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[kkaabboomm]

where we stand as of Jan. 25, 2010

"This is about a return of this legendary program back to its rightful place at the top of the mountain" - Coach Cal, Big Blue Madness 2009

and it only took 19 games to do it. From NIT to #1 in 10 months. i've gotta say, being the unanimous #1, in both polls...i've missed this feeling. can we keep it? hopefully. hopefully south carolina won't spoil the magic. we'll see. but damn it feels good.

AP Top 25
1. Kentucky (65) 19-0 1,625
2. Kansas 18-1 1,519
3. Villanova 18-1 1,503
4. Syracuse 19-1 1,455
5. Michigan State 17-3 1,324
6. Texas 17-2 1,307
7. Georgetown 15-3 1,124
8. Duke 16-3 1,120
9. West Virginia 15-3 1,113
10. Purdue 16-3 977
11. Kansas State 16-3 960
12. Brigham Young 20-1 894
13. Gonzaga 16-3 847
14. Tennessee 15-3 837
15. Temple 17-3 707
16. Wisconsin 16-4 635
17. Pittsburgh 15-4 599
18. Mississippi 15-4 411
19. Connecticut 13-6 286
20. Ohio State 14-6 270
21. Vanderbilt 15-3 264
22. Georgia Tech 14-5 194
23. New Mexico 18-3 180
24. Baylor 15-3 157
25. UAB 17-2 125

Coaches Poll
1. Kentucky (31) 19-0 775
2. Kansas 18-1 739
3. Villanova 18-1 714
4. Syracuse 19-1 680
5. Michigan State 17-3 627
6. Texas 17-2 613
7. Duke 16-3 555
8. Gonzaga 16-3 533
9. West Virginia 15-3 506
10. Brigham Young 20-1 485
11. Georgetown 15-3 483
12. Purdue 16-3 420
13. Kansas State 16-3 409
14. Tennessee 15-3 385
15. Temple 17-3 339
16. Wisconsin 16-4 282
17. Pittsburgh 15-4 267
18. Butler 16-4 213
19. Connecticut 13-6 199
20. Mississippi 15-4 151
21. Clemson 15-5 112
22. Georgia Tech 14-5 105
23. Vanderbilt 15-3 71
24. Ohio State 14-6 62
25. Northern Iowa 17-2 60


Games to watch this week:
Monday, Jan. 25
9:00 PM ET Missouri at (2) Kansas
7:00 PM ET (11) Georgetown at (4) Syracuse

Tuesday, Jan. 26
9:00 PM ET (1) Kentucky at South Carolina
7:00 PM ET (5) Michigan State at Michigan
8:30 PM ET (9) West Virginia at DePaul
8:00 PM ET (13) Kansas State at Baylor
7:00 PM ET (21) Clemson at Boston College

Wednesday, Jan. 27
7:00 PM ET Notre Dame at (3) Villanova
9:00 PM ET Texas Tech at (6) Texas
9:00 PM ET Florida State at (7) Duke
10:00 PM ET (10) Brigham Young at New Mexico
7:00 PM ET (23) Vanderbilt at (14) Tennessee
7:00 PM ET (15) Temple at Charlotte
7:00 PM ET (19) Connecticut at Providence
8:30 PM ET (24) Ohio State at Iowa
8:05 PM ET Drake at (25) Northern Iowa

Thursday, Jan. 28
11:00 PM ET (8) Gonzaga at Santa Clara
7:00 PM ET (16) Wisconsin at (12) Purdue
7:00 PM ET St. John's at (17) Pittsburgh
9:00 PM ET (20) Mississippi at Auburn
7:00 PM ET Wake Forest at (22) Georgia Tech

Friday, Jan. 29
9:00 PM ET (18) Butler at Green Bay

Saturday, Jan. 30
4:00 PM ET (23) Vanderbilt at (1) Kentucky
7:00 PM ET (2) Kansas at (13) Kansas State
2:00 PM ET (4) Syracuse at DePaul
7:00 PM ET Northwestern at (5) Michigan State
4:00 PM ET Baylor at (6) Texas
1:00 PM ET (7) Duke at (11) Georgetown
9:30 PM ET (8) Gonzaga at San Francisco
12:00 PM ET Louisville at (9) West Virginia
9:00 PM ET Utah at (10) Brigham Young
12:00 PM ET La Salle at (15) Temple
12:00 PM ET Marquette at (19) Connecticut
4:00 PM ET Arkansas at (20) Mississippi
1:00 PM ET Kentucky State at (22) Georgia Tech
3:05 PM ET (25) Northern Iowa at Missouri State

