College Basketball 2007-2008 Preview (Men and Women)

[JohnBM01]

While footballers are banging their brains out, college basketball types will be making ready to hoop it up and work for a playoff berth in March Madness. This will be my third season covering college basketball. And unlike most college sports reporters, I try to cover as many teams as possible from as many schools as possible. Not just Duke. Not just Kentucky. Not just North Carolina. I'm talking every school ranging from Air Force to Youngstown State. I'm talking football schools. Traditional basketball schools. Non-football schools. I'll even put some Division 2 and 3 focus in some of my threads. I'll continue my monthly thread reports. I'll feature extras, reports, editorials, even offer up some extra entertainment. I'll even do some "Old School" where I'll talk about past moments with a certain school. About 330 schools comprise NCAA Division 1. I want to be able to cover action for both men and women. Florida's the defending Men's champs, and Tennessee is the defending women's champs (remember the Imus controversy?). Questions to answer for this season:

* What four teams are likely to be this season's Final Four?
* What schools will be surprise teams?
* What will be the conference to watch?
* What player will stand out among others?
* What powerhouse school is likely to struggle?
* What underacheiver is likely to succeeed?

This and more will be answered by you. Let's look ahead to this season of college hoops for both men and women.


EDITOR'S NOTE: I appreciate discussing college hoops with you all. But it seems like can best get fans to check into this thread only when March Madness rolls around. I've been thinking of one of three things to do for this season:

A.) cover as many games as possible
B.) cover games after football season or when college football isn't in effect
C.) cover as many games as possible, but only in the push for March Madness

I'm undecided as to what to do. Choices "B" and "C" will require me to find some people to take care of college basketball details for the duration of the time that I'm unable to talk college hoops. I still want to cover as many games as possible, but it gets tough when I'm responsible for both college football and college basketball. So I'll think about what I want to do. Regardless, please kick this thread off any way you like.

 

[FoolKiller]

Tennessee is the defending women's champs (remember the Imus controversy?).

I must have missed it. It wasn't reported on very much. [/sarcasm]

* What four teams are likely to be this season's Final Four?
* What schools will be surprise teams?
* What will be the conference to watch?
* What player will stand out among others?
* What powerhouse school is likely to struggle?
* What underacheiver is likely to succeeed?

*If I knew the surprise teams it wouldn't be a surprise, plus I think it is a bit early to tell.
*Well, SEC is always a conference to watch.
*Are we looking for another Oden? No one, yet, but I guarantee by the second week of the season we will know.
*I think Florida lost a lot and will be back to an everyday good team.
*I hate the underachiever thing. They always screw up my bracket. Plus, I have no clue at this point.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I appreciate discussing college hoops with you all. But it seems like can best get fans to check into this thread only when March Madness rolls around. I've been thinking of one of three things to do for this season:

A.) cover as many games as possible
B.) cover games after football season or when college football isn't in effect
C.) cover as many games as possible, but only in the push for March Madness

I'm undecided as to what to do. Choices "B" and "C" will require me to find some people to take care of college basketball details for the duration of the time that I'm unable to talk college hoops. I still want to cover as many games as possible, but it gets tough when I'm responsible for both college football and college basketball. So I'll think about what I want to do. Regardless, please kick this thread off any way you like.

Actually, I would look to see how many times the thread gets read. People may not comment but you are providing a report they might read. I know I read your whole posts, even though I only comment on my Cats and a few others.


Whatever you choose to do I will be rooting on my Cats for good or bad.

 

[JohnBM01]

Okay. Thank you for the comments, FoolKiller. You're one of my good friends in these discussions. I try to appeal to a number of people. I may focus on Houston and Texas (as in the state). I may even do Kentucky a lot. I still want to make this thing as marketable on GTPlant as possible.

I still haven't made my decision yet. I may be close to option "B" at this point. Still, no official word. But if anyone is willing to cover college hoops for men and women while my primary focus is on football, I welcome ANYONE willing to make college basketball discussion as interesting as I try to do.

 

[JohnBM01]

I'm still leaning towards not covering the season until football ends, and I'm stuck between covering college hoops, but only in postseason play. I can get an audience going in my football threads, but not many people on GTPlanet are into college basketball like most are into college football. I can probably say that I might just cover college hoops every now and then, just not with my full-speed-ahead reports. I'll give you all a final decision when I come up with one.

 

[FoolKiller]

I just wanted to come and show teh depth of my fanboyism when it comes to Kentucky Basketball.

While at the state fair this past weekend I just bought this limited edition, numbered print. The artist was there and actually personalized and signed it for me.

It's called "Family Tradition and has hidden UK-realted stuff in the image, like the outline of the state in the clouds and coaches names in the leaves. My wife even likes it so I get to frame it and put it up in the living room.

"Family Tradition"

And for the record: This is the only art I have ever bought.

 

[JohnBM01]

Nice piece of art you've bought, FoolKiller.

I believe I've come to a decision. I figured that I'll concentrate on college hoops either when college football isn't in session, or if I'm able to chat about a few games and news. If anyone is willing to cover college basketball and help extend discussion, you are free to do so. Please be sure to cover as many games as possible from as many teams as possible. I'm talking from Air Force to Youngstown State. Not just men's scores, but women's scores as well. I feel that I probably couldn't do college basketball and football while both are in session. So I'll make my prescence when college football isn't in sesison. Even if someone wants to try to cover as many scores as possible, I'll still provide the threads for November, December, and January. Of course, I WILL be in college hoops discussion in January because my birthday is in January. And by then, college football will have concluded (have to wipe away tears from it not being in session any longer). So I'll cover scores all the way up to April.

