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College Basketball Top 10 Rankings
By: Monte Kivo owner of Bettorstalk.com, GamblersTalk.com and BettorsChat.com which provide Free Service plays, Free handicapper plays, message forums and contests.
1. Arizona- finished last season with a 24-10 record and was a sweet 16 team. This year they return all of their players including stars PG Jason Gardner who averaged 20.4 pts a game, SF Luke Walton averaged 16.3 pts, 7.3 rebounds per game and Pac-10 freshman of the year SG Salim Stoudamire 13pts per game average. They also have the famous and newly inducted hall of fame coach Lute Olson on the sidelines. Coach Olson added a lot of new talent to the bench as well this year with landing Oregon Player of the year Chris Rodgers, California Player of the year Hassan Adams, and Illinois Player of the year Andre Iguodala. There’s no reason not to believe that this years team will improve on their performance of last year with this much talent and deservedly comes in at number one for us.
2. Alabama- Last years SEC Champions (27-8) return all starters minus forward Rod Gizzard 14.1 pts per game. Alabama will be lead by SEC player of the year Erwin Dudley who averaged 15.2 pts and 8.9 rebounds per game. In addition Coach Gottfried added 6-7 in state freshman Kennedy Winston who had originally signed with California, but got a release due to family problems. Winston has some big shoes to fill in the departure of Rob Gizzard to the NBA. If Winston can fill the shoes of Gizzard we see no reason why Alabama won’t win the SEC championship again and make a run at the NCAA tournament.
3. Florida- finished last season with a 22-9 record and a much-disappointed season after losing Ted Dupay last season after becoming ineligible for gambling. However Florida still finished 10-6 in the SEC conference. Florida also lost center Uclonis Haslem who averaged 16 pts and 8.3 rebounds per game. This year Florida will be lead by Matt Bonner 15.6 pts 7.2 rebounds per game. Florida is loaded with other talent as well with 3pt shooter Brett Nelson who landed 39.2 percent from the 3pt land. Point guard Justin Hamilton 8.5 pts, 3.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds a game returns as well. Coach Donovan and company bulked up heavily on recruits in the off-season to give Florida great depth.
4. Oklahoma- The sooners return 4 starting players from a team that went 31-5 and 13-3 in conference play. The sooners made a run to the final 4 but eventually fail to Indiana. Returning starters include leading scorer for the sooners Hollis Price who averaged 16.5 pts per game. Also returning is Big 12 newcomer of the year Ebi Ere who put up 14.6 pts per game, Jason Detrick 9.2 ppg, and Quannas White 7.6 ppg. Coach Sampson added Olympic hopeful Kevin Bookout who averaged 30.6 ppg, 16.2 rebounds and 4 blocks shots per game to the already loaded team. The only downside we see is the loss of Aaron McGhee who started all 69 games while attending Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s main competition from the Big 12 will be Kansas and if they can get past them they will win themselves a Big 12 championship this year.
5. Kansas- The Jayhawks finished last season at 16-0 in the Big 12 and went on to an impressive 33-4 record. Kansas did lose All American Drew Gooden the best player on the team and will have a hard time filling his shoes. Kansas does return the tandem of Nick Collison 15.6 ppg, 8.3 rebounds per game and Kirk Hinrich 14.8 ppg. Hinrich led the league in 3 pt shooting hitting at a clip of 47.4 percent. Also back are Wayne Simien and Aaron Miles. The main problem we see for Kansas is filling the shoes of Drew Gooden who was center of this Jayhawks team. If Kansas can recoup from the loss of Gooden then watch out for them.
6. Pittsburgh- The panthers finished last season with a Sweet 16 berth and a 29-6 season. The main competition that Pittsburgh had last year in its conference was Connecticut to whom they lost the Big East tournament in double overtime. The panthers will be playing this year in there new $100 million Petersen Events Center and will shine in front of the nearly twice-bigger crowd that the arena holds. Pittsburgh returns all 5 starters from last year’s squad. Led by Co-Big East Guard Brandin Knight 15.6 ppg, 7.2 assists and 2.3 steals. Knight did have off-season knee surgery but should be 100 percent for the upcoming season. Julius Page 12.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, forward Donatas Zavackas 11.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, Jaron Brown 9.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg Chevy Troutman 5.3 ppg and 3.5 rpg are back as well. Pittsburgh had a notorious defense last year only allowing on average 61 ppg. You can bet that Coach Ben Howland will have his team ready after signing a 7-year deal at $700,000 per season.