Sunday, Jan. 31
3:00 PM ET Penn State at (12) Purdue
1:00 PM ET Florida at (14) Tennessee
1:00 PM ET (17) Pittsburgh at South Florida
2:00 PM ET (18) Butler at Milwaukee
5:30 PM ET Maryland at (21) Clemson
1:00 PM ET Minnesota at (24) Ohio State


with that said...go cats!


original post:
Welcome to College Basketball, 2009-2010 edition!
College basketball is back, after a long summer. Football is nice and fun, but college basketball is where it's at.

Now - the preseason polls:
AP Top 25
1. Kansas (55) 0-0 1,612
2. Michigan State (5) 0-0 1,515
3. Texas (1) 0-0 1,397
4. Kentucky (3) 0-0 1,372
5. Villanova 0-0 1,347
6. North Carolina (1) 0-0 1,320
7. Purdue 0-0 1,284
8. West Virginia 0-0 1,115
9. Duke 0-0 1,064
10. Tennessee 0-0 897
11. Butler 0-0 864
12. Connecticut 0-0 844
13. California 0-0 800
14. Washington 0-0 776
15. Michigan 0-0 578
16. Ohio State 0-0 465
17. Oklahoma 0-0 410
18. Mississippi State 0-0 393
19. Louisville 0-0 335
20. Georgetown 0-0 326
21. Dayton 0-0 318
22. Georgia Tech 0-0 301
23. Illinois 0-0 282
24. Clemson 0-0 217
25. Minnesota 0-0 172

Coaches Top 25
1. Kansas (27) 0-0 770
2. Michigan State (3) 0-0 732
3. Texas 0-0 676
4. North Carolina (1) 0-0 653
5. Kentucky 0-0 635
6. Villanova 0-0 620
7. Purdue 0-0 586
8. Duke 0-0 528
9. West Virginia 0-0 501
10. Butler 0-0 408
11. Tennessee 0-0 406
12. California 0-0 370
13. Washington 0-0 364
14. Connecticut 0-0 361
15. Michigan 0-0 279
16. Oklahoma 0-0 244
17. Ohio State 0-0 241
18. Minnesota 0-0 151
19. Mississippi State 0-0 149
20. Georgia Tech 0-0 136
21. Georgetown 0-0 134
22. Dayton 0-0 130
23. Louisville 0-0 123
24. Clemson 0-0 114
25. Syracuse 0-0 111

Kansas, with returning players and a great recruiting class, is the consensus #1.

Runner up, Michigan State, starts out as a consensus #2.

Texas is also the consensus #3

The reigning champs, UNC, starts out in the top 4-6.

UK, last years poor NIT team, with one of the best recruiting classes ever, has vaulted to concensus preseason top 5.

Villanova rounds out the Top 5 as well, depending.


Also this season: UK has 1988 wins. UNC has 1984 wins. UK plays UNC this December at Rupp. The battle for 2000 is going to be hard fought, but I think UK pulls it out.

So discuss your team, do as you will, but know that come April, a true national champ will be chosen thanks to one of the best tournaments/systems ever devised for sport - March Madness. The season officially starts on Monday, November 9th. Let's get this season started!

Spoiler

oh, and of course, GO UK!

 

[Chony]

Just popping my head in to say go Washington!

I'm looking forward to seeing some Gaddy and how they do Brokman-less.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Texas got the #1 national recruit. We are taking the title this year!

 

[kkaabboomm]

Texas got the #1 national recruit. We are taking the title this year!

you mean John Wall? or Demarcus Cousins? http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=1642
oh wait, UK got both of them.

Bradley though is an absolute BEAST, and should be feared by opponents. Hamilton should also be a great player, too. Texas looks to be a real threat to UK's re-emergence.

 

[disillusion386]

Let's go Hoyas!

 

[Robot 492]

I hope UMD doesn't suck this year.

 

[lakesideflight]

check out espn's homepage for a tour of Tom Izzo's basement, pretty damn big, but I guess that's what I'd expect for the money he rakes in

 

[peppermints]

Looking forward to an exciting year from my Hoosiers.

I know we're not expected to make a whole lot of noise, but it's going to be fun seeing this team develop.

First year with season tickets, too!