I was thinking of scores for only postseason play because I don't really think I can generate an audience for most of the regular season scores. So I made the option of doing scores only for postseason play. This includes conference tournaments as well as any March Madness action.

But, I've decided to go full-time with college hoops when college football isn't in session. Hope every school has a great season.

 

[JohnBM01]

Only thing I can really report is that Midnight Madness will begin all over American colleges and univerities this week. This is the chance for college and universities to get to see their beloved team for the first time. Every school in every division will be gearing up for the big launch starting next month. Pretty soon, football fans won't be the only big fans because college hoops action will kick off (no pun intended) sometime next month.

I'll offer my own personal comments on as many teams and conferences as I can.


--- John's 2007 Introduction to College Hoops ---
On GTPlanet, I've somewhat acquired a reputation of being mostly a football guy. I talk so much about football and football schools. I even mention non-football schools. Fact of life is that there are many more schools out there besides the ones that have football. Part of the beauty of college basketball is being part of a school not a lot of people have heard of... and take down some big trees. Think of George Mason's run to success. Think of Gonzaga making plenty of noise under Adam Morrison. Think of Marist College's (a football school) awesome women's team. In fact, I can go so far as to say that this is the biggest college sport in regards to lots of teams competing. This is (besides baseball) the largest college sport where all kinds of magic can happen. Some football schools aren't known as pigskin powers in football while all-conquering in basketball. Examples include Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgetown, UNLV, and even Stanford. Who doesn't love an upset (except those who get upset by teams)? Teams and players come and go. Teams get hot, then go cold. You are less likely to run the table in college hoops, even though it's possible. Thing is- you can lose... just don't lose often. And if you're unbeaten heading into the tournament, you WILL lose. It's all about what team goes from Round 1 all the way to national championship glory.

The 2007-2008 season will begin either November or late October. And I'm talking about for all NCAA Divisions. I may not get to cover Divisions 2 and 3 all that much. In fact, coverage of such games will be even more limited this season. In case you're new to my college hoops talk, I believe this is my third season covering college hoops. This season, I'll only report on college hoops full-time starting when college football ends. It's good for me because I can do these reports without having to cover for both college football and basketball.in one day or night. I chose to do college hoops later in the season as opposed to while it's currently taking place for two reasons. The first is because I'm not as responsible for both football and basketball coverage. The second is because of fan support. I don't think I've generated enough of an audience like I have with my college football threads. A negative way to look at it is that college basketball encompasses almost 1,000 teams if you count every participating division. Team counts are larger if you count women's teams. And despite all the different college sports teams including men's and women's teams... can't generate a sufficient audience with so much college hoops to cover. So that's why I'll only cover college basketball when there isn't much college football activity.


I will get to talking about teams when I get to make my own previews. I will even designate Friday Night as my NBA focus for talk of NBA action since a lot of these players will likely want to join the NBA. WNBA focus may not be likely since the WNBA isn't in session while the NBA is in session. So please enjoy college basketball. I hope I can do my part to keep you interested. Believe in your favorite team. Think about your postseason bracket. Most importantly- get involved! I want you to make comments and maybe ask some questions. The success of my threads relies totally on feedback from you as well as chatting about college hoops. Without this, I may actually fail to accomplish what I would like to accomplish in college hoops discussion. I welcome discussion of men's and women's college basketball. Past and present. As many divisions and teams as I can get to. It all depends on you. Hope you enjoy this upcoming season.

 

[JohnBM01]

I may do a preview, but I decided not to at this time. The preseason Top 25 is out now. These ranks will mean nothing until the real season starts. So hear are your preseason rankings for both the men and the women:

USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25
01 - North Carolina
02 - California-Los Angeles
03 - Memphis
04 - Kansas
05 - Georgetown
06 - Louisville
07 - Tennessee
08 - Michigan State
09 - Indiana
10 - Washington State
11 - Duke
12 - Marquette
13 - Oregon
14 - (tie) Texas A&M and Gonzaga
16 - Texas
17 - Arizona
18 - Southern California
19 - Arkansas
20 - Pittsburgh
21 - Stanford
22 - Kentucky
23 - Southern Illinois
24 - North Carolina State
25 - Villanova


Women's Preseason Polls
01 - Tennessee
02 - Rutgers
03 - North Carolina
04 - Louisiana State
05 - Connecticut
06 - Duke
07 - Purdue
08 - Arizona State
09 - Oklahoma
10 - Mississippi
11 - George Washington
12 - North Carolina State
13 - Georgia
14 - Maryland
15 - Bowling Green
16 - Stanford
17 - Vanderbilt
18 - Ohio State
19 - Florida State
20 - Baylor
21 - Texas A&M
22 - Marist
23 - Middle Tennessee State
24 - Louisville
25 - Michigan State



There you have it. Tip-off of the college basketball season should start sometime early next month. Again, I MIGHT cover some of the action between November through early January, but don't expect full-blown reports until college football season is over. Can these teams live up to their preseason rankings? We'll see as the season progresses.