After 24 hours, it’s clear that this season is up for grabs

True, it’s just November but if you can read anything from the first 24 hours of the NCAA basketball season it would be that it’s even more up for grabs than usual. What makes college hoops so great is that even a powerhouse is not a sure thing to win the tournament (top seeds have won 58% of the time since 85’). Even though North Carolina was a consensus pick last year, there aren’t any Florida Gators (unanimous pick to win NCG at the beginning of the year) in hoop this year. Kansas is a solid number one to start the year, and not just because they were a rim away from losing to an unranked Memphis team, but many writers see four or five schools just as talented and just as worthy to wear the crown. With the mass talent depletion the NBA draft had on the conferences last year one could arguer that the talent is down, but I disagree. What you do have is more parity and rest assured there won’t be any teams rolling into the dance 32-3 this year. All in all it’s good for the game and emphasizes what makes the game great and their ‘playoff system’ (please take notes football) the greatest even in sports. Let us know who you think is the best team in the country out of the blocks here and in any of the quick links:
NCAA Basketball Chat Rooms
NCAA Hoops Schedule
NCAA Betting Lines
NCAA Scoreboard
here is the top 25 to start the season:
AP Top 25
1. Kansas (58) 0-0 1,616
2. Michigan State (5) 0-0 1,520
3. Texas (1) 0-0 1,412
4. Kentucky (1) 0-0 1,370
5. Villanova 0-0 1,353
6. North Carolina 2-0 1,301
7. Purdue 0-0 1,297
8. West Virginia 0-0 1,139
9. Duke 0-0 1,078
10. Tennessee 0-0 938
11. Butler 0-0 859
12. Connecticut 0-0 830
13. California 2-0 792
14. Washington 0-0 783
15. Michigan 0-0 598
15. Ohio State 2-0 598
17. Oklahoma 0-0 490
18. Dayton 0-0 372
19. Georgetown 0-0 358
20. Louisville 0-0 344
21. Georgia Tech 0-0 320
22. Clemson 0-0 265
23. Illinois 0-0 261
24. Minnesota 0-0 170
25. Maryland 0-0 167
Who got left out of the top 25? Who is overrated? Let us know here and in any of the quick links:

Tar Heels have all the mo’ in Motown

I gotta admit, I was starting to drink the punch like everyone else and starting to think that this had all the components of the Villanova/Georgetown upset. That despite getting blown out in their first meeting that the Spartans were a different team, rested, motivated, with 60,000 supporters at their back, ready to give us one of the most memorable tournament finals in history on the 30 year anniversary of night that began their history. Surely this was fate, karma, prophecy, and destiny, but someone forgot to tell North Carolina as the ‘Heels handed out a beatdown that worse than the 300 Spartans received at the hands of the Persians. At least that band of brothers won a couple of skirmishes before succumbing to the pressure, this group simply froze in the Detroit snow and on the big stage at one point having more turnovers than points in the first half. Facing the biggest half-time deficit in the history of the NCAA tournament the last hope of the State faithful, and holders of the ‘nose bleed’ seats that they purchased/were given just to say they were there, had quickly diminished as the Spartans were down 16, with the ball and a chance to make Roy Williams call a timeout, promptly turned the ball over on consecutive trips, bringing the lead back to 20 and it was time to go back out into the snow. But enough of the failings of the Green Army and more of the domination of Carolina Blue, as the team that finished the year where it started, at number one, looked like they had been there before, exerting the pressure rather than being overwhelmed by it. It was clear they were on a mission to take the crowd out of the game early, put their foot on the necks of the Spartans and not let them back up. Lead by Tyler Hansbrough’s leadership, who would not let them get rattled as the Spartans took the floor, to a roar louder than what the Lion’s receive, or parlay it into some early game momentum. The Tar Heels compellation of talent who under the admission of Tom Izzo, “had more NBA ready players”, provided ‘psycho T’ with the championship ring (dividend check) he returned to Chapel Hill for his Senior season for. Kudos to Roy and the ‘Heels as they climb the ladder of NC’s with their sites on Kentucky, the next in line, perhaps it will be another 23 years to our next ‘feel good’ championship story. See all the NCAA, NBA and other Hoop news on the Smacchat Basketball Home Page.

Carolina attempts to hold off the Green Army

The stage is set, the largest crowd ever to see an ncaa championship game live (72k) and approximately 60k of them are Michigan State fans. As much as I want to see a good game this a bit of a home court advantage that the finals have never seen. North Carolina appeared to be bequeathed an invitation to this game at the beginning of the year, and have rolled through the tournament to this point, but if the heels can overcome a green wave sixty-thousand strong, they have lived up to all of the hype. Is this year’s final going to be competitive, a blowout, or an upset? Let us know here and in the blog and NCAA chat rooms.

Four worthy finalist remain, who will be left standing?

As the scene shifts to the motor city and sixty one schools are reduced to keg drinkin’, cheerleader chasin’, finals fakin’ students, four are still sweating (or playing craps) with a chance to cut the nets, NC, Nova’, State, and Uconn. The number one seeds, NC and UCONN, everyone expected to be here. The ‘Heels have spend the most time on top of the polls has any team this year (often unanimous #1), and increasing their legend as appearing in the most final fours. Uconn was also expected to be here with their potent inside outside game, but could are susceptible to foul trouble then they are much more manageable. Then there’s Nova, whom after a shaky first game have looked as good as anyone, but the most balanced team still dancin’. However with all of this talent, muscle, and speed, the great equalizer will be 50 of the 70 thousand fans in attendance cheering for the team that will be sleeping in their own beds 57 miles away. The Michigan St. Spartans will be hosting this years final four in one of the greatest examples of ‘the luck of the draw’ known to mankind, or just the greed of the NCAA to host the finals in a place so close to one campus. No matter how many tickets were allotted to each school by the time the final buzzer was sounded, they were all ready waiting in line for tics. Now it’s State’s tournament to lose as having more people screaming for them than do the Lions, Izzo knows even outmanned they could still be the team to beat. Who is your pick to win it all? Let us know here and in the NCAA Chat Rooms and Team Rooms.