 

[iamblades]

The wildcats finally have a team that can compete with the top teams in the nation on a pure talent level again. First time since the 04-05 season that we can really say that.

They also truly have size advantage for the first time in a while. Not just average size being inflated by a few 7+ footers that barely make it off the bench like in the past, but starters with size advantages at pretty much every position against almost every team we will play.

I'm really excited this year..

Go Big Blue!

 

[Squirrel Killer]

I remember Hawkeye Nation cheering the Steve Alford hire and bemoaning the Ferentz's, but man, what I wouldn't give for another ten years of mediocre-enough basketball to make regular appearances in the Top 25 and March Madness.

 

[JCX]

Go Cedarfest, I mean State!

 

[jjasper]

The official countdown to Kentucky probation thread.

 

[DY_nasty]

It'll be funny when John Wall doesn't even end up playing this year.

 

[Overlee]

UCLA needed a 3pt buzzer beater to beat Div II Concordia 62-61 in exhibition play last night :-(

Starting PG Jerime Anderson was out along with Mike Roll but we sure are going to miss the solid PG play we've had since Farmar's freshman year.

 

[BakedPigeon]

Hopefully Arizona can have a good season. BEAR DOWN!

 

[bucsfan0210]

Anyone who says John Wall isn't playing is a fool. He was cleared by the NCAA. He's missing one regular season game, and on top of that, he's donating the money he owes to a hospital.
Go Cats!

 

[devilhawk]

Lets start this off

The Preseason All-America Collins and Aldrich

X

 

[variance]

UCF making national news already! GO KNIGHTS!

 

[Ionas]

Word on the street is that Vandy gave UNC a solid whooping in a hush-hush scrimmage a few weeks back, and did so without All-SEC center AJ Ogilvy (whose concussion may or may not be a huge deal...).

I think/hope we'll crack the top 25 at least once before the season's over.

 

[devilhawk]

Also this season: UK has 1988 wins. UNC has 1982 wins. UK plays UNC this December at Rupp. The battle for 2000 is going to be hard fought, but I think UK pulls it out.

UNC has 1984 wins. KU is third with 1970.

Though it won't really matter. UK will just "find" some more wins in a basement...again.

 

[Seth C]

I would just like to point out that UK should be #4 given our rankings are 4/5 and UNC's are 4/6. We average half a place higher than they do. Thanks.

UNC has 1984 wins. KU is third with 1970.

Though it won't really matter. UK will just "find" some more wins in a basement...again.

You mean...just like UNC did?

"Kentucky and North Carolina have been neck-and-neck in all-time victories throughout the 1990's. In the late-80's, UK lost the lead to UNC, in no small part to the poor seasons and the fact that UK was forbidden from competing in a number of SEC and NCAA tournaments due to NCAA probation.

On July 11, 1990, UK announced that they had petitioned the NCAA and were granted an additional win to their all-time win total for a game on March 3rd in 1914 against the University of Louisville. This tied the race for wins at 1,479 at the time, with North Carolina having lost 544 games and Kentucky 489 games along with one tie contest.

In late October 1991, the NCAA announced that they had added five wins and a loss to North Carolina's total, in response to some research which had been done by the school's sports information department to make its early results more accurate. At the time, this increased North Carolina's lead over Kentucky from 7 to 12.

Kentucky, undergoing an amazing resurgence under new coach Rick Pitino, went on to retake the lead and hold it for the rest of the decade, although the Tarheels were never far from sight. "

So, one game versus 5 for UNC. But keep talking shit, I have facts.

 

[devilhawk]

I would just like to point out that UK should be #4 given our rankings are 4/5 and UNC's are 4/6. We average half a place higher than they do. Thanks.



You mean...just like UNC did?

Ok. Fine. You are both "finders."

 

[Seth C]

I believe UK was the most recent "finder." Though I have heard of both schools doing it.

I just edited. UNC was the most recent, and they found more. We added one game, played against Louisville, which was listed in both school's record books but had not been counted inadvertently. Meanwhile, two of UNC's "found" victories were against the Durham YMCA. So, yeah.

 

[DY_nasty]

Look, you irrelevant 'UK' fans are going to have to spell out which irrelevant team you follow as both University of Kansas and University of Kentucky are equally irrelevant. Just show a little courtesy to the rest of us. Thanks.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Iowa State is looking good this year, Brackins will lead the team, hopefully a tourney run is in the future...