7. Texas- Finished last season 10-6 in the Big12 and 22-12 overall while making the sweet 16 NCAA tournament. Texas is lead by point guard T.J. Ford who was the first freshman ever to lead the nation in assists at 8.3 apg. Seven of the eight shooters for Texas are back this year. The only departure is Chris Owens the NBA second round draft pick. One obstacle for Texas will be getting around in conference rivals Kansas and Oklahoma. Last year Texas finished a dismal 0-4 against both teams.
8. Duke- Finished last season 13-3 in the Atlantic Coast conference and 31-4 overall. Were going out on a limb here with Duke as they lost a good amount of their starting offense. Not returning this year are point guard Jason Williams 21.3 ppg, 5.3 apg, PF Mike Dunleavy 17.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg and center Carlos Boozer 18.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg. Returning starters point guard Chris Duhon 8.9 ppg 5.9 apg and SF Dahntay Jones 11.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg will have to take over the reigns for Duke. However, every year Coach Mike Krzyzewski seems to always have a top team with his players ready to play. Coach Krzyzewski landed a player out of North Carolina for the first time in ten decades instead of that player going to North Carolina in 6-10 combo forward Shavlik Randolph. Also joining the new Duke team is freshman off guard J.J. Redick is slated as the best shooting player out of high school.
9. Michigan St- Finished last season 10-6 in the Big10 conference and 19-12 overall. The Spartans are shooting for their fifth Big Ten title in six seasons. Coach Izzo plans on playing nine and ten players each game again so this team should be prepared and ready to make a run again. The Spartans are leady by guard Kelvin Torbet 8.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, forward Alan Anderson 6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg and guard Chris Hill 11.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg.
10. Oregon- Finished last season 14-4 in the Pacific 10 conference and 26-9 overall. Key returning players are guard Luke Ridnour 15.5 ppg, 5 apg and forward Luke Jackson 16.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg. Key losses were SG Frederick Jones 18.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg the 14th overall NBA draft pick and center Chris Christoffersen 8.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg. Andre Joseph leads the group of recruits coming from Lee Junior College where he scored 22.3 ppg. We see no reason why Oregon won’t be a very competitive team again this year with the two Lukes at the helm and with Coach Kent.
Honorable Mention- Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, and Western Kentucky.
By: Monte Kivo owner of Bettorstalk.com, GamblersTalk.com and BettorsChat.com which provide Free Service plays, Free handicapper plays, message forums and contests.
1. Arizona- finished last season with a 24-10 record and was a sweet 16 team. This year they return all of their players including stars PG Jason Gardner who averaged 20.4 pts a game, SF Luke Walton averaged 16.3 pts, 7.3 rebounds per game and Pac-10 freshman of the year SG Salim Stoudamire 13pts per game average. They also have the famous and newly inducted hall of fame coach Lute Olson on the sidelines. Coach Olson added a lot of new talent to the bench as well this year with landing Oregon Player of the year Chris Rodgers, California Player of the year Hassan Adams, and Illinois Player of the year Andre Iguodala. There’s no reason not to believe that this years team will improve on their performance of last year with this much talent and deservedly comes in at number one for us.
2. Alabama- Last years SEC Champions (27-8) return all starters minus forward Rod Gizzard 14.1 pts per game. Alabama will be lead by SEC player of the year Erwin Dudley who averaged 15.2 pts and 8.9 rebounds per game. In addition Coach Gottfried added 6-7 in state freshman Kennedy Winston who had originally signed with California, but got a release due to family problems. Winston has some big shoes to fill in the departure of Rob Gizzard to the NBA. If Winston can fill the shoes of Gizzard we see no reason why Alabama won’t win the SEC championship again and make a run at the NCAA tournament.
3. Florida- finished last season with a 22-9 record and a much-disappointed season after losing Ted Dupay last season after becoming ineligible for gambling. However Florida still finished 10-6 in the SEC conference. Florida also lost center Uclonis Haslem who averaged 16 pts and 8.3 rebounds per game. This year Florida will be lead by Matt Bonner 15.6 pts 7.2 rebounds per game. Florida is loaded with other talent as well with 3pt shooter Brett Nelson who landed 39.2 percent from the 3pt land. Point guard Justin Hamilton 8.5 pts, 3.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds a game returns as well. Coach Donovan and company bulked up heavily on recruits in the off-season to give Florida great depth.
