College Ball Preview (Part 2 of 5)

On to the ACC and SEC.  First, lets start with the ACC.

For starters, the ACC houses the returning National Champion, UNC.  Hansbrough is gone along with Jeff Green, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson but the Tar Heels are no strangers to retooling.  They will suit up 6 freshman this year including the Wear brothers and Dexter Strickland who is... that's right... a Jersey boy.

The roof will be rocking again in Cameron this season, as the Singler show will be a high scoring draw.  Unfortunately for Duke nation, freshman Mason Plumee will miss the first 2 months with a wrist injury.  That should prevent them from running away with anything.


Freshman Derrick Favors will be fun to watch at Georgia Tech and super Sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu will be a top lottery pick come next summer.

Greivis Vazquez and Malcom Delaney will put some real pressure on Kyle Singler for POY.  Ed Davis will also have a monster year.

Bold Predictions:
Duke takes the regular season but Virginia Tech shocks the world in the conf. tourney.

NCAA Bids:
Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Georgia Tech

NIT:
Clemson, Wake Forest

Aminu is a Top 5 pick in next year's draft.

The SEC

The SEC had a most forgettable year last year with no teams in the final top 25 and no teams making it out of the first weekend of the tournament.  Kentucky was the story of the off season with John Calipari coming on board and bringing a slew of young talent.  The conference as a whole is a year older and the depth has increased greatly.  Tyler Smith (Tennessee), Patrick Patterson (Kentucky) and Javaris Varnardo (Miss St) all tested NBA waters but stayed put which is a really good thing for the SEC.  Still, the conference will be defined by stand out freshman this year featuring:

DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Jon Hood, Daniel Orton, Kentucky
Kenny Boynton, Florida
Renardo Sidney, Miss State

John Wall is for real.... trust me.  You will want to watch this guy in action.  DeMarcus Cousins is also a top recruit in the nation.  He was all but settled into his dorm at Memphis before jumping ship with Coach Cal.
Actually, John Wall was leaning towards Memphis as well but good for the Bluegrass state... it pays to lure in a young stud head coach for your college basketball program.

Bold Predictions:
Kentucky in the East and Ole Miss shockingly taking the West.
Ole Miss will hoist the trophy.

NCAA Bids:
Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Miss State, Tennessee, Florida

NIT: Arkansas, South Carolina.

Parting words:
The ACC has been the most dominant conference in the NBA Lottery.  Since 2005, they are tied with the PAC 10 producing 12 Lottery Picks.  The SEC has only produced 6, while the Big East has produced 10 and the Big 12, 8.  The Big Ten trails all major conferences with 4.

The Duke Blue Devils feature 3 Jersey guys (Brian Zubek, Lance Thomas, and Casey Peters) and more Jersey talent is coming... It is has become a very, very difficult task to retain talent in state for programs like Rutgers and Seton Hall.  Just ask Rutgers personnel about Lance Thomas or Dahntay Jones... or Todd Billet for that matter who all turned down Rutgers or transferred out for ACC basketball.
Bon Jovi is asking "who says you can't go home" right about now.

Psycho T, we will miss you....

Part 3 coming... (Big 10 and Big XII)