Vitale's Top 40

[ukgrad]

Sorry if this has been posted already... can't say I can argue where he has us.

http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/060713Top40.html

[patpat4three]

I think thats pretty legit for us .. and some of the other teams he has in the top ten kinda of make me raise my eyebrow

[CatFanInTheBathtub]

I'd be absolutely ecstatic if we started #21. That pretty much means top 10-15 easy with a Maui title.

[Ralph Cramden]

I can't see UK any higher than #21 perhaps even lower.

[SunBaller]

I really don't care where whe start or end up end in the polls - The NCAA Tournament is all that matters.

[Josh]

I think where Vitale has us is pretty good, and a little bit surprising. I expect us to start out on the outside of the top 25, just inside the 30. I'm very optimistic about this season and think that we're going to start turning heads once the season starts.

[audacious1]

SunBaller wrote: I really don't care where whe start or end up end in the polls - The NCAA Tournament is all that matters.
Now there's something I wholeheartedly agree with. :thumbup

[Dr. H Lecter]

Florida #2? Dick is on crack.

[Will Lavender]

Three SEC teams in the top ten. :shock:

I think Georgetown, LSU, UCONN, Marquette, Memphis, and Tennessee are all too high.

[Mark Blueblood]

I agree Will. Throw Alabama in that mix also - remember Gottfried is still the coach there. And I know I'm an idiot, but I think we're rated a little low.

[audacious1]

As of today, I wouldn't put UK in the Top 25. After last season, I think we have a little something to prove. But of course, I hope to be vastly wrong by the end of the season.

Go Cats!

[poodoo]

Tre Pryor wrote: SunBaller wrote: I really don't care where whe start or end up end in the polls - The NCAA Tournament is all that matters.
Now there's something I wholeheartedly agree with. :thumbup


Same reaction here, Tre.

Also, I admit that I have posted that we finished number ONE in the final AP polls in 2003 and 2004 in reference to Tubby's coaching ability. HOWEVER, in actuality that doesNOT really matter that much, beyond our enjoyment of the season and teams' pride in themselves (and I feel those 2003 and 2004 teams should still feel pride in their accomplishments).

All that REALLY MATTERS is how we perform in the NCAA Tourney. That is how teams and programs are remembered. Our not having made it to a Final Four foreight seasons is what folks remember. No one remembers that Florida was not ranked last year in the preseason. Folks only remember that Florida won a national championship. The preseason ranking, in particular, does not concern me.

[Dwight Schrute]

I don't see how UNC, with unproven freshmen (even if they are part of an amazing class), is ahead of Florida who returns everyone. They have to be the favorite to win the title next year.

[DCWildcat]

If anyone other than Bill Self was coaching Kansas, they'd be an easy #1 in my opinion.

I'm not sure yall realize just how fleeting teams can play. Just because Florida won the national championship last year does not mean they will go undefeated and be a lock to win everything. Things just don't work that way.

UNC is picked ahead of Florida because their talent level is pretty far ahead of Florida's. Yall are right to say that they are unproven, though.

Man am I gonna get flak for this.

[UKfaninCO]

DCWildcat wrote: If anyone other than Bill Self was coaching Kansas, they'd be an easy #1 in my opinion.

I'm not sure yall realize just how fleeting teams can play. Just because Florida won the national championship last year does not mean they will go undefeated and be a lock to win everything. Things just don't work that way.

UNC is picked ahead of Florida because their talent level is pretty far ahead of Florida's. Yall are right to say that they are unproven, though.

Man am I gonna get flak for this.


That's why trying to rank teams in the pre-season is an exercise in futility. All you can go on is past performance. You can't definitively count on freshmen. Some play well right out of the gates and some don't. That doesn't mean they are a bust, just means it takes some time to get used to the talent level of the competition and gain confidence in their abilities.

Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on perspective), talent doesn't equal National Championship. It takes talent, and good team play. Florida, last year, had less talent but lots better team play than UNC. I saw UNC play a couple of times last year and while they had lots of talent, they played pretty poorly as a team at times. Florida has a few good players and a couple very good players. And they play together as a team extremely well. UNC has acouple ofgreat players and some that are good, but last year they didn't havevery goodteam play.

The expectations are that this year they'll play better as a team. That may or may not happen, and the freshmen can't be counted on to contribute to the overall team chemistry, no matter their talent. They may come in and fit right in and they may not. Impossible to tell without seeing them on the court together. I think UNC will be better than last year, but I won't pencil them into the Final Four until I see how they play together.

