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Over the past ten years, college basketball has evolved to consider all mini-tournaments that occur before conference play begins as “pre-season” tournaments. Most college coaches use the November and December schedule to build team confidence as well as strategically play ranked and strong mid-major opponents in order to build a better RPI strength of schedule and a subsequent more impressive resume for the NCAA tournament selection committee. The following are what I hold to be the “Top 10″ pre-season tournaments to check-out for some great basketball. My choices were made based off of the 2009-10 pre-season rankings and overall team matchups. A bit for fans of all major conferences. If you have others that you think belong, please leave in the comments.

Top 10 Pre-Season Collge Basketball Tournaments

#1 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Dates: Nov. 30-Dec. 2

Nov. 30: Penn State at Virginia

Dec. 1: Maryland at Indiana; Michigan State at North Carolina; Northwestern at N.C. State; Virginia Tech at Iowa; Wake Forest at Purdue

Dec. 2: Boston College at Michigan; Duke at Wisconsin; Florida State at Ohio State; Illinois at Clemson; Minnesota at Miami

#2 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series

Dates: Nov. 29-Dec. 22

Nov. 29: Nebraska at USC

Dec. 3: Washington at Texas Tech; USC at Texas; Baylor at Arizona State

Dec. 4: Colorado at Oregon State

Dec. 5: Oregon at Missouri; Iowa State at California; Washington State at Kansas State

Dec. 6: Kansas at UCLA; Arizona at Oklahoma

Dec. 16: Oklahoma State at Stanford

Dec. 22: Texas A&M at Washington

#3 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – SEC/Big East Invitational

Dates: Dec. 9-10 at Madison Square Garden (New York)

Dec. 9: Georgia vs. St. John’s; Kentucky vs. UConn

Dec. 10: DePaul vs. Mississippi State; Syracuse vs. Florida

#4 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Legends Classic

Dates: Nov. 18-22 (campus sites); Nov. 27-28 (semifinals and final in Newark, N.J.)
Teams: Michigan State, Florida, Rutgers, UMass

Michigan State: Valparaiso, Toledo
Florida: Georgia Southern, Troy
Rutgers: Vermont, Drexel

UMass: Cornell, one TBD

#5 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Cancun Challenge

Dates: Nov. 18-25 (Nov. 24-25 in Cancun, Mexico)
Teams: Kentucky, Stanford, Virginia, Cleveland State, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston State, Rider, Florida A&M

Nov. 24: Stanford vs. Virginia; Kentucky vs. Cleveland State

Nov. 25: Championship and Consolation

#6 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Puerto Rico Tip-Off

Dates: Nov. 19-22 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Teams: Dayton, George Mason, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, Villanova, Boston University, Ole Miss

Nov. 19: Dayton vs. Georgia Tech, George Mason vs. Villanova, Indiana vs. Ole Miss, Boston University vs. Kansas State

#7 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Paradise Jam

Dates: Nov. 20-23 in Virgin Islands
Teams: Boston College, DePaul, East Carolina, Northern Iowa, Purdue, South Dakota State, Saint Joseph’s, Tennessee

Nov. 20: DePaul vs. Northern Iowa; Tennessee vs. East Carolina; Boston College vs. Saint Joseph’s; Purdue vs. South Dakota State

Maui Invitational

Dates: Nov. 23-25 in Maui, Hawaii
Teams: Arizona, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Colorado, Chaminade

Nov. 23: Colorado vs. Gonzaga; Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt ; Maryland vs. Chaminade; Arizona vs. Wisconsin

#8 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – 76 Classic

Dates: Nov. 26-27, 29 in Anaheim, Calif.
Teams: UCLA, Clemson, Butler, West Virginia, Minnesota, Texas A&M, Long Beach State, Portland

Nov. 26: West Virginia vs. Long Beach State; Clemson vs. Texas A&M; Butler vs. Minnesota; UCLA vs. Portland

#9 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase
Date: Nov. 17 in St. Louis, Mo., at Scottrade Center
Teams: Kansas, Memphis, Louisville, Arkansas, Central Arkansas, Oakland, Tennessee Tech (on Kansas-Memphis side), Appalachian State, East Tennessee State, Morgan State (on Arkansas-Louisville side)
Games: Louisville vs. Arkansas; Kansas vs. Memphis

#10 Pre-Season College Basketball Tournament – Wooden Classic

Date: Dec. 12 in Anaheim, Calif.
Games: Mississippi State vs. UCLA; Washington vs. Georgetown

When you look at

Coach Travis Ford’s debut season, you would have to have to say it was a moderate success. The Cowboys finished with a respectable 23-12 overall record in the 2008-2009 campaign along with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Now looking forward, Coach Ford is expecting  even greater success with the addition of his 2009 NCAA men’s basketball recruiting class that included 3 out of the top 100 prospects in the country.

