This is part 1 of 3 of “The Road to SelectionSunday” college and Gopher basketball preview.
Editor’s Note: This is the first of three columns this week, previewing the “Road to SelectionSunday” by GopherHole’s SelectionSunday. Today we look at a pre-season Top 25, sechedule analysis and more. Later this week we’ll get the first Field of 65 projections, 10 burning questions answered in college basketball, an analysis of the Gophers and more predictions and tid-bits from one of the most well-informed college basketball minds that we are lucky to call “one of us.”
Road to Selection Sunday Preseason Top 25
1. Louisville
2. Kentucky
3. Indiana
4. Missouri
5. Michigan State
6. Florida
7. Michigan
8. UCLA
9. NC State
10. Kansas
11. Ohio State
12. Duke
13. Syracuse
14. Creighton
15. Notre Dame
16. North Carolina
17. Tennessee
18. Gonzaga
19. Memphis
20. UNLV
21. Arizona
22. Baylor
23. Ohio
24. Florida State
25. Saint Joseph’s
10 to Watch: Colorado State, Iowa, Minnesota, Murray State, Saint Louis, Saint Mary’s, Stanford, Texas, VCU, Wisconsin.
1. Louisville
2. Kentucky
3. Indiana
4. Missouri
5. Michigan State
6. Florida
7. Michigan
8. UCLA
9. NC State
10. Kansas
11. Ohio State
12. Duke
13. Syracuse
14. Creighton
15. Notre Dame
16. North Carolina
17. Tennessee
18. Gonzaga
19. Memphis
20. UNLV
21. Arizona
22. Baylor
23. Ohio
24. Florida State
25. Saint Joseph’s
10 to Watch: Colorado State, Iowa, Minnesota, Murray State, Saint Louis, Saint Mary’s, Stanford, Texas, VCU, Wisconsin.
Old Faces in New Places (keeping up with conference realignment)
Belmont (Ohio Valley), Butler (Atlantic 10), Denver (WAC), Fresno State (Mountain West), Hawaii (Big West), Longwood (Big South), Missouri (SEC), Nevada (Mountain West), New Orleans (returns to DI as Independent), North Dakota (Big Sky), Oral Roberts (Southland), Seattle (WAC), Southern Utah (Big Sky), Texas A&M (SEC), Texas-Arlington (WAC), TCU (Big 12), Texas-San Antonio (WAC), Texas State (WAC), VCU (Atlantic 10), West Virginia (Big 12).
New to the RPI (now count as DI opponents)
Nebraska-Omaha (Summit), New Orleans (Independent), Northern Kentucky (Atlantic Sun).
First Year Eligible for NCAA Automatic Bid
Bryant (Northeast), North Dakota (Big Sky), Presbyterian (Big South), Seattle (WAC), South Dakota (Summit), SIU-Edwardsville (Ohio Valley).
Ineligible for Conference Tournament, but Eligible for NCAA At-Large Bid
Boston U (America East), Georgia State (Colonial), Old Dominion (Colonial).
Ineligible for Conference Tournament and/or NCAA Automatic/At-Large Bid
Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley), Mississippi Valley State (SWAC), Nebraska-Omaha (Summit), NC-Wilmington (Colonial), Northern Kentucky (Atlantic Sun), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Southland), Texas Southern (SWAC), Toledo (MAC), Towson (Colonial), UAPB (SWAC), UCF (Conference USA), UConn (Big East), UC-Riverside (Big West).
Nonconference Scheduling Nuggets
After all the time I put in rounding up the nonconference schedules of all 347 Division I programs, I thought I’d least provide a few chewable nuggets. To wit:
5 Teams Play At Least 6 NCAA Qualifiers
1. Cal State-Bakersfield — Cal, Colorado State, San Diego State, South Dakota State (twice), UNLV.
2. Memphis — Harvard, Louisville, Loyola-Maryland, Ohio, VCU, Xavier.
3. New Mexico — Cincinnati, Davidson, New Mexico State (twice), Saint Louis, South Dakota State.
4. Tennessee — Georgetown, Memphis, NC-Asheville, Virginia, Wichita State, Xavier.
5. VCU — Alabama, Belmont, Lehigh, Memphis, Western Kentucky, Wichita State.
9 Teams Play At Least 5 Games vs. the RPI Top 50
1. Cal State-Bakersfield — UNLV (18), San Diego State (26), Colorado State (29), Cal (37), South Dakota State (43, twice).
2. Butler — Marquette (9), Indiana (17), Vanderbilt (19), Gonzaga (25), Xavier (41).
3. Cincinnati — New Mexico (27), Iowa State (33), Alabama (36), Xavier (41), Marshall (44).
4. Florida — Marquette (9), Florida State (11), Georgetown (15), Wisconsin (23), Kansas State (48).
5. Kentucky — Duke (5), Baylor (8), Louisville (14), Notre Dame (39), Marshall (44).
6. Memphis — Louisville (14), Harvard (35), VCU (38), Xavier (41), Ohio (46).
7. Portland — Kentucky (2), UNLV (18), New Mexico (27), Colorado State (29), Ohio (46).
8. Savannah State — Ohio State (7), Marquette (9), Florida (30), Saint Louis (31), Marshall (44).
9. UCLA — Missouri (10), Georgetown (15), San Diego State (26), Long Beach State (34), Texas (50).
3 Teams Play 3 Games vs. the RPI Top 10
1. Long Beach State — Syracuse (1), North Carolina (4), Ohio State (7).
2. Ohio State — Duke (5), Kansas (6), Marquette (9).
3. Temple — Syracuse (1), Duke (5), Kansas (6).
3 Teams Play 2 Games vs. Last Year’s Final Four
1. Duke — Kentucky, Ohio State (Dukies also could face the other one, Louisville, @ the Battle 4 Atlantis).
2. Samford — Kentucky, Louisville.
3. UMKC — Louisville, Ohio State.
BCS Scheduling Weaklings (ASU, Hawkeyes play 8 games vs. Road Kill)
1. Arizona State — Coppin State (276), UAPB (302), Hartford (307), Sacramento State (315), Florida A&M (316), Central Arkansas (322), Northridge State (323), Dartmouth (328).
2. Iowa — Coppin State (276), Central Michigan (280), Howard (285), South Dakota (291), Gardner-Webb (293), Texas-Pan American (314), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (319), South Carolina State (343).