Updated Top 50 Ranking: Kansas #1

You really think Nevada is going to "dominate the WAC" when they're dealing with all the offseason turmoil they've gone through, and after they've lost the talent they did?

You've got Utah State, which is the team to beat in the WAC every single year. You've got Idaho, which will have unquestionably the best backcourt in the conference (Hopson/Johnson) and depth in the post. You've got New Mexico State, with studs all over the court.

No doubt Nevada will be good, but "dominate the WAC?" That's going out on a big limb.

You have underestimated the talent level in the Pac 10. Oregon State returns nearly everyone and have a very good in coming class of freshman. Also the UA returns 3 starters most importantly Nic Wise plus a 5 man freshman class that is extremly talented and add to that new coach Sean Miller they will be a top 50 team.

I'm rocking a fancy pair of Butler Blue glasses, but I still don't see how they are supposed to start out as a Top 15 team next year. The frontcourt is just too small to compete against a number of the major conference schools out there. Veasley is a tough player, but at 6-3 and playing and playing as a hybrid 4, he can only be so effective. Behind him is 6-7 sophomore Garrett Butcher, but he isn't nearly as efficient around the basket offensively, nor is he anywhere near as athletic.

I guess 6-8 Jukes could spend some time at the 4 if incoming 6-11, 239lb freshman Andrew Smith can take 8-12 minutes in the post behind Howard, but that will then squeeze someone else out of the rotation.

At 6-11 Matt Howard would be unstoppable, but at at (a probably generous) 6-8, he also struggles against bigger guys. It will be interesting to see how he fares against a real NBA prospect like Greg Monroe in the Jimmy V Classic.

If Butler's shooters are clicking I could see a sweet 16 or elite 8 run out of this team, but it would take some big games from Hayward and Mack to make it happen.

Chiming in on the Nevada thing here...

Nevada was a pretty good team by year's end last season. They got flat-out DOMINATED on their home court in the WAC Championship game by Utah State. USU loses conference POY Wilkinson, but returns every other crucial piece as well as a solid recruiting class. Not to mention Stew Morrill develops talent better than anybody else in the WAC, and arguably the country with how his teams traditionally perform.
Nevada lost their best defender in Burleson and probably the most underrated player in the WAC in Malik Cooke who transfered. They also had nearly their entire stud recruiting class opt out of their commitments after Mark Fox left town.

To cap it off, the final game for each team last year; USU lost by 1 in the NCAA's to a solid Marquette team. Nevada lost by 2 at home to a less solid (but still pretty good) UTEP in the CBI.

In a nutshell, I think Nevada didn't lose much less, if anything less than USU in the offseason when Burleson graduated, Cooke transferred, and Fox left for the SEC.

Also, look for Idaho to surprise everyone again. The went from a unanimous pick to finish dead last a year ago and they finished No. 3 in the WAC.

fixed the "dominated" line.. agree with the above comments.. still think they're the class of the league with usu a close 2nd substantially above the rest.

Hey Shawn, normally love your work, but I've got some disagreements with you on this one! I think the top ten is reasonable enough. Duke might be a little high, but otherwise all I'd do is shuffle around those same 10 teams a little bit. But the rest of the rankings have some huge holes. What's up with the Big 10 love fest? Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Illinois all in the top 20? But the most glaring issue I want to take up is for my Orangemen - you don't have Syracuse in the TOP 50!?! I think you are focusing way too much on the loss of Flynn, Devendorf and Harris and not considering what they're bringing back. Boeheim has said that Wes Johnson was the best player in practice last year. Maybe that was a bit of motivation tactics on his part, but it has to at least be close to true for no one to call him out on it. Johnson will be a huge step up over Harris. Rautins over Devendorf will at worst be a wash. Rautins is a slightly better outside shooter, Devendorf is the better overall scorer and ball-handler, but Rautins is MUCH better defensively and doesn't bring all the off-the-court baggage. The big hole obviously will be at the point. But Boeheim doesn't seem worried. He said he recruited Triche, who'll be starting at the point, as hard as he's ever recruited anyone. If Triche struggles a little at first, we have Scoop Jardine returning to the team after being redshirted, who's a solid combo guard, and will otherwise be filling Rautins role from last year coming off the bench. (The word on the street is he's now in the best shape of his life.) And don't forget Rautins can play the point - has been handling some point responsibilities for the Canadian national team this summer. But the frontcourt is the reason to be optimistic about the team. Onuaku led the country in FG% through much of last year and will be one of the best 10-15 centers in the country. He is a beast. Remember two years ago when we had Donte Green and Flynn, the smart coaches in the BE started the game by double-teaming Onuaku until Donte proved he was on that night. He was the guy other coaches thought they needed to key in on. Rick Jackson will be close to a double-double guy every night, and Dickie V. named Kris Joseph as one of the top five guys in the country he expects to have a breakout year this season. Riley, the top 50 bigman recruit, provides added depth in the frontcourt. The question should be whether you rank Syracuse in the top 20 or top 30. Not whether or not you rank them in the top 50! Look who you are ranking ahead of them. ODU, BC, Penn St, Pitt, Wake, Wisconsin, Tulsa, South Carolina, Memphis, Florida... hold on... I could keep going, but Florida? Really? Florida? That one might be most shocking of all. But fortunately we'll get a chance to see early on who's right. Syracuse and Florida are playing in Tampa, I believe, early on in the season. Even though Cuse is on the road in that one, I say let's let the outcome of that game determine who wins this argument! Again - love the work you guys do. Keep it up!

Vanderbilt will EASILY be a top 50 team this year.

