At-large hopefuls angle for a bid
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 |
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Posted by Andy Katz
The pool of teams that could find their way in as at-large teams is larger
than what I provided Monday. The top 25, plus the 12 up for discussion, was only aportion. Plenty of others have a legitimate shot to make a run toward a bid as practice begins Friday. Here are some of them (I'm sure I'll miss othersas new teams emerge). I'm going alphabetically by conference here:
Elsa/Getty Images
Tyrese Rice will provide the scoring
punch for BC this season.
ACC
In offseason discussions the only team that comes up that probably has no shot to make the NCAAs is Virginia. Everyone else is pretty confident thenthey'll be in the mix. They won't be. But that isn't stopping the optimism.
Boston College: The Eagles firmly believe that iftheir freshmen play up to their potential, notably
Reggie Jackson, that they have alegit shot with
Tyrese Rice to finish in the 4-7 range and put them in position for abid.
Clemson: The Tigers lost key players in Cliff Hammonds and James Mays but there is enough in place with
K.C. Rivers and
Terrence Oglesby in the backcourt to make a run.
Florida State: TheSeminoles' staff and guard
Toney Douglas are adamant that Florida State has ashot to make the NCAAs. Their banner recruiting class gives them hope.
Georgia Tech: The consensus was the Yellow Jackets were missing a pointguard and they got one in
Iman Shumpert. If he's as good as projected then theYellow Jackets should be bubble bound.
Maryland: Gary Williams isn't considering not making the NCAAs. With the return of
Greivis Vasquez and
Eric Hayes I've heard nothing from Williams other than this team will be better and onthe verge of a bid.
NC State: The Wolfpack lost J.J. Hickson, but may have gained more cohesion back with
Ben McCauley and
Brandon Costner. The Wolfpack believe that point guard
Farnold Degand being healthy will be the difference.
Virginia Tech: Youcould argue I should have had the Hokies in the top 25 or the 12 beyond. That's a fair point. Virginia Tech lost one player of note in Deron Washington.The rest of the crew returns that nearly took out UNC in the ACC tourney.
Atlantic 10
The league is usually good for three or four contenders for bids. So, to put just Xavier down isn't probable. The problem is who to choose next?
Charlotte: The 49ers return four starters. Bobby Lutz doesn't stay down too long. The NIT appearance last season was a turn toward a run to theNCAAs.
Temple: The Owls bring back scorer
Dionte Christmas after the surprising runto the A-10 tournament title.
UMass: I wouldn't dismiss UMass with the return of
Chris Loweand
Ricky Harris and a plethora of role players inside. They should thrive in DerekKellogg's system.
Big 12
You can dismiss Iowa State, Colorado and likely Texas Tech and Nebraska from being in the NCAA discussion come March. Kansas State coach Frank Martin firmlybelieves the Wildcats will be in play, but it's hard to make that argument with Michael Beasley and Bill Walker gone.
Missouri: The Tigershave
DeMarre Carroll and
Leo Lyons to run Mike Anderson's system and Anderson says he has his incoming players onboard who are committed to his style.
Oklahoma State: New coach Travis Ford walked into a good situation with a solid nucleus back including double-figure scorers
James Anderson,
ByronEaton and
Terrel Harris. Size will be an issue here but Ford has done well withperimeter-based teams.
Big East
St. John's, South Florida, Rutgers, DePaul are probably out of the discussion for the NCAA. Seton Hall would likely be added to that list if the Piratescan't get a number of players eligible
Cincinnati: The Bearcats get a healthy
Mike Williams and already have one of the top scoring guards in
Deonta Vaughn. And this club doesn't wilt under pressure.
Providence:Keno Davis has a chance to make the NCAAs with point guard
Sharaud Curry returningand scoring guards
Weyinmi Efejuku,
Jeff Xavier and forward
Geoff McDermott.
West Virginia: I probably took more flak for leaving theMountaineers out of the top 37 than any other team. The Mountaineers usually don't get their due until mid-season when they've surprised everyone yetagain. Bob Huggins usually has his teams in the mix by March. Losing Joe Alexander is a tough blow but the addition of
Devin Ebanks gives them plenty of scoring pop to go with
Joe Mazzulla,
AlexRuoff and
Da'Sean Butler.
Big Ten
Once again it is a lean year in the Big Ten for locks. But there are a handful of bubble teams that should be in the mix come March.
Illinois:The Illini don't have a star, but they've got enough solid role players and the passion of Bruce Weber to make a run toward a bubble berth.
Joe Murphy/Getty Images
Robert Vaden spurned the NBA to
return to UAB and try and compete
for a tourney spot.
