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Score two wins for the Colonial Athletic Association, with VCU winning at Wichita State and Drexel defending their home floor with a win over Kent State in Friday's Sears BracketBusters contests. VCU needed a pair of Joey Rodriguez free throws with eight tenths of a second remaining to win a game they nearly handed over after leading by nine at the half. Rodriguez racked up 11 assists to go along with 15 points. Bradford Burgess scored 17 to lead the Rams, and Joe Ragland scored 15 to lead the Shockers.

Overall Rank: #122

Led by future #1 NBA pick John Wall, this year's freshman class will be one to remember. What makes it particularly interesting is that not all of the top performers are at power conference schools. The WCC, CUSA, A10, MWC, WAC, and others have top-level rookies that can play with the best in the country. Here's a list of the Top 25 freshman in the country so far, with a bias on actual performance as opposed to potential. While players like UNC's John Henson may one day tear up NBA harcourts, this list focuses on the guys who are getting it done right now.

Random facts, tidbits, thoughts, and comments about a big day of college basketball..

#7 Michigan St at Minnesota - 12:00 CBS
When Blake Hoffarber scores 10+ points, Minnesota is 9-0. They've lost 6 in a row when he hasn't hit that mark. The inconsisent junior is coming off 2 bad games in a row (2 losses), but if he gets hot, expect a Gopher upset.

Auburn at Vanderbilt - 1:30

For the first half, the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament between North Carolina and Syracuse was a competitive affair that promised to go down to the wire. That's when Syracuse flipped a switch, going on a 22-1 run that removed any doubt in regards to the result and ultimately winning 87-71 in front of a pro-Syracuse crowd at Madison Square Garden. Wesley Johnson scored twenty-five points and added eight rebounds while Andy Rautins posted one of the better overall stat lines of his career with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 steals.

Appalachian State

Charleston

The Citadel

Davidson

Western Carilina

Wofford

Other (Chattanooga, Samford, etc)

The CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major All-America teams were voted on by staff members: Jeff Borzello, Jason Brubaker, Dan Daitchman, Jeff Fox, Raphielle Johnson, Blake Hofstad, Kevin McNeill, Shawn Siegel, Jon Teitel, and Joel Welser

 

Yesterday CHN announced its 2008-09 All-Americans, but it's already time to look forward to next season. I've done my best to predict who will go pro or not and have come up with my early look at the 2009-10 All-America Teams. Disagree with these picks? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

 

The Story: Blake Griffin, the leading rebounder in the nation, was the only unanimous selection for the All-American team. Griffin received 71 first-team votes. The voters submit the ballots before the NCAA tournament. The Sooners were bounced from the tournament yesterday by North Carolina, led by fellow All-American Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough was a unanimous selection last year while also being named the consensus player of the year as a junior. This is the fourth straight season that he has earned All-American honors.