Preseason College Basketball AP Top 25

[Saulbadguy]

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/polls/ap

1 North Carolina (29) 0-0 1728 0
2 UCLA (24) 0-0 1710 0
3 Memphis (18) 0-0 1680 0
4 Kansas 0-0 1568 0
5 Georgetown (1) 0-0 1504 0
6 Louisville 0-0 1380 0
7 Tennessee 0-0 1371 0
8 Michigan State 0-0 1296 0
9 Indiana 0-0 1145 0
10 Washington State 0-0 1103 0
11 Marquette 0-0 1002 0
12 Oregon 0-0 918 0
13 Duke 0-0 868 0
14 Gonzaga 0-0 711 0
15 Texas 0-0 638 0
16 Texas A&M 0-0 623 0
17 Arizona 0-0 499 0
18 Southern California 0-0 480 0
19 Arkansas 0-0 468 0
20 Kentucky 0-0 372 0
21 North Carolina State 0-0 338 0
22 Pittsburgh 0-0 293 0
23 Stanford 0-0 290 0
24 Southern Illinois 0-0 222 0
25 Kansas State 0-0 216 0
Others Receiving Votes: Villanova(0-0) 144; Ohio State(0-0) 128; Butler(0-0) 114; Syracuse(0-0) 103; Clemson(0-0) 83; Xavier(0-0) 73; Connecticut(0-0) 50; Davidson(0-0) 50; Mississippi State(0-0) 38; Florida(0-0) 35; West Virginia(0-0) 20; Virginia Commonwealth(0-0) 19; Virginia(0-0) 19; Notre Dame(0-0) 18; Wisconsin(0-0) 15; Alabama(0-0) 14; Missouri(0-0) 8; Maryland(0-0) 6; Nevada(0-0) 6; Vanderbilt(0-0) 6; Washington(0-0) 6; New Mexico State(0-0) 4; Utah State(0-0) 4; Brigham Young(0-0) 3; Providence(0-0) 3; Akron(0-0) 2; Illinois(0-0) 2; Southern Miss.(0-0) 2; George Mason(0-0) 1; Houston(0-0) 1

[Pierce]

Go Dores!

[kstater]

Hogs are a little high.

[POND_OF_RED]

ALRIGHT TOP 50!!!

[ROYC75]

Originally Posted by SEA_OF_RED

ALRIGHT TOP 50!!!

That's a BIG Step for Tiggerkind .....

[StcChief]

DAWGS at 24.

[bobbything]

UCLA is going to be awesome this year.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by bobbything

UCLA is going to be awesome this year.

A lot depends on how good Love will be (and I think he'll be very good). Afflalo is gone and Mata is garbage.

[bobbything]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

A lot depends on how good Love will be (and I think he'll be very good). Afflalo is gone and Mata is garbage.

I agree. But UCLA plays great defense. I'd love to watch Incy go up against them. Now that the Good Ol' Boy is gone from KU, I can actually enjoy watching his teams struggle against a good defensive team.

[DaKCMan AP]

Good article:

Mayo has the hype; these guys will have the longevity

When O.J. Mayo landed at USC, many pundits declared that Mayo, a consensus All-American in high school, would forever change the perception of USC's basketball program. Mayo -- like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and many, many others before -- is seen as a "program changer", a player whose skill is so profound and rep so immense that writers want to cover his team and other elite talents want to play with his team.

The truth, though, is that while Oden and the "Thad Five" lived up to the hype by playing for a national title, Ohio State was in a difficult position following Oden's departure, because he and Mike Conley both left long before an era could truly be established. USC will have Mayo for one interesting and possibly amazing season, but at the end of the day, one- or even two-and-done players are not the true program changers they are made out to be.

Lost in the hyperbole of the instant lottery pick is the new program changer in college basketball. The great player who walks into the coach's office as a freshman ready to play and play well, and stays for four incredibly productive years due to his lack of the extra something the "next level" covets.

Tyler Hansbrough is just such a guy. Hansborough turned 20 his freshman year at UNC, making him old for his grade. He probably is only 6-foot-8, making him a bit small to be strictly a low-post player in the pros. His movements are a bit robotic in fluidity. While it might sound like knocks on his game to some, all of it is music to the ears of Roy Williams, since the more they knock him in the NBA boardrooms, the more production he gets in a Tar Heels jersey.

Hansbrough is the real program changer. He is one of the guys who started from Day One, is an all-conference and maybe even All-American player, makes the program more attractive for prospective recruits, hangs around for three or four years and matures into a great college player while winning 100 or so games for the program. He might not have come to college with the flash and hype of an O.J. Mayo, nor will he be a top-five NBA draft pick, but his value to the program is much more substantial in the long run, and UNC can win a national title with his play.