Minnesota: The Gophers will continue to be a solid defensive team under Tubby Smith. I fully expect Smith to have Minnesota in play late inFebruary. He's too good.
Ohio State: For the third straight season the Buckeyes have a big-time freshman center.
B.J. Mullens will join a solid cast that was denied a bid late in the season. Ohio Stateprobably will make it in the end.
Conference USA
Memphis dominated this league last season but the Tigers can't expect to run the table again. Memphis lost too much and the rest of the league has improvedgreatly.
Tulsa: The CBI champs return one of the more unheralded big men in
Jerome Jordan.
BenUzoh is a nice compliment on the perimeter. Doug Wojcik has this program back where it belongs -- on the verge of NCAA bids.
UAB: TheBlazers have one of the top scorers in the country in
Robert Vaden and added back apoint guard in
Paul Delaney III who should set him up quite nicely. UAB was close toa bid last season. The Blazers should get in this year.
UTEP: Tony Barbee is quick to remind me that the Miners should be a quality team and atough out this season. There's no reason to dismiss his optimism. The Miners return one of the better scoring guards in senior
Stefon Jackson.
Missouri Valley
The Valley had the story last season in Drake. But unfortunately there wasn't enough else to stand out and the Valley got only one team in the field. Thatcould be the case again, although, there are plenty of teams that can make it to mid-March.
Creighton: The Bluejays have an experienced crewagain and led by
Josh Dotzler and
P'Allen Stinnett should be the team to beat in the league. Dana Altman always seems tosniff close to the NCAAs and this shouldn't be any different.
Southern Illinois: The Salukis slipped a bit last year but SIU is poised toclimb back to be one of the top teams in the league yet again. SIU has experience, defense, and an impact newcomer in freshman forward
Anthony Booker.
Illinois State: The Redbirds had a legit gripe about notgetting a bid last season. You can argue the schedule, as I did, but the team didn't help itself by getting blown out by Drake in the Valley tourney final.Still, enough returns for Tim Jankovich, led by
Osiris Eldridge for the Redbirds tobe in the mix yet again.
MWC
The Mountain West has two locks in UNLV and BYU being in the chase for the title and bids. But there are others who could disrupt that by March.
SanDiego State: The Aztecs returns the starting five intact and won 20 games a year ago with this crew. San Diego State has a MWC stud in
Lorrenzo Wade.
Utah: The Utes have one of their best schedules in years anda frontcourt that should be hard to match in the league with
Luke Nevill and
Kim Tillie.
Pac-10
The easy thing to do is tear down the Pac-10 as heading for a down year. Oregon is reshuffling, Oregon State is starting anew, Cal lost Ryan Anderson and has anew staff and Stanford will go without the Lopez twins, Brook and Robin, and forge ahead with a new coach, too. But to dismiss the Washington schools would bea mistake.
Washington: The Huskies are the sleeper pick in the league to grab a bid and finish possibly as high as third.
Jon Brockman is back and ready to make a run at player of the year in the conference.
Quincy Pondexter should have a breakout season and the point is being turned over toa hyped newcomer
Isaiah Thomas (not a bad name to have at that position).
Washington State: Tony Bennett isn't folding up because Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill are gone. The core of
Taylor Rochestie at the point and
Daven Harmeling and
Aron Baynes inside give the Cougars the nucleus to go along with star newcomer
Klay Thompson. WSU is here to stay as a potential NCAA team underBennett.
SEC
The SEC continues to be one of the most consistent conferences for bids in the country. You can almost always lock in five or six teams to the NCAAs. Thiswon't be any different.
Ole Miss: The Rebels lost the inside game but bring back one of the top point guards in the South in
Chris Warren. If the Rebels can get someone inside to score and defend then they'll havea shot.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores lost Shan Foster but bring back
A.J. Ogilvy inside and still have a scoring option on the perimeter in
Jermaine Beal. You're foolish if you think Kevin Stallings' teams are ever out of theNCAA discussion.
AP Photo/John Raoux
Shan Foster's departure means
Vandy will rely more heavily on
Aussie big man A.J. Ogilvy .
WAC
The league may not be a deep from top to bottom but has at least one candidate for at-large.
Nevada: The Wolf Pack brought in one of the top recruits in the country in
Luke Babbitt and returns a solid guard in
Brandon Fields. Give this team time and Nevada could be in the mix for a bid in March.Nevada's nonconference schedule should be rated high, especially with a home game against North Carolina on the schedule.
WCC
The league put in three of its eight teams a year ago for one of the better percentages in the country. Don't be shocked if it happens again.
San Diego: The Toreros got hot in the WCC title and beat Gonzaga for the championship at home. It wasn't a fluke after they took outConnecticut in the first round. Everyone of note returns.