I'm hoping UK will hand them a big, fat upset in Chapel Hill this year...;)

[Will Lavender]

UKfaninCO wrote: DCWildcat wrote: If anyone other than Bill Self was coaching Kansas, they'd be an easy #1 in my opinion.

I'm not sure yall realize just how fleeting teams can play. Just because Florida won the national championship last year does not mean they will go undefeated and be a lock to win everything. Things just don't work that way.

UNC is picked ahead of Florida because their talent level is pretty far ahead of Florida's. Yall are right to say that they are unproven, though.

Man am I gonna get flak for this.


That's why trying to rank teams in the pre-season is an exercise in futility. All you can go on is past performance. You can't definitively count on freshmen. Some play well right out of the gates and some don't. That doesn't mean they are a bust, just means it takes some time to get used to the talent level of the competition and gain confidence in their abilities.

Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on perspective), talent doesn't equal National Championship. It takes talent, and good team play. Florida, last year, had less talent but lots better team play than UNC. I saw UNC play a couple of times last year and while they had lots of talent, they played pretty poorly as a team at times. Florida has a few good players and a couple very good players. And they play together as a team extremely well. UNC has acouple ofgreat players and some that are good, but last year they didn't havevery goodteam play.

The expectations are that this year they'll play better as a team. That may or may not happen, and the freshmen can't be counted on to contribute to the overall team chemistry, no matter their talent. They may come in and fit right in and they may not. Impossible to tell without seeing them on the court together. I think UNC will be better than last year, but I won't pencil them into the Final Four until I see how they play together.

I'm hoping UK will hand them a big, fat upset in Chapel Hill this year...;)

I think a lot of folks are expecting Tyler Hansbrough to have a Naismith Award type of year. UNC also returns guys like Bobby Frasor, Reshawn Terry (who lit us up in Rupp), and Marcus Ginyard. There are high expectations for that freshman class, as well: guys like Brandan Wright, Deon Thompson, and Ty Lawson are said to be ACC-ready right now.

They'll be very good. No doubt about it.

There were some posters I respect on one of the other board talking about Brandan Wright a few months ago. These posters are not big Tubby fans, and they wouldn't really twist things to make UK look good. But judging by their posts, B. Wright is quite a ways from being a starter. These posters said he was weak physically, that he wasn't a very good defensive player, and that he had limited offensive moves.

Take it for what it's worth.

I still think, even if the freshmen take some time to develop, UNC is a legit top 5 team. As is Florida and Kansas.

Outside of those three, it's wide open.

[UKfaninCO]

Will Lavender wrote: UKfaninCO wrote: DCWildcat wrote: If anyone other than Bill Self was coaching Kansas, they'd be an easy #1 in my opinion.

I'm not sure yall realize just how fleeting teams can play. Just because Florida won the national championship last year does not mean they will go undefeated and be a lock to win everything. Things just don't work that way.

UNC is picked ahead of Florida because their talent level is pretty far ahead of Florida's. Yall are right to say that they are unproven, though.

Man am I gonna get flak for this.


That's why trying to rank teams in the pre-season is an exercise in futility. All you can go on is past performance. You can't definitively count on freshmen. Some play well right out of the gates and some don't. That doesn't mean they are a bust, just means it takes some time to get used to the talent level of the competition and gain confidence in their abilities.

Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on perspective), talent doesn't equal National Championship. It takes talent, and good team play. Florida, last year, had less talent but lots better team play than UNC. I saw UNC play a couple of times last year and while they had lots of talent, they played pretty poorly as a team at times. Florida has a few good players and a couple very good players. And they play together as a team extremely well. UNC has acouple ofgreat players and some that are good, but last year they didn't havevery goodteam play.

The expectations are that this year they'll play better as a team. That may or may not happen, and the freshmen can't be counted on to contribute to the overall team chemistry, no matter their talent. They may come in and fit right in and they may not. Impossible to tell without seeing them on the court together. I think UNC will be better than last year, but I won't pencil them into the Final Four until I see how they play together.

I'm hoping UK will hand them a big, fat upset in Chapel Hill this year...;)

I think a lot of folks are expecting Tyler Hansbrough to have a Naismith Award type of year. UNC also returns guys like Bobby Frasor, Reshawn Terry (who lit us up in Rupp), and Marcus Ginyard. There are high expectations for that freshman class, as well: guys like Brandan Wright, Deon Thompson, and Ty Lawson are said to be ACC-ready right now.

