Early favorites for Houston (Final Four) in 2011

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SelectionSunday

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Butler, Kansas State, Michigan State, Purdue.

This assumes Lucas and Hummel both get healthy, and that Purdue's Big 3 all stay (which I think they will).
 

Duke will be up there (Singler, Smith return, Steph Curry's little bro joins) as will Georgetown (who, as of now, is losing no one).
 

and the Gophers with the Joseph brothers with Trevor on board! (i've been dreaming a lot!)
 


OSU would be unbelievable if Turner stayed... Even though he won't I'd still pick them to make it to the final 4. Buford, Lighty, Diebler, Lauderdale, and some young really good recruits. They will be very solid. Purdue is a really good pick as well if Hummel stays healthy and their guys stay.
 



Seth Curry can step in for Scheyer... won't be quite as experienced, but brings a lot of the same skills to the table. Kyrie Irving joins the team, and he is an unbelievable PG. PJ Hairston helps provide depth on the wing, or could possibly start at SF in place of Singler. If Singler stays, Duke is my favorite for another title, if he leaves, they'll still be damn good.
 

NDSU seals the deal after they get Royce and he's able to appeal sitting out a year.
 

Purdue-Assuming Robbie JJ and Moore come back(and our healthly) a National Championship could be in the Boilermakers future.
K State-Not losing anyone beside Clemente who is huge but with everyone else back they will be good-Frank Martins stare is good for a few wins alone.
Bulter-See last night.
Michigan State-They have Tom Izzo enough said.
Duke-Not sold on Seth Curry(all that he has done of note is be the brother of one the players who had one of the best openning weekend ever, that stays nothing to me)if Singler says they will be really good.
OSU-if Turner stays(not going to happen) they are THE favorite to win it all.
 



Saber said:
Seth Curry can step in for Scheyer... won't be quite as experienced, but brings a lot of the same skills to the table. Kyrie Irving joins the team, and he is an unbelievable PG. PJ Hairston helps provide depth on the wing, or could possibly start at SF in place of Singler. If Singler stays, Duke is my favorite for another title, if he leaves, they'll still be damn good.
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I think you're looking for Josh Hairston. PJ is a UNC recruit for 2011. Josh is more of a PF than SF I'm thinking too.

As for Seth Curry; much different player than Singler. Curry 6-1 175, Singler 6-8 230. I would envision either Andre Dawkins or Carrick Felix (JUCO) to take his spot if Singler goes pro.

FWIW word is Curry has been one of the more impressive players in practice this year. Irving looks darn good too, he and Cory Joseph had an epic matchup this year. Both just poured in the points. He'll have little problem filling in for Scheyer at PG and give the team a very different look.

I would not be surprised to see them back in the Final Four at all.
 

My FF: Duke, Mich St, Purdue, and my sleeper is BYU

I think Singler returns just because I think this year's draft class is deep enough where it might not be a guarantee he's a first rounder. It's really loading up with the worry of a lockout in the NBA in '11. More underclassman will declare this year than normal and as a result, those that would otherwise be 1st rounders get pushed to the 2nd round and Singler has stated he'll only go if he's a 1st round guarantee. From what I've read from those close to the situation, he's 50/50.

I've heard that Seth Curry is legit. He starred on the 19/u US team last summer that won gold and he's been one of the best players in practice, and he's not even the best player becoming eligible next year for Duke. That would be Kyrie Irving. He's the best pg in the class and if you watched any of his games, you'll see that he'll be the quickest guard Duke has had sice Jay Williams. He's good enough where I'll won't be shocked at all if he's at Duke for only 1 year.

If Singler returns, Duke is the unquestioned preseason #1 team. If he doesn't Duke's still top 5 but with question marks in the experience column.
 

mnboiler said:
Purdue-Assuming Robbie JJ and Moore come back(and our healthly) a National Championship could be in the Boilermakers future.
K State-Not losing anyone beside Clemente who is huge but with everyone else back they will be good-Frank Martins stare is good for a few wins alone.
Bulter-See last night.
Michigan State-They have Tom Izzo enough said.
Duke-Not sold on Seth Curry(all that he has done of note is be the brother of one the players who had one of the best openning weekend ever, that says nothing to me)if Singler says they will be really good.
OSU-if Turner stays(not going to happen) they are THE favorite to win it all.
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Pretty sure Seth Curry led all freshmen in the country in scoring at Liberty (20.2 ppg).
 

I would be so thrilled if we could get 2 teams in the Final Four next season. MSU and Purdue seem like they have a great chance, OSU maybe an outside shot.
 



Big Ten is overdue for a title

The Big Ten has consistently held its own, getting teams to the Final Four and quite a few to the championship game despite being panned by the media more than any other conference. But it's time to win a national championship. The conference is well overdue. It's been too long (2000).