4. Oklahoma- The sooners return 4 starting players from a team that went 31-5 and 13-3 in conference play. The sooners made a run to the final 4 but eventually fail to Indiana. Returning starters include leading scorer for the sooners Hollis Price who averaged 16.5 pts per game. Also returning is Big 12 newcomer of the year Ebi Ere who put up 14.6 pts per game, Jason Detrick 9.2 ppg, and Quannas White 7.6 ppg. Coach Sampson added Olympic hopeful Kevin Bookout who averaged 30.6 ppg, 16.2 rebounds and 4 blocks shots per game to the already loaded team. The only downside we see is the loss of Aaron McGhee who started all 69 games while attending Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s main competition from the Big 12 will be Kansas and if they can get past them they will win themselves a Big 12 championship this year.
5. Kansas- The Jayhawks finished last season at 16-0 in the Big 12 and went on to an impressive 33-4 record. Kansas did lose All American Drew Gooden the best player on the team and will have a hard time filling his shoes. Kansas does return the tandem of Nick Collison 15.6 ppg, 8.3 rebounds per game and Kirk Hinrich 14.8 ppg. Hinrich led the league in 3 pt shooting hitting at a clip of 47.4 percent. Also back are Wayne Simien and Aaron Miles. The main problem we see for Kansas is filling the shoes of Drew Gooden who was center of this Jayhawks team. If Kansas can recoup from the loss of Gooden then watch out for them.
6. Pittsburgh- The panthers finished last season with a Sweet 16 berth and a 29-6 season. The main competition that Pittsburgh had last year in its conference was Connecticut to whom they lost the Big East tournament in double overtime. The panthers will be playing this year in there new $100 million Petersen Events Center and will shine in front of the nearly twice-bigger crowd that the arena holds. Pittsburgh returns all 5 starters from last year’s squad. Led by Co-Big East Guard Brandin Knight 15.6 ppg, 7.2 assists and 2.3 steals. Knight did have off-season knee surgery but should be 100 percent for the upcoming season. Julius Page 12.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, forward Donatas Zavackas 11.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, Jaron Brown 9.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg Chevy Troutman 5.3 ppg and 3.5 rpg are back as well. Pittsburgh had a notorious defense last year only allowing on average 61 ppg. You can bet that Coach Ben Howland will have his team ready after signing a 7-year deal at $700,000 per season.
7. Texas- Finished last season 10-6 in the Big12 and 22-12 overall while making the sweet 16 NCAA tournament. Texas is lead by point guard T.J. Ford who was the first freshman ever to lead the nation in assists at 8.3 apg. Seven of the eight shooters for Texas are back this year. The only departure is Chris Owens the NBA second round draft pick. One obstacle for Texas will be getting around in conference rivals Kansas and Oklahoma. Last year Texas finished a dismal 0-4 against both teams.
8. Duke- Finished last season 13-3 in the Atlantic Coast conference and 31-4 overall. Were going out on a limb here with Duke as they lost a good amount of their starting offense. Not returning this year are point guard Jason Williams 21.3 ppg, 5.3 apg, PF Mike Dunleavy 17.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg and center Carlos Boozer 18.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg. Returning starters point guard Chris Duhon 8.9 ppg 5.9 apg and SF Dahntay Jones 11.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg will have to take over the reigns for Duke. However, every year Coach Mike Krzyzewski seems to always have a top team with his players ready to play. Coach Krzyzewski landed a player out of North Carolina for the first time in ten decades instead of that player going to North Carolina in 6-10 combo forward Shavlik Randolph. Also joining the new Duke team is freshman off guard J.J. Redick is slated as the best shooting player out of high school.
9. Michigan St- Finished last season 10-6 in the Big10 conference and 19-12 overall. The Spartans are shooting for their fifth Big Ten title in six seasons. Coach Izzo plans on playing nine and ten players each game again so this team should be prepared and ready to make a run again. The Spartans are leady by guard Kelvin Torbet 8.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, forward Alan Anderson 6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg and guard Chris Hill 11.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg.
10. Oregon- Finished last season 14-4 in the Pacific 10 conference and 26-9 overall. Key returning players are guard Luke Ridnour 15.5 ppg, 5 apg and forward Luke Jackson 16.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg. Key losses were SG Frederick Jones 18.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg the 14th overall NBA draft pick and center Chris Christoffersen 8.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg. Andre Joseph leads the group of recruits coming from Lee Junior College where he scored 22.3 ppg. We see no reason why Oregon won’t be a very competitive team again this year with the two Lukes at the helm and with Coach Kent.
Honorable Mention- Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Maryland, and Western Kentucky.