College hoops preseason coaches' poll is out

[spinning27]

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. North Carolina (10) 0-0 739
2. UCLA (12) 0-0 734
3. Memphis (8 ) 0-0 731
4. Kansas (1) 0-0 669
5. Georgetown 0-0 625
6. Louisville 0-0 620
7. Tennessee 0-0 598
8. Michigan State 0-0 503
9. Indiana 0-0 479
10. Washington State 0-0 464
11. Duke 0-0 390
12. Marquette 0-0 381
13. Oregon 0-0 360
14. Gonzaga 0-0 252
14. Texas A&M 0-0 252
16. Texas 0-0 216
17. Arizona 0-0 205
18. USC 0-0 189
19. Arkansas 0-0 173
20. Pittsburgh 0-0 160
21. Stanford 0-0 158
22. Kentucky 0-0 155
23. Southern Illinois 0-0 137
24. North Carolina State 0-0 119
25. Villanova 0-0 111
Others Recieving Votes
Kansas State 94, Syracuse 69, Ohio State 65, Clemson 56, Connecticut 55, Butler 42, Davidson 39, Xavier 38, Alabama 31, Mississippi State 30, Florida 26, Wisconsin 21, Illinois 16, Washington 12, Brigham Young 12, Nevada 8, Bradley 7, Virginia 7, Virginia Commonwealth 5, Utah 4, Baylor 3, Old Dominion 3, Saint Joseph's 3, Fresno State 2, George Mason 2, Utah State 2, Notre Dame 1, California 1, Maryland 1.


I'm surprised A&M is rated so high after losing their best player and their coach. I figured USC might be ranked higher because of Mayo. That's a team with three legit pro prospects. I'm shocked Stanford made it into the poll at all given that Brook Lopez is out for the first semester.

 

[andyouare?]

Wow, Florida not even in the top 30. Not surprising I guess since they lost, well, everybody. But it's still weird to see.

 

[Oz]

Once again, getting my hopes up, only to crash come March ...

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Pitt at 20th surprises me with the losses of Vanilla Ice and Lurch

 

[Dangerous_K]

Arizona and Duke get the name recognition rankings.

 

[Angola!]

as a wazzu fan, top ten rankings scare me. also is the pac 10 supposed to be really good? six teams in the top 25 seems like a lot.

 

[Dangerous_K]

as a wazzu fan, top ten rankings scare me. also is the pac 10 supposed to be really good? six teams in the top 25 seems like a lot.

Good coach, everyone returning. Granted they can't sneak up on people, but by February everyone knew Wazzu was for real and they kept winning.

I don't agree with all the USC love, losing Stewart, Gibson and Pruitt. An awful lot of faith is being put into a kid with serious ego issues and zero college experience.
Also I don't know if Arizona's going to be any good: underachieving team that lost 55% of its offense, and Olson's looking like the hoops version of JoePa.

Oregon should be good, Porter should be an adequate replacement for Brooks. Stanford at full strength with both Lopez and Lawrence Hill has a quality front line. UCLA has maybe the best coach in the nation and a grip of talent. Those three and Wazzu make for an awfully tough top four.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

GO! B! U!
Everything's right, with the Red and White.

 

[steveu]

Not surprising to see North Carolina there, but every preseason mag practically anointed UCLA the champion.

 

[Hackwilson191]

Wow, Florida not even in the top 30. Not surprising I guess since they lost, well, everybody. But it's still weird to see.

The pre-season votes before Florida's first championship run

Others Receiving Votes
Washington 144, Texas Tech 142, Kansas 96, N.C. State 74, Ohio State 74, Wisconsin 56, LSU 54, Georgetown 46, Charlotte 44, North Carolina 38, Michigan 24, Northern Iowa 21, Miami 16, Oklahoma State 16, Old Dominion 13, Florida 6, Bucknell 5, Ohio 4, Arkansas 3, Southern Illinois 3, Utah State 2, Wisc. Milwaukee 2, Cincinnati 2, California 1, Hawaii 1, Houston 1, Notre Dame 1.

 

[Angola!]

hey dangerous k, is washington supposed to be any good this year?

 

[Dangerous_K]

hey dangerous k, is washington supposed to be any good this year?