Coach Travis Ford’s debut season, you would have to have to say it was a moderate success. The Cowboys finished with a respectable 23-12 overall record in the 2008-2009 campaign along with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Now looking forward, Coach Ford is expecting  even greater success with the addition of his 2009 NCAA men’s basketball recruiting class that included 3 out of the top 100 prospects in the country.

 

 

2009 Oklahoma State Cowboys Recruits

 

#1 2009 -Oklahoma State Recruit – PF – Karron Johnson

Ht: 6’7”

Wt: 225lbs

ESPN Ranking: #50

 

Johnson is a highly athletic forward that also has shown the strength that will serve him well in the rugged Big 12 Conference. His offensive game is solid but he needs to develop more consistency from behind the 3 point arc. Johnson can be explosive in the transition game and is fearless when attacking the rim. An excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor and he can go coast to coast if left unattended. Johnson is a powerful jumper that will give opposing defenses plenty of trouble.

 

#2 2009 -Oklahoma State Recruit – PG – Raymond Penn

Ht: 5’9”

Wt: 170lbs

ESPN Ranking: #57

 

Penn comes with the reputation as a “high energy” player. He has outstanding speed and quickness on the offensive end. Even though he is shorter than many at his position, he is fearless when driving and attacking the rim. His passing skills are outstanding as he can deliver a on the money pass to the open shooter with either hand. This young man will soon delight the Oklahoma State faithful with his energetic style of play.

 

#3 2009 -Oklahoma State Recruit – SF – Roger Franklin

Ht: 6’5”

Wt: 215lbs

ESPN Ranking: #81

 

Unlike many small forwards, Franklin is a strong and physical player that has the ability to score from both the post and farther out. His rebounding skills are above average and he shows the ability to be relentless on both ends of the floor. Franklin has good passing and ball handling skills that make him an asset in the transition game. He likes to attack the basket and has shown decent accuracy with his mid range jumper.

 

#4 2009 -Oklahoma State Recruit – C – Torin Walker

Ht: 6’9”

Wt: 225lbs

ESPN Ranking: n/a

 

Many experts feel Walker was underrated and that the Cowboys might have “stole one” with his signing. Walker repeatedly has shown that can be a premier shot blocker with his extremely long arms and jumping ability. He can operate in both the high or low post effectively and has a decent, but not great shooting range. With more work on his outside game, Walker should become a player that will cause many  matchup problems within the Big 12.

 

#5 2009 -Oklahoma State Recruit – PG - Reger Dowell

Ht: 6’0”

WT: 170lbs

ESPN Ranking: n/a

 

Dowell is a strong, quick, athletic point guard that utilizes his outstanding quickness to drive and attack the basket. He has shown a tendency to think scoring first versus getting his teammates involved in the offense. His 3 point shooting is average and he needs to improve this aspect of his game to become even more effective. He will also need to start thinking pass first in order to gain floor time with the Cowboys.

 

#6 2009 -Oklahoma State Recruit – C – Jarred Shaw

Ht: 6’10”

Wt: 210lbs

ESPN Ranking: n/a

 

The words most scouts used after watching Shaw play were, raw, talented and full of potential. His offensive skills to date are fairly limited to put-backs and dunks. Defensively he has shown signs that he could become a premier shot blocker with his long arms. Needless to say. Shaw will be a project to watch and see if the great potential will ever be reached.

 

#7 2009 – Oklahoma State Recruit – PG – Fred Gulley

Ht: 6’2”

Wt: 180lbs

ESPN Ranking: n/a

 

Gulley is a strong, athletic guard that has above average passing skills. His main drawbacks were his tendency to hold onto the ball to long and not keep his teammates involved in the offensive flow. He will need to work on his perimeter game to keep opposing defenses from sagging to cut off his penetration.  Gulley is a quality signing that just needs a little attitude adjustment.

 

Refs:

 

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/oag, http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=3725230, http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/school?season=2009&schoolId=197&page=commits&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fschool%3fseason%3d2009%26schoolId%3d197%26page%3dcommits, http://oklahomastate.collegebasketballfansite.com/