Since 2000. ...

ACC (5): Duke (2001), Maryland (2002), North Carolina (2005), North Carolina (2009), Duke (2010)

Big East (2): Syracuse (2003), UConn (2004)

SEC (2): Florida (2006), Florida (2007)

Big Ten (1): Michigan State (2000)

Big 12 (1): Kansas (2008)
 

SelectionSunday said:
The Big Ten has consistently held its own, getting teams to the Final Four and quite a few to the championship game despite being panned by the media more than any other conference. But it's time to win a national championship. The conference is well overdue. It's been too long (2000).

Since 2000. ...

ACC (5): Duke (2001), Maryland (2002), North Carolina (2005), North Carolina (2009), Duke (2010)

Big East (2): Syracuse (2003), UConn (2004)

SEC (2): Florida (2006), Florida (2007)

Big Ten (1): Michigan State (2000)

Big 12 (1): Kansas (2008)
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That's true, the Big Ten's title drought belies statistical probability. I would bet we've had more FF teams than any conference since 2000 or so, yet 0 titles. How many title games have we lost in a row, 4 or 5 or something like that? Maybe the Goph's can break that drought.
 

I think the Big 10 has a legit shot at sending at least 3 to the Elite 8 next year.
 

Kansas State and BYU are the ones here that I wouldn't put up in that F4 favorite category. Clemente was huge for KSU - they're not replacing him with anyone as good as he is & not really adding anyone else, so most likely they won't be quite as good next year as this year. BYU looked clearly inferior to KSU and the MWC as a whole didn't really show up in the Dance - 2-4 despite having some good seeds & the 2 games they won weren't very impressive. BYU is one "sleeper" that will miss the wake-up call!

I think MSU is the best team on paper in the Big Ten (some say Durrell Summers might try to go pro now, so stay tuned). I think Purdue and OSU are similar & not far behind MSU - I don't think you can put one clearly ahead of the other at this point - Purdue is better 1-3 but OSU is (a lot) better 4-6.
 

OSUfan said:
Purdue is better 1-3 but OSU is (a lot) better 4-6.
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Wait did an OSU fan make a comment about depth? Isn't this the team who's entire offense was give the ball to Turner and have him create? The team that only went 6 deep? I'm not saying you are wrong but I'm pretty sure this is irony.
 

Kyle Singler just announced that he's returning for his senior year. I was in the minority that thought he'd return. Most people projected him as a mid to late 1st rounder.

This makes Duke the obvious preseason #1 team. Their starting 5 will be better than any in college basketball next year with a bunch of depth.

FWIW, I think they go with a 3 guard lineup of Irving (#1 incoming PG), Curry (supposedly legit like his bro), Smith, Singler, and one of the Plumlees. They will have a deep bench as well.
 

Pewterschmidt said:
Kyle Singler just announced that he's returning for his senior year. I was in the minority that thought he'd return. Most people projected him as a mid to late 1st rounder.

This makes Duke the obvious preseason #1 team. Their starting 5 will be better than any in college basketball next year with a bunch of depth.

FWIW, I think they go with a 3 guard lineup of Irving (#1 incoming PG), Curry (supposedly legit like his bro), Smith, Singler, and one of the Plumlees. They will have a deep bench as well.
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(insert long chain of swear words here) from every Purdue fan in the world.

Do you ever get the feeling God hates your sports teams?
 


Yeah, Duke is the obvious preseason favorite now. As good as Scheyer was, replacing Scheyer with Irving is a push - Irving is probably one of the 3 best players in the incoming class. Adding Curry can't hurt. Duke definitely has the makings of a guard-oriented team. Losing Zoubek AND Lance Thomas is not to be overlooked, though, because those guys were key players for them defensively in the paint & Zoubek was an outstanding rebounder for them & I don't think the Plumlees can replace everything that those two did. Lucky for Duke to be returning a guy who could've/should've turned pro when basically everyone else from everywhere else is declaring.
 

With Singler returning, Duke and Michigan State are the clear winners in the "returning to school sweepstakes." Neither team is losing a significant underclassmen to the draft, not to mention both schools have a ton of other quality players returning/joining. Would have to think most preseason polls will have a similar top 3: (1) Duke; (2) Michigan State; and (3) Purdue (if Johnson & Moore return), no disrespect to Butler intended (even if Hayward returns). This assumes Hummel & Lucas will be ready to go at the start of the season, which by the sounds of it appears likely.
 

Butler will get bounced in the sweet 16 next year. They were able to make a run this year because basketball as a whole was so down. They are not going to improve as much as other teams do.
 

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