 

[Seth C]

Look, you irrelevant 'UK' fans are going to have to spell out which irrelevant team you follow as both University of Kansas and University of Kentucky are equally irrelevant. Just show a little courtesy to the rest of us. Thanks.

UK/KU. Different schools, different organization of the two letters. You're either not a college basketball fan or you work for ESPN.

 

[iamblades]

Look, you irrelevant 'UK' fans are going to have to spell out which irrelevant team you follow as both University of Kansas and University of Kentucky are equally irrelevant. Just show a little courtesy to the rest of us. Thanks.

Kansas is KU

Kentucky is UK.

 

[DY_nasty]

I missed trolling college basketball so much. :lol

I just wish more Duke fans posted on GAF.

 

[NewLib]

Finally! Longest offseason ever. Unfortunate news for Wildcat fans as Bledsoe is going to be hurt for the second exhibition game so we wont get to see him play with Wall until the 2nd regular season game.

Anyway, UK is back and haters should be scared. We have not forgotten those who besmirched us in the past. Vengeance!

Edit: Seriously why isnt there more Duke fans here? This thread has quite a few UNC, UK, and Kansas fans but there was like one Duke fan last year.

 

[Seth C]

Finally! Longest offseason ever. Unfortunate news for Wildcat fans as Bledsoe is going to be hurt for the second exhibition game so we wont get to see him play with Wall until the 2nd regular season game.

Anyway, UK is back and haters should be scared. We have not forgotten those who besmirched us in the past. Vengeance!

Edit: Seriously why isnt there more Duke fans here? This thread has quite a few UNC, UK, and Kansas fans but there was like one Duke fan last year.

DJ_Tet. Makes me wonder where he is? Though this new junior has the same Bobcats avatar.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Where is UCLA at??? A non ranked UCLA team? What in the world? Bring back John Wooden! He is only 99. He can still bring it.

 

[bluemax]

Personally I would've gone with NCAA College Basketball 2009-2010 Tim Floyd's Career Memorial Thread

OR something about Calipari and recruiting scandals.

Anywho the Trojans are gonna be godawful this year. As long as we aren't as bad as Oregon St. 2 years ago I'll be happy.

UCLA needed a 3pt buzzer beater to beat Div II Concordia 62-61 in exhibition play last night :-(

Starting PG Jerime Anderson was out along with Mike Roll but we sure are going to miss the solid PG play we've had since Farmar's freshman year.

This is gonna be a long year for the Pac 10. Not having a dominant SoCal program is bad for the conference as a whole.

 

[clav]

Poor poor Northwestern... never invited to the NCAA EVER.

I doubt Northwestern will get a NCAA bid given the difficulty of the conference has risen this season.

They say it might be the year, but we will have to see.

I can only hope.

 

[bluemax]

Shit we play Texas in December. I think that game will tell us everything we need to know about USC this year. If we lose by less than 20 it'll be a miracle.

 

[PotatoeMasher]

Ah--nice to have the band back together.

I went to UKs blue-white scrimmage last week. Insane crowd for a glorified practice. We're pretty raw, but I suspect everything will come together soon.

I'm hoping to go to more games than I did last year, if only to help forget the Gillispie era. I suspect it will be tougher to get decent tickets this year, though.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Michigan's first exhibition game is tonight!

 

[kkaabboomm]

UK pride.

this years recruits:

7 NCAA national championships. (we don't count Helms trophies in our numbers)
1988 wins (i fixed the OP).

go big blue! i don't get to go to tonight's game (MPRE tomorrow) but i've got my 4 lower arena season tickets and will be at every game i can.

 

[jjasper]

Anyway, UK is back and haters should be scared. We have not forgotten those who besmirched us in the past. Vengeance!

Why should we be scared? Watching the downfall occur is going to be the greatest thing ever.

 

[KingGondo]

Why should we be scared? Watching the downfall occur is going to be the greatest thing ever.

You've gotta be scared of programs that overpay for a coach solely because of his recruiting prowess, associate with characters like World Wide Wes, kick off dedicated backup players to make room for flash-in-the-pan blue chips, and are sure to have their eventual Final Four berth taken away by the NCAA because of violations.

But hey, I'm sure John Wall and Cousins picked UK because they really respect the wealth of tradition in their program.

