2007-2008 College Basketball previews starting to hit shelves

I was at Barnes & Noble recently and I was amazed to see College Basketball pre-season magazines already on newsstands. Athlon and Lindy's were there but none of other major publications. I hate Athlon because they are so inaccurate it's not even funny so I purchased the Lindy's one and here is how their Top 25 looks.


#1 UCLA
#2 North Carolina
#3 Tennessee
#4 Memphis
#5 Louisville
#6 Georgetown
#7 Washington State
#8 Kansas
#9 Michigan State
#10 Indiana
#11 Gonzaga
#12 Stanford
#13 Marquette
#14 Texas A&M
#15 Arizona
#16 Duke
#17 Pittsburgh
#18 Davidson
#19 Southern Illinois
#20 Texas
#21 Kentucky
#22 Oregon
#23 Butler
#24 North Carolina State
#25 Virginia Commonwealth

A few of my thoughts on this poll by Lindy's:

- Davidson, Butler, and Virginia Commonwealth all in the Top 25? Nice programs but seriously? When does a mid-major ever live up to the hype and success from the previous season? Davidson at #18 is a joke to me. They are a solid program with Stephen Curry leading the way who is supposed to be Davidson's version of Kevin Durant. But I don't get all the love for these mid-major schools. Yeah there is parody in College Basketball but at the end of the day these schools are in weak conferences. In a one game setting they can beat a power from a big conference but put them in the actual conference playing tough teams night in and night out these schools would be cellar dwellers, guaranteed.

- Not enough love for Arizona. Lute Olsen in my opinion is the best coach in College Basketball. The man always gets the best talent in the nation but the one flaw in his resume is that the program tends to underachieve as of late. Chase Budinger is a 1st Team All-American. Who according to Lute Olsen when he signed last year was the best player ever signed at Arizona. That comment in itself is saying that this guy is the real deal. He reminds me of Larry Bird in a sense. The Wildcats are a team that could sneak up on people this year and win the National Championship.

- Here's the breakdown of the Top 25 by conference:

Pac-10: 5, Big East 4, ACC 3, Big XII 3, SEC 2, Big Ten 2, C-USA 1, West Coast 1, Southern 1, Missouri Valley 1, Horizon 1, Colonial 1

The Pac-10 is head and shoulders above any other conference this season. This conference has about eight or nine teams who are potential NCAA Tournament bids. It's that deep. Every other conference has good teams at the top but nothing like the Pac-10 from top to bottom. The conference that I feel is overrated is the Big Ten. Like in Football, this conference gets all the accolades and pub but it's a league that is under achieving.

- Mitch Harper (mitchburgundy@hotmail.com)