I imagine they'll be a lot like last year: really mediocre. I like Brockman's game, good low block presence. I thought Pondexter was actually better than Hawes as far as their freshmen, and he seems like the type who could average 20 this year. A lot depends on Dentmon. UW's point guard play has been pretty bad since Robinson left, because Dentmon's a headcase and Appleby was nothing more than a so-so gunner.

The team in the Pac that intrigues me is Arizona State. I don't think they'll be anywhere near as big a surprise as Wazzu, but they could slip into the NIT or with the right breaks the Big Dance. Sendek's a good coach and got them to buy into a slow-down system last year. Their record sucked, but they were competitive in nearly every game from February to March including UCLA. Plus he's got some talent: Pendergraph's probably the most underrated guy in the conference and they've got a transfer from Duke/former Mickey D's All-Star who should be pretty good right away.

 

[CollegeJournalist]

Not surprising to see North Carolina there, but every preseason mag practically anointed UCLA the champion.

I know UCLA is ultra-popular, but it's a ballsy pick considering the Bruins have 4-5 minute scoring droughts in seemingly every game.

I don't know the stat off the top of my head, but I think that since the three point shot started in college basketball, almost every champion has averaged over 80 points per game. If UCLA does that, color me surprised.

 

[funky_mountain]

Not surprising to see North Carolina there, but every preseason mag practically anointed UCLA the champion.

I know UCLA is ultra-popular, but it's a ballsy pick considering the Bruins have 24-25 minute scoring droughts in seemingly every game.

I don't know the stat off the top of my head, but I think that since the three point shot started in college basketball, almost every champion has averaged over 80 points per game. If UCLA does that, color me surprised.

fixed

 

[Dangerous_K]

Oddly enough UCLA averaged 72 points per game last year.

 

[zimbabwe]

hey dangerous k, is washington supposed to be any good this year?

I imagine they'll be a lot like last year: really mediocre. I like Brockman's game, good low block presence. I thought Pondexter was actually better than Hawes as far as their freshmen, and he seems like the type who could average 20 this year. A lot depends on Dentmon. UW's point guard play has been pretty bad since Robinson left, because Dentmon's a headcase and Appleby was nothing more than a so-so gunner.

The team in the Pac that intrigues me is Arizona State. I don't think they'll be anywhere near as big a surprise as Wazzu, but they could slip into the NIT or with the right breaks the Big Dance. Sendek's a good coach and got them to buy into a slow-down system last year. Their record sucked, but they were competitive in nearly every game from February to March including UCLA. Plus he's got some talent: Pendergraph's probably the most underrated guy in the conference and they've got a transfer from Duke/former Mickey D's All-Star who should be pretty good right away.

As a sophomore, Denton was 1/10th the player he was as a freshman, in terms of playing under control, handle, shot selection, temperament, etc.

He is the key for the Dawgs. (Unless Overton is ready...and better, which he could very well be).

Ditto on Pondexter being better than Hawes.

 

[spinning27]

Not surprising to see North Carolina there, but every preseason mag practically anointed UCLA the champion.

I know UCLA is ultra-popular, but it's a ballsy pick considering the Bruins have 4-5 minute scoring droughts in seemingly every game.

I don't know the stat off the top of my head, but I think that since the three point shot started in college basketball, almost every champion has averaged over 80 points per game. If UCLA does that, color me surprised.

I'm with you. UCLA's gonna have to show me they can score, especially without Afflalo.

Plus, it's worth nothing that the NCAA West regional is in Phoenix this year. In other words, looks like the Bruins are actually gonna have to leave the state to make the Final Four!!!

 

[Appgrad05]

Duke is way, way overrated. As usual.

 

[jagtrader]

Georgetown is a Final Four team that has five of its top six back and three McDonald's All-Americans added to the mix. Don't see how the Hoyas are ranked behind Memphis.

 

[kingcreole]

LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT THE ACC IS! HOW ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA!!?!?! AND ROY WILLIAMS AND THE JOB HE'S DONE AT CAROLINA AND KANSAS! YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK KANSAS FANS EVER HAVE APPRECIATED THE JOB HE'S DONE! AND LET'S NOT FORGET THE DOOKIES!!