So, who are the new program changers in college basketball?

Blake Griffin, 6-10, 239 lbs., Oklahoma
A David Lee-type athlete who has it all from a strength and athleticism standpoint, Griffin is a winner. He has a high basketball IQ, is a coach's son who seems to be a gym rat and has the complete respect of the AAU and local high school community to the point where other kids want to play with him. Griffin might not be as big as his listed height of 6-10, but his family is closely tied to OU (his brother is a junior on the team), and those factors might encourage him to hang around for a couple of extra years to help Jeff Caple build a winner in Norman. In all fairness to Griffin, he continues to improve in leaps and bounds, so much so that he might be too good for NBA guys to pass up, and his stay in Norman might be shorter than expected. His signing, however, restarted Oklahoma's engine with in-state recruits.

Jai Lucas, 5-11, 150 lbs., Florida
Lucas is the prototype of a program changer … or in this case, a program maintainer. At 5-11 ( maybe smaller) and 150 pounds (soaking wet), Lucas looks more like a walk-on than a dynamic college talent, and that is perfect. At this stage of his career, Lucas is just as good a shooter as and a better pure point guard than his older brother John. Lucas makes everyone on his team better. He has a ridiculous basketball IQ, and his outgoing personality, coupled with his style of play, makes Florida a destination of choice for star wings and post players who want to play fast, get the ball and win games for the next four years. It also should be noted that Lucas might be the best recruiting player in college hoops, since his father works out high school, college and NBA stars in Houston, giving Jai many opportunities to preach the gospel of Billy Donovan.

Patrick Patterson, 6-9, 219 lbs., Kentucky
Patterson nearly tied himself to Lucas in a package deal, but instead he headed to bluegrass country, and Big Blue Nation will forever be pleased. Patterson is undersized and probably underweight for the next level with his current skill set, but he is a beast on the boards, and his ferocious intensity will have Billy Clyde smiling his way to the Sweet 16 and beyond for the next several years. While Patterson should eventually become a pro, it might take three or four years for the NBA to buy in, and during that time, he will change the demeanor of SEC rebounding for the better. His signing instantly energized Kentucky recruiting, which was -- more than anything else -- the sore spot in the 10-year Tubby Smith era.

Jonny Flynn, 6-0, 172 lbs., Syracuse
A consummate winner in high school, Flynn will forever change the games of Eric Devendorf, Paul Harris, Donte Greene and Antonio "Scoop" Jardin. Flynn is a 6-foot prototype point guard who has won a New York Federation title, was named New York's Mr. Basketball and was arguably the most impressive member USA Basketball's Under-19 silver-medal team from this summer. The good news for Cuse fans is that Flynn is the son of a reverend and said to be a terrific student, so the dollars and allure of the NBA might not take him out of the college game as early as others in a similar position. Expect Syracuse to be the surprise team from the Big East, and Flynn's play will be a big reason why. It also should be noted that while Harris' disappointing first season might have hurt momentum in upstate New York recruiting, Flynn allows Jimmy B. to flex his New York muscle and take his pick from future Buffalo stars.

James Harden, 6-5, 210 lbs., Arizona State
Harden might be a bit smaller than 6-5 and might still have to put some muscle onto his supremely athletic frame. But while most of America has heard of the great Eric Gordon at Indiana, Harden is just a notch below Gordon in terms of stature heading into college. Harden, L.A.'s best off-guard will -- in a Jeff Green sort of way -- learn the complete game of basketball from Herb Sendek while starting from Day One in Tempe. Harden also opens Los Angeles for the Sun Devils. This is big in recruiting and perception, and he is similar to Julius Hodge at NC State in his impact on Sendek's current program.

Doug Gottlieb is a college basketball analyst for ESPN and host of "The Pulse" on ESPN Radio.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insid...26id%3d3088916

[kstater]

Originally Posted by Bronko1977

The back-to-back champs didn't crack the Top 25? WTF!

Considering they lost 4 starters I would have been shocked if they were in the top 25.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by kstater

Considering they lost 4 starters I would have been shocked if they were in the top 25.

Actually we lost all 5 starters and a 6th man. 4 of the 5 starters and the 6th man are playing in the NBA and the 5th starter is playing ball in Europe.

[kstater]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Actually we lost all 5 starters and a 6th man. 4 of the 5 starters and the 6th man are playing in the NBA and the 5th starter is playing ball in Europe.

Yeah I know, I only counted the good ones

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by kstater

Yeah I know, I only counted the good ones

Hey, that 5th starter holds the NCAA tournament record for 3-pointers and the NCAA record for most consecutive games with a 3. He also has the school record for most 3's in a season and most all-time 3's.

[DFB]

The top 10 is identical to the Coaches' Poll. I think the title comes from one of the top 7 teams.