 

[Nerevar]

You've gotta be scared of programs that overpay for a coach solely because of his recruiting prowess, associate with characters like World Wide Wes, kick off dedicated backup players to make room for flash-in-the-pan blue chips, and are sure to have their eventual Final Four berth taken away by the NCAA because of violations.

But hey, I'm sure John Wall and Cousins picked UK because they really respect the wealth of tradition in their program.

LOL. I'm sure they'll take it over the alternative of my Dukies - recruiting upstanding unatheletic white guys who play really hard and have a talent ceiling of the sweet 16 if we're lucky. Looking forward to another competitive ACC season and tournament flame-out. Whoo-hoo.

Hey, At least Coach K showed-up Deano's coaching tree by getting the American men to actually win gold in international competition, something neither George Karl nor Larry Brown could do despite an overhwelming talent edge. Gives me something to keep me happy.

 

[bluemax]

LOL. I'm sure they'll take it over the alternative of my Dukies - recruiting upstanding unatheletic white guys who play really hard and have a talent ceiling of the sweet 16 if we're lucky. Looking forward to another competitive ACC season and tournament flame-out. Whoo-hoo.

Hey, At least Coach K showed-up Deano's coaching tree by getting the American men to actually win gold in international competition, something neither George Karl nor Larry Brown could do despite an overhwelming talent edge. Gives me something to keep me happy.

At least Duke kids have some education to fall back on when they become NBA busts. Calipari's kids won't even have that.

 

[Dragon]

It's not Villanova. It's ILLanova. Get it right!

I'm excited about this season, some really good recruits along with Fisher and Reynolds returning make it looking good!

I missed trolling college basketball so much. :lol

I just wish more Duke fans posted on GAF.

It's funny, but I bet one of the Top 10 teams in CBK could beat the Bobcats. They're horrific.

 

[DJ_Tet]

DJ_Tet. Makes me wonder where he is? Though this new junior has the same Bobcats avatar.

I'm here but why would I post about college basketball when we have 'dook' fans here who don't know the difference between KU and UK?


Anyway, I'm glad dook got a decent PG recruit finally, we'll see how he does since he graduated early last year (hopefully he isn't too small.) We've got a nice squad this year but I imagine all the dook fans are holding their breath till next year when we get Seth Curry, the #1 PG in the nation and hopefully the #1 recruit. We'll see, should be a fun year of hoops.

I'm glad to see UK bounce back strong, hopefully they can finally beat the Heels


edit2: There is another dook fan here who is a student, 404Ender or something. He got upset when I posted a huge dook picture in the conference tourney thread last year. Tough, I was excited that we won the ACC Tourney and smart enough to know we weren't making any noise in the real thing. Celebrate when you can, I say.

The teams that don't take the time to cut down the nets usually end up regretting that.

 

[DJ_Tet]

It's funny, but I bet one of the Top 10 teams in CBK could beat the Bobcats. They're horrific.

I hope you aren't being serious with that post.

 

[PotatoeMasher]

The teams that don't take the time to cut down the nets usually end up regretting that.

 

[Seth C]

I still think we would have won it all that year had Keith Bogans not been crippled by our opponent. Of course, Tubby's decision to have him not only play on a bum ankle but also try to guard Dwayne Wade one-on-one with said ankle injury...well, that didn't help.

 

[Dragon]

I hope you aren't being serious with that post.

No I was using hyperbole to get across how pathetic and awful the Bobcats are. It's funny, I live in Charlotte and most people couldn't give a shit about them at all. Kinda sad.

 

[Emerson]

I'm not huge on college basketball aside from my team (Duquesne). I know we're not amazing but I'm a big fan and I go to every home game. Going to an exhibition game tomorrow night. Very excited.

 

[Nerevar]

edit2: There is another dook fan here who is a student, 404Ender or something. He got upset when I posted a huge dook picture in the conference tourney thread last year. Tough, I was excited that we won the ACC Tourney and smart enough to know we weren't making any noise in the real thing. Celebrate when you can, I say.

The teams that don't take the time to cut down the nets usually end up regretting that.

I live up in Boston and got to go to the Sweet 16 game. I love my team, but we had no business being no the same court as Nova from a talent perspective. It was awful.

Realistically I'm not sure if those kind of K teams that did so well in the early 90s are ever going to be successful again, and after Maggette I don't really blame the team for not chasing the Calipari-type players either. I'd rather lose than win with guys like that.

 

[bachikarn]

I just wanted to give a :lol to Syracuse for losing their exhibition game to a Div-2 school.