Blue Ribbon arrives/1 man's Preseason Top 25

[SelectionSunday]

In conjunction with receiving Blue Ribbon's 29th annual College Basketball Yearbook, here's one man's preseason Top 25. I'll also list where Blue Ribbon projected those teams, as well as 15 other BCS and non-BCS "teams to watch". Some Gopher stuff as well.

SS's Preseason Top 25
1. Kansas (#1 Blue Ribbon)
2. Texas (#3 Blue Ribbon)
3. Villanova (#4 Blue Ribbon)
4. Purdue (#6 Blue Ribbon)
5. Michigan State (#2 Blue Ribbon)
6. Kentucky (#7 Blue Ribbon)
7. North Carolina (#5 Blue Ribbon)
8. West Virginia (#12 Blue Ribbon)
9. UConn (#18 Blue Ribbon)
10. Duke (#9 Blue Ribbon)
11. Washington (#23 Blue Ribbon)
12. Mississippi State (unranked by Blue Ribbon, picked 1st in SEC West)
13. Michigan (#22 Blue Ribbon)
14. Cal (#8 Blue Ribbon)
15. Minnesota (#14 Blue Ribbon)
16. Butler (#11 Blue Ribbon)
17. Oklahoma (#17 Blue Ribbon)
18. Dayton (#19 Blue Ribbon)
19. Ohio State (#16 Blue Ribbon)
20. Maryland (#20 Blue Ribbon)
21. Georgetown (#24 Blue Ribbon)
22. Siena (#T-25 Blue Ribbon)
23. Gonzaga (unranked by Blue Ribbon, picked 1st in WCC)
24. Tulsa (unranked by Blue Ribbon, picked 1st in Conference USA)
25. Ole Miss (unranked by Blue Ribbon, picked 2nd in SEC West)

15 BCS Teams to Watch
Arizona (picked 3rd in Pac 10)
Cincinnati (picked 11th in Big East)
Clemson (picked 6th in ACC)
Georgia Tech (#13 Blue Ribbon)
Illinois (#T-25 Blue Ribbon)
Iowa State (8th in Big 12)
Kansas State (5th in Big 12)
Oklahoma State (#21 Blue Ribbon)
Oregon State (4th in Pac 10)
South Carolina (5th in SEC East)
Syracuse (#15 Blue Ribbon)
Tennessee (#10 Blue Ribbon)
UCLA (5th in Pac 10)
Vanderbilt (3rd in SEC East)
Wisconsin (7th in Big 10)

15 Non-BCS Teams to Watch
BYU (1st in Mountain West)
Buffalo (1st in MAC East)
Creighton (3rd in Missouri Valley)
LaSalle (4th in Atlantic 10)
Memphis (2nd in Conference USA)
Niagara (2nd in MAAC)
Northeastern (2nd in Colonial)
Northern Iowa (1st in Missouri Valley)
Richmond (3rd in Atlantic 10)
San Diego State (2nd in Mountain West)
Utah State (2nd in WAC)
VCU (4th in Colonial)
Western Kentucky (1st in Sun Belt East)
Wright State (2nd in Horizon)
Xavier (2nd in Atlantic 10)

Gophers' Nonconference Opponents
Tennessee Tech (6th in Ohio Valley)
Stephen F. Austin (3rd in Southland East)
Utah Valley (member of new Great West Conference, no conference place predicted)
Butler (1st in Horizon)
Miami of Florida (11th in ACC)
Brown (last in Ivy League)
Morgan State (1st in MEAC)
Saint Joseph's (11th in Atlantic 10)
Northern Illinois (4th in MAC West)
South Dakota State (2nd in Summit)

Gophers' "Strive for Five" -- 5 Gopher objectives I'm laying out for the 2009-10 season:

(1) Beat Michigan State (home or road), the standard bearer in the Big 10.

(1a) Beat Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

(2) Lose no more than 2 games at Williams Arena.

(3) Finish in the top 5 of the Big 10, earning a first-round bye for the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers have had only 1 of those (2004-05) in the 12-year history of the BTT.

(4) Have a first- or second-team All-Big 10 performer.

(5) Win a NCAA Tournament game, which would be their first since San Antonio (a sobbing Steve Lavin), circa 1997.

 

[OSUfan]

I don't think Oklahoma ought to be a preseason top-25 team. They lost by far their best player, and basically look like a 1-man team with a couple talented freshmen. I saw Tiny Gallon on TV, he wants to shoot too many 3s. I actually think Kansas State should be in the preseason top-25 and be rated ahead of Oklahoma, who I think is sort of like Notre Dame this year (one star, a couple other good players, but a weak supporting cast). I don't see how Miss. State rates being ranked above like 20th - they lucked into making the tourney last year by being in an incredibly weak league, and lost easily when they got there, and at this point you can't expect Renardo Sidney to play (and even if he does, are you seriously expecting someone with his background to be a team player?). I wouldn't rate Miss. St. ahead of Illinois at any rate. Do you realize Ole Miss lost two of their best players from last season with eligibility remaining? I agree with Tenn. not being ranked, at least not in the top-20, because coaching matters! I also agree with Syracuse not being ranked for similar reasons.

You have Butler too low.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it. I'm certainly banking on Renardo Sidney being eligible for Mississippi State. Will be interesting to see how that situation plays out.