2009-10 Pre-Season Top 10 College Basketball Conferences
Posted by admin in Pre-season College Basketball Rankings, tags: acc basketball, Big 10 Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, College Basketball Rankings, john calipari, Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas Jayhawks Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats Basketball, Michigan State Spartans Basketball, PAC-10 basketball, Pre-season Rankings, sec basketballOf the top 5 teams in the pre-season college basketball Top-25, Kansas is the only team who is returning the majority of their starters from last season. The Big East has been the dominant conference over the past several seasons with the ACC a close second, however the other major conferences have made some major in-roads in that time. The SEC has made a huge jump this season with Coach Calipari’s re-birth of the Kentucky program and the signing of the one best recruiting classes in NCAA history. The ACC comes in at a respectable leve, just with a lot of questions to answer with the number of graduations and players who have left for the NBA draft. The following are how I hold the top 10 conferences headin into the start of the college year.
#1 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference – Big Ten
The Big Ten had a break-through year last year with seven of its members making the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The conference is considered by many to be even stronger this year with a potential to send eight teams to the 2010 NCAA tournament. Heading into the start of the college season, the Big Ten is led by Michigan State, Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan. Penn State and Wisconsin also look like they could end up with at-large bids to the 2010 Tourney. The incoming recruiting classes for the Big 10 are not as strong as some of the other conferences, but that should not be an impact for the 2009-10 season. Some of the returning players that will lead their teams in the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season are: Evan Turner (Ohio State), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State), Robbie Hummel (Purdue) and Manny Harris (Michigan).
#2 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference -ACC
Many folks are putting the ACC below the Big 10 and Big 12 this coming season, but I don’t think the conference will be down that far this season. North Carolina will miss Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, but they have a crop of McDonald’s All-American’s who have been waiting their turn to show what they can do. Wake returns Al-Farouq Aminu who skipped his chance at the 2009 NBA draft and Maryland looks like they will break into the upper-portion of the ACC this season with Greivis Vasquez returning this season. Duke may also quietly creep up in the national rankings and ACC standings as Coack K’s squad becomes more seasoned during the season.
#3 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference -SEC
The SEC has had two down years after the Florida Gators won back-back NCAA titles. Even if John Calipari had not migrated to Lexington to re-birth the Kentucky, the SEC would have been assessed higher this season, however, with Coach Cal bringing the number 1 NCAA recruiting class to Kentucky along with keeping star post-player Patrick Patterson for one more season, there are a lot of expectations for this season’s Kentucky team. Some mock drafts have Kentucky with as many as three lottery picks on the squad and four first round overall picks. Tennesssee and Mississippi State return Tyler Smith and Jarvis Varnado back this coming season, and the SEC is finally back to having a number of teams in the Top 25. Vanderbilt, LSU, Florida, and Ole Miss could all see the Top 25 once the season gets going depending on how other conference teams play. A big test to see where the SEC stands will be after Kentucky has played North Carolina, Indianna, Louisville, and UCONN in their pre-conference games.
#4 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference - Big 12
The Big 12 is strong at the top with Kansas as the pre-season number 1 and Texas. Two of the NCAA’s top post players are playing in the Big 12 this season with Kansas’ COle Aldrich and Iowa State’s Craig Brackins. Other notable players returning this season are James Anderson of Oklahoma State, Willie Warren of Oklahoma, Damion James of Texas, K-State’s Jacob Pullen, and A+M’s Donald Sloan. Some of the top Big 12 recruits are Avery Bradley (Texas), Keith Gallon (Oklahoma), and Xavier Henry (Kansas). The Big 12 has the potential to put a number of teams in the NCAA tournament for 2010 and could make a case to supplant the SEC or ACC in the top 10 conferences in the country.
#5 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference -Big East
The Big East is down a bit from last season with a number of stars departing for the 2009 NBA draft. Villanova brings in the number 2 overall NCAA recruiting class, and West Virginia comes into conference play with a strong returning class this season. UCONN will have point guard Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson as well as Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edowards inside. Ater Majok will see more playing time as the season progresses for the Huskies and they may just walk away with the Big East title. There will be a lot of fans watching well-known recruit Lance Stephenson of Cincinnati and Louisville will also be in the mix as Coach Pitino’s players proceed through the season.
#6-10 Pre-Season College Basketball Conferences
#6 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference – PAC 10
#7 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference – Mountain West
#8 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference – Conference USA
#9 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference – Atlantic 10
#10 Pre-Season Top 5 College Basketball Conference – Horizon
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