xubrew
11-01-2010, 12:32 PM
i saw this topic on another site and thought it would be fun to do here.
70% of what happens during any basketball season was not predicted by the preseason poll. last year less than half the preseason poll ended up in the final poll, and many teams didn't make the tournament at all. likewise, teams like baylor, kansas state, richmond and northern iowa were nowhere near being considered ncaa tournamen teams, much less sweet sixteen teams (as three of them were).
so, here are my bold preseason predictions....
-the socon will send two teams to the ncaa tournament in wofford and college of charleston.
-murray state, old dominion, wichita state, northwestern and utah state will all finish in the top 25 and make the second round of the ncaa tournament (well, four out of five). this may be bold, but it isn't ENTIRELY crazy. it's a combination of good teams returning most of their starters, and with the exception of northwestern playing against weaker competition. the way the voters work is that it takes them awhile to notice unranked teams without brand names, but once they do notice them, they continue to move them up by default as the major conference teams around them lose. since all of those teams other than northwestern will likely dominate their leagues, they should be able to eventually play their way into the rankings.
as far as northwestern. they were a bubble team two years ago, and a 20+ win team last year. they return the core of last year's team, and i just get the feeling that their frustrations are coming to an end. i know saying they'll finish in the rankings is out on a limb, but, that is kind of the point. saying the same thing about baylor or kansas state last year would have been further out on a limb, and it happened, so...
-A non major conference team will once again play in the championship game. i know no games have been played, but right now it doesn't look like there are one or two teams that are heads and tails above the rest, so it is wide open.
that's all i got for now. exhibition games have already been played. the season is here!!
70% of what happens during any basketball season was not predicted by the preseason poll. last year less than half the preseason poll ended up in the final poll, and many teams didn't make the tournament at all. likewise, teams like baylor, kansas state, richmond and northern iowa were nowhere near being considered ncaa tournamen teams, much less sweet sixteen teams (as three of them were).
so, here are my bold preseason predictions....
-the socon will send two teams to the ncaa tournament in wofford and college of charleston.
-murray state, old dominion, wichita state, northwestern and utah state will all finish in the top 25 and make the second round of the ncaa tournament (well, four out of five). this may be bold, but it isn't ENTIRELY crazy. it's a combination of good teams returning most of their starters, and with the exception of northwestern playing against weaker competition. the way the voters work is that it takes them awhile to notice unranked teams without brand names, but once they do notice them, they continue to move them up by default as the major conference teams around them lose. since all of those teams other than northwestern will likely dominate their leagues, they should be able to eventually play their way into the rankings.
as far as northwestern. they were a bubble team two years ago, and a 20+ win team last year. they return the core of last year's team, and i just get the feeling that their frustrations are coming to an end. i know saying they'll finish in the rankings is out on a limb, but, that is kind of the point. saying the same thing about baylor or kansas state last year would have been further out on a limb, and it happened, so...
-A non major conference team will once again play in the championship game. i know no games have been played, but right now it doesn't look like there are one or two teams that are heads and tails above the rest, so it is wide open.
that's all i got for now. exhibition games have already been played. the season is here!!