NOVA BABY! I AM AN OLD, GROGGY, OUT OF TOUCH OLD MAN BUT I KNOW MY CATS ARE GONNA TAKE THIS PUPPY ALL THE WAY THIS SEASON! WORKING AT JCPENNEY'S ALL THESE YEARS AS A FRAGRANCE MASTER HAS ALLOWED BE TO WATCH MOST GAMES ON MY DISH AND I THINK THIS YEAR IS THE BEST TEAM THEY HAVE HAD SINCE MY SOPHMORE YEAR OF 63! GO CATS!

tjc pipe down with your expectations. the only thing crazier than that is the lies and deceit you regularly practice on our newsgroup. i might be banned from talking with you on there, but here its open forum so lets get after it. by the way i think michigan state should be rated number 1 and villanova is overated as they have too many young player to rely on

Boston College sports have taken a major downward turn since joining the ACC. We are not even on television that much anymore outside of the Jefferson Pilot region.

ACC is not fun. I miss the Big BEast.

Rodney Green is an impressive player, and La Salle is poised to break out as the best player in Philadelphia. Expect La Salle to win the Big 5, and for Rodney Green to win Big 5 Player of the Year.

No denying Rodney Green of the NIT. And as a Top 25 team, this dream should be realistic. I cannot wait to watch Rodney blowdry his balls in the face of all Atlantic 10 competition. You will all be impressed when you see Mean Green's total package.

November 28:
La Salle - 78
VilEnova - 65

Rodney Green - 27 pts, player of the game.

Many of you have forgot about Saint Joseph's (PA). Time to wake up and start rememberin. 2004's PERFECT SEASON led to a recruiting class we Saint Josephers dubbed "THE HOLY TRINITY". Now this holiest of holy trinity are seniors, and we expect big things on Hawk Hill.

Y'all are crazy not having Clemscum in your Top 20! Even my pole dancin wife knows we have the team this year to put the balls in the hoop and take this here ACC. Stripper wives, dipping and pick up trucks BABABABABABY! f-nova

Did you guys know that Pike is THE most successful fraternity ever? I will bet you 3-1 that there are more Pikes on TV reality shows than ANY other frat!!! This one time the rest of the Pikes and I took all these steroids then gave ourselves HJs while doing some leg presses and not eating any carbs. It was so ill! I also have drive a shitty beamer and am always right on sports about 50% of the time! But since I use an excel spreadsheet my 50% is better than YOUR 50%! Suck on that Novabubba! Pike rules!

You guys are drastically underrating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. That's ok. We enjoy taking people by surprise.

It wouldn't be the first time a team took Rutgers for granted. A few years ago, Rutgers beat both Villanova and Pitt in a week span. Rutgers probably would have finished at the top of the Big East had it not been for injury and minor disagreements between players.

Rutgers has the best 1-2 punch in the Big East. Mike Rosario and Gregory Echinique are college's version of Stockton and Malone. Combine those two with role players on the team, and Rutgers fields a similar squad as those Utah Jazz teams that used to make the finals year after year. However, instead of losing, I expect Rosario, who has the poise of a young MJ, to carry the squad. That's why I like to think of Rutgers as the 'North Carolina of the North'.

Rutgers has always had great academics. Now we have a great basketball team to compliment our student body. Have I mentioned how crazy the RAC gets in our home games? This team may not be on your list now, but at the end of the season, they'll be ready to claim the #1 spot.

VILENOVA eats children's dreams. That is all.

It's a known fact that everone has been juicing in the Big East since 1983. Just look at the stats. No way someone like Rafal Bigus averages 6 points a game in 1999. All roids. Without them, he'd be lucky to average 3.

14 is a little low especially for a clean cut program like THE OSU. In fact if you figure in their average attendance this year will be around 10,000 with 85% of that coming from alumni in places like Columbus, Dayton, Kettering, Miamisburgh, New Lebanon, Toledo, Akron, Dublin, and other parts of Butler county etc, I'd bet they'll crack the top 5 in no time.

In fact, when covering the Cubs in 1972, I recall walking by Woody Hayes in the press room (he was there to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame) and he told me that if we can get enrollment from 76 countries and 6 continents, then things would be looking up at THE OSU.

Look out for Villanova too. With a new arena on the horizon since 1997, they will be formidable.

Rob, when you said Rick Jackson will be close to a double-double guy every night, it reminded me of this past weekend when my lover and I made love by the Castro district.

Once I found out who all of you are and where you all work, you all are going to get fired! You nova guys will soon be unemployed like the rest of us St. Joe's grads!

Ghost of Patrick Swayze in Ghost!

Five Stars for this thread! Five StarS!

PSCA - You sound cute. Got a myspace page?

St. Joe's blows!!

Phil Martelli blows!!

...to the Puerto Rico games but can't go because I have no money. Can someone pay for me to go so I can get in the Daily News?

They would have gone all the way because he is the greatest ever at everything.

I have dreams of bending over and grabbing my ankles for him while listening to the Dead as Belichick videotapes it.

....does anyone know where on the KU campus is a good place to drop a number 2?

You guys suck. Duke should be #1. We have this new PG, he slaps the floor to get the crowd pumped up. This guy is awesome!

Did you see Susan Boyle on America's got talent? I'd hit that.

I was right when I said Dante Cunningham would go pro before he got to Nova and everyone doubted me. Visit my website for results.

paddy cans! aka THESPORTSBOSS!!!

how to get blood out of a white shirt? and donkey puncher, i hear the best place to take a dump on KU's campus is right next to the premiere hooker desposal site in the midwest.

Hey! Who's your # 15? Western Kentucky?