall and with five starters back plus some key additions to help up front. But traditional powers Weber State and Montana lurk, and don’t forget last year’s regular season and tourney champs North Dakota, where Geno Crandall and Cortez Seales should shine.
The Big South featured a great race for the regular season title last year, with Winthrop finishing in a tiebreaker with UNC Asheville and ahead of Liberty, and then rolling through the conference tourney. Super-mite guard Keon Johnson is gone, but the Eagles still have the versatile Xavier Cooks, who proved in the NCAA Tournament against Butler (23 points) he’s a difficult matchup for anyone, and not just the Big South. Asheville and Liberty-a close third last year- might be the favorites this year, with the Bulldogs led by Ahmad Thomas-who at 6-foot-3 with long arms plays like alternately like a guard and a 6-8 power forward-and the Flames welcoming four starters and six of the top seven scorers to Ritchie McKay’s Tony Bennett-influenced team, which drilled VCU in an early exhibition.
The Big Ten has a much-publicized 17-year drought since its last national champion, and Michigan State is being counted on to make a big run at breaking that. The Spartans sure look good on paper, but they also went 20-15 last year, so we’ll see. Other than that, defending regular season champion Purdue is a threat to do the same again, even without Caleb Swanigan, while seeing Minnesota and Northwestern in the top 25 will make one think the league has flipped on its lid. That’s not entirely true (though Penn State challenging for an NCAA bid and/or Indiana and Ohio State near the basement might make it pretty close), but it’s a league that once again, strong as it is, has room for upward mobility if a team (Illinois? Iowa?) can jell.
Side Dishes:
- Texas A&M announced that Admon Gilder, D.J. Hogg and Robert Williams all have been suspended for “violating school policy.” All three missed the Aggies’ 72-46 exhibition win over Tarleton State (Texas) last night, and Williams will miss the team’s first two regular season games, including its opener against West Virginia. Add in that J.J. Caldwell already has been suspended for the first four regular season games, and it’s not been a good start for an A&M team being expected by some to do big things.
- Duke also announced freshman point guard Trevon Duval has been suspended for the Blue Devils’ exhibition game Saturday. It’s hard to get too fired up about suspensions for exhibition games-check back with us if Duke’s presumed starting point guard starts missing important regular season games.
- As mostly meaningless as the results are, it’s hard to deny the NCAA allowing schools an additional exhibition game for charity has resulted in some fascinating results. The latest came when Eastern Illinois took care of Illinois 80-67, taking full advantage of a chance at home against a Big Ten team, and one adjusting to a new coach. Also, Sacred Heart handled Manhattan 81-71, a result suggesting at least early that assumptions the Jaspers will be a lot better than last year’s turnover-prone, defensively challenged team might’ve been premature.
- Other exhibition scores from the night: Wake Forest squeaked by Queens (N.C.) 76-74, holding off an opponent that, as we noted yesterday, is better than many know-the Royals enter the year ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II. Michigan State rolled past Hillsdale (Mich.) 75-44. North Alabama-a current D-II member that will begin the transition to Division I next year-edged South Alabama 82-80. And, boy, in the “save-it-for-when-it-counts-but-man-that’s-still-pretty-cool” department, Buffalo transfer Shannon Evans went nuts for 50 points in Arizona State’s 115-69 blowout of NAIA member Arizona Christian.
Today’s Menu: Even on a college football Saturday, there’s still a good deal of busyness with exhibitions, though it’s also noticeable that few of the biggest football factories are hosting basketball.
- Duke is among those playing non-Division I exhibitions, with the Blue Devils hosting Bowie State (Md.). Contrary to what many might expect, ESPN is not showing the game on four networks. Others in action include Cal State Bakersfield, Dayton, Gonzaga, La Salle, Marquette, Northern Kentucky, Providence, Tulsa, Vermont and Xavier
- NCAA-approved “bonus” exhibitions include Penn State at Lafayette and Valparaiso going to Chicago State.
Enjoy your Saturday.
