Summer Rants and Ramblings, Part Two

Time for more observations and commens on the happenings in the college basketball world, including some predictions and opinions on the upcoming season (only 7 weeks until Midnight Madness, folks)...

- Speaking of the upcoming season, before I get any further, I have to let everyone know that my 2006-2007 College Basketball Preview will begin on September 18th and end on November 7th. The conference previews will start on October 1st, with the MEAC kicking things off. Prior to that, several things will be looked at, including position rankings, impact transfers and freshmen, sleepers, conference rankings, and more. Article after article, prediction after prediction, March Madness All Season will be providing information on every team, player, and conference in the country.

- With schedules from various teams and conferences coming in everyday, I've taken a look at some of the intriguing games and key early-season tournaments. Similarly to last season, the Maui Invitational is the early-season tourney to watch. Likely Top 25 teams UCLA, Memphis, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech anchor the field, while conference sleepers DePaul and Purdue look to make an impression with a solid performance in Hawaii. Besides Maui, there are several other early-season tournaments worth looking at. The NIT Season Tip-off features my preseason #1, North Carolina, in addition to likely NCAA Tournament teams Tennessee, Gonzaga, Winthrop, as well as Indiana. The Guardian's Classic has Duke, Marquette, Stanford, and Texas Tech as the four hosts. A couple of years ago, the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic would seem like an excellent gathering of teams, with St. John's, Michigan State, Texas, and Maryland as the four hosts. However, only one of those teams is a definite NCAA Tournament team this season. The Paradise Jam has some very nice potential match-ups, including a potential final between Alabama and either A-10 favorite Xavier or Villanova. The best early-season tournament game could come in the Wooden Classic, where UCLA takes on Texas A&M. However, the Classic is not a tournament, as it is just a one-day doubleheader. The other game features USC taking on George Washington. Some teams use an early-season tournament championship win as a springboard to a great season; we will see if that happens with any team this season.

- In addition to the tournaments and potential match-ups, the non-conference portion of the season will have plenty of games between top teams. There is not a fan out there that would complain about the amount of high-quality games on this season's slate. Just look at November 25th in the Las Vegas Invitational, where Florida will take on Kansas in what could very well be a Final Four preview. Florida will also face Ohio State--most likely without Greg Oden, though. Kansas also will face Boston College in December. North Carolina takes on Top-10 candidate Arizona, as well as Ohio State and Kentucky. LSU faces five potential Top-25 teams--and that's not counting the SEC schedule. Even Pittsburgh, known as a team that annually plays an easy schedule, has Wisconsin, Washington, and Florida State on their list of opponents. In my season preview, there will be an article on the top non-conference games of the season--it shouldn't be hard filling it up with all these quality games on the docket.

- The list of teams that will compete in the Bracket Buster was released recently, and it brought to mind the George Mason-Wichita State match-up that occurred last season. Both teams used it to boost their at-large profile and also made deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. Because the match-ups aren't announced until late January, there isn't much to talk about with the Bracket Buster. However, it gets one thinking about the question that everyone will be asking next March: Who is this season's George Mason? In March, that question means what mid-major will make a deep run in the Big Dance. However, if asked now, it could mean which mid-major that isn't a preseason favorite in their own conference will go from a double-digit seed past the first weekend. I'll attempt to give a short answer to both. For the first one, the teams from the Missouri Valley come to mind. Wichita State, Southern Illinois, and Creighton are the favorites and are all Top-25 material in several preseason polls. Over in the Colonial, Hofstra is returning a fantastic three-guard backcourt that will give teams trouble all season. Nevada and San Diego State from borderline mid-major conferences (WAC/MWC, respectively) have the talent and individual player (Nick Fazekas and Brandon Heath, respectively) to carry them a couple of rounds. MAC favorite Akron is a sleeper possibility. Post player Romeo Travis a beast inside, while Nick Dials and Dru Joyce form a solid backcourt. Other deep sleepers for Sweet Sixteen runs in the Big Dance include Winthrop, Marist, and Bucknell. The second part of the question is tougher to answer. First, I have to find teams that aren't favorites in their conferences but are good enough to make a run in the NCAA Tournament should they make it. Air Force comes to mind. They are ranked behind San Diego State in the preseason rankings, but their style of play and the return from injury of Conference Player of the Year Nick Welch put them in position to give major conference teams problems. Missouri State is another possibility. Looking like the odd man out in the MVC run for first place, the Bears have a team that could create trouble in March. Blake Ahearn is an excellent shooter, while Tyler Chaney is also an anchor in the backcourt. Nathan Bilyeu and Sky Frazier are solid frontcourt performers. Don't be surprised if one or more of the teams I mentioned are still playing during the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

- While we are on the topic of mid-majors, I figured it would be a good time to show some love to the individual players outside the major conferences. In other words, I'm going to reveal my Mid-Major All-Americans. Players from every conference outside the Big Six are eligible for these honors. In order to include everyone I feel deserves it, I'm going to take a page from the Big East, and put ten players on each team. Without further ado...

First Team
Nick Fazekas, Nevada
Morris Almond, Rice
Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington
Brandon Heath, San Diego State
Caleb Green, Oral Roberts
Loren Stokes, Hofstra
Jared Jordan, Marist
Blake Schlib, Loyola (Chicago)
Nate Funk, Creighton
Larry Blair, Liberty

Second Team
Quinton Hoseley, Fresno State
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
Gary Neal, Towson
Rashaun Freeman, Massachusetts
Jason Smith, Colorado State
Bobby Brown, Cal State Fullerton
Grant Stout, Northern Iowa
Quin Humphrey, Youngstown State
De'Angelo Alexander, Charlotte
Bryant Dunston, Fordham

Third Team
Blake Ahearn, Missouri State
George Hill, IUPUI
Courtney Lee, Western Kentucky
Trey Johnson, Jackson State
Nick Welch, Air Force
Lanny Smith, Houston
Ibrahim Jaaber, Pennsylvania
P.J. Couisnard, Wichita State
Reggie Williams, VMI
Jamar Wilson, Albany

Honorable Mention: Dontaye Draper, Charleston; Antoine Agudio, Hofstra; Derek Raivio, Gonzaga; Matthew Knight, Loyola Marymount; Chris Oliver, Radford; Jack Leasure, Coastal Carolina; A.J. Jackson, Robert Morris; Arizona Reid, High Point; Torrell Martin, Winthrop; Chris Bradshaw, Winthrop; Chris McNaughton, Bucknell; Folarin Campbell, George Mason; Jamaal Tatum, Southern Illinois; Romeo Travis, Akron; Quinton Day, UMKC; Bruce Price, Tennessee State; Stanley Burrell, Xavier; Jaycee Carroll, Utah State; Keith Simmons, Holy Cross; Tyrone Nelson, New Mexico State; Andrew Strait, Montana

- Let me know if I forgot anyone obvious on the above list...

- Before I go, I want to remind everyone to come back next week to see my list of the Top 10 College Basketball Cities. I will rank the top ten cities where college ballers come from. I expect some disagreement, so feel free to let me know how you feel. 24 days until the start of my preview...