College hoops tip off

Back from the dead, it’s Toddy P. I’ve been away but now I’m back to stay. My favorite time of the year is fast approaching so I’ll shed some light upon this chaotic, exotic, and quite possibly orgasmic game we know as college hoops.

Just so you have a grasp of who the men in suits are placing their bets on, I’ll give you the ESPN/USA Today Poll:

1. Kansas

2. Michigan State

3. Texas

4. North Carolina

5. Kentucky

6. Villanova

7. Purdue

8. Duke

9. West Virginia

10. Butler

11. Tennessee

12. California

13. Washington

14. Connecticut

15. Michigan

16. Oklahoma

17. Ohio State

18. Minnesota

19. Miss. State

20. Georgia Tech

21. Georgetown

22. Dayton

23. Louisville

24. Clemson

25. Syracuse

I have to agree with the unanimous decision that the Jayhawks are the huge favorite to win big this year. With Hansbrough out of the picture, Cole Aldrich is on a fast track to be the best big man in the country. Sherron Collins averaged 18.9 pts/game last season and will not slow down. The addition of freshman Xavier Henry, Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson make this team knee deep with natural talent.

Overall, I agree with the preseason top 25 as it is shown, with maybe a few tweaks here and there. It’s hard to argue with the top 5. UNC could honestly put together a team of 73 year old, WWII vets with Alzheimers and Roy Williams would have them in the final four. Michigan State was the runner-up last year and has the preseason Big Ten player of the year in junior Kalin Lucas. I’m not entirely sold on Texas and Kentucky, but I’ll have to wait and see.

The rest of the board seems fairly steady but a few things to notice are the big conferences at hand. The Big East runs the table with 6 teams in the Top 25, the Big Ten has 5, the ACC has 4, and the Big 12 and the SEC both have 3. The rest may have one or two at the most but are not note worthy due to a lack of strength from top to bottom.

Now in this next part I will give my predictions for conference champions. These are based on each team's schedule, strength of other teams in the conference, last year's performance, returning players and new additions

Big East-This is probably the toughest conference to pick a winner. You have great teams like Nova, WVU, and UConn, but also the entire conference is capable of making a run. Now, I am sure I am going to take a lot of heat for this but my team to watch is Louisville. They may be small but everyone on that team can shoot. They also have four returning senior guards and a hell of a coach in Rick Pitino. They are very capable of playing a fast-paced game and can catch all of the over-sized teams in the conference off guard.

Big Ten-This conference is also very good all around. Michigan State will run it. It’s really quite simple. The only team that I feel could make an argument is Michigan and State is on an entirely different level.

ACC-UNC. Last year’s National Champions. Tyler Hansbrough or not the Tar Heels will continue to be there in the end.

Big 12-Kansas. My favorite to win the national championship. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldridge make this team almost unbeatable.

SEC-Now here I will be completely honest with you. I can’t give you a real answer as to who I think will win. Kentucky is the favorite and with new coach John Calipari, why not? LSU has forward Tasmin Mitchell coming back to play another year. Five teams in this conference have all five starters returning, and three others are returning four. I have a feeling this conference will be turned on its head by the end of the year. So I ask you, Down ‘N Dirty Sports fans, who do you think might pull it off in the SEC?

These are the conferences expected to be represented strongly in the tournament. Remember, these are preseason predictions so don’t give me a hard time when at the end of the season I may not have a single one right.

On that note, I am glad to be back and writing. Look forward to new posts from me, including a weekly college basketball blog, and also an NFL weekly preview. Maybe even a few more opinionated pieces here and there.

"Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up..."
-Bill Vaughn