They'll be very good. No doubt about it.

There were some posters I respect on one of the other board talking about Brandan Wright a few months ago. These posters are not big Tubby fans, and they wouldn't really twist things to make UK look good. But judging by their posts, B. Wright is quite a ways from being a starter. These posters said he was weak physically, that he wasn't a very good defensive player, and that he had limited offensive moves.

Take it for what it's worth.

I still think, even if the freshmen take some time to develop, UNC is a legit top 5 team. As is Florida and Kansas.

Outside of those three, it's wide open.




No doubt they'll be good. I think Kansas will be very good, as will Florida. UNC may very well be a top 5 team and a contender for the national title. Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell in the preseason if all that talent will equal a National Champ. They're still young, despite their successes from last year. 2004 was not all that good for them and they were very talented. I think Hansborough will have a great year and may end up with a Naismith type year. That still may not translate into a national championship. Too many variables, too many unknowns. What if he gets injured? Not only do you have to have talent, you have to play as a team, and things have to go your way.

If I had to put money down on the next National Champ and I could bet on None of the Above, I would. While these 3 may all compete for a NC, none of them may win it.

[Will Lavender]

UKfaninCO wrote: Will Lavender wrote: UKfaninCO wrote: DCWildcat wrote: If anyone other than Bill Self was coaching Kansas, they'd be an easy #1 in my opinion.

I'm not sure yall realize just how fleeting teams can play. Just because Florida won the national championship last year does not mean they will go undefeated and be a lock to win everything. Things just don't work that way.

UNC is picked ahead of Florida because their talent level is pretty far ahead of Florida's. Yall are right to say that they are unproven, though.

Man am I gonna get flak for this.


That's why trying to rank teams in the pre-season is an exercise in futility. All you can go on is past performance. You can't definitively count on freshmen. Some play well right out of the gates and some don't. That doesn't mean they are a bust, just means it takes some time to get used to the talent level of the competition and gain confidence in their abilities.

Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on perspective), talent doesn't equal National Championship. It takes talent, and good team play. Florida, last year, had less talent but lots better team play than UNC. I saw UNC play a couple of times last year and while they had lots of talent, they played pretty poorly as a team at times. Florida has a few good players and a couple very good players. And they play together as a team extremely well. UNC has acouple ofgreat players and some that are good, but last year they didn't havevery goodteam play.

The expectations are that this year they'll play better as a team. That may or may not happen, and the freshmen can't be counted on to contribute to the overall team chemistry, no matter their talent. They may come in and fit right in and they may not. Impossible to tell without seeing them on the court together. I think UNC will be better than last year, but I won't pencil them into the Final Four until I see how they play together.

I'm hoping UK will hand them a big, fat upset in Chapel Hill this year...;)

I think a lot of folks are expecting Tyler Hansbrough to have a Naismith Award type of year. UNC also returns guys like Bobby Frasor, Reshawn Terry (who lit us up in Rupp), and Marcus Ginyard. There are high expectations for that freshman class, as well: guys like Brandan Wright, Deon Thompson, and Ty Lawson are said to be ACC-ready right now.

They'll be very good. No doubt about it.

There were some posters I respect on one of the other board talking about Brandan Wright a few months ago. These posters are not big Tubby fans, and they wouldn't really twist things to make UK look good. But judging by their posts, B. Wright is quite a ways from being a starter. These posters said he was weak physically, that he wasn't a very good defensive player, and that he had limited offensive moves.

Take it for what it's worth.

I still think, even if the freshmen take some time to develop, UNC is a legit top 5 team. As is Florida and Kansas.

Outside of those three, it's wide open.




No doubt they'll be good. I think Kansas will be very good, as will Florida. UNC may very well be a top 5 team and a contender for the national title. Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell in the preseason if all that talent will equal a National Champ. They're still young, despite their successes from last year. 2004 was not all that good for them and they were very talented. I think Hansborough will have a great year and may end up with a Naismith type year. That still may not translate into a national championship. Too many variables, too many unknowns. What if he gets injured? Not only do you have to have talent, you have to play as a team, and things have to go your way.

If I had to put money down on the next National Champ and I could bet on None of the Above, I would. While these 3 may all compete for a NC, none of them may win it.

Speaking of Other Teams Who Have a Shot.

I like Pitt.

Ireally likethe way those Pitt teams play. I love hardnosed, physical basketball. (I even like dirty basketball. Yeah, I said it! :nada:)

Ken Pomeroy had a good story a few weeks ago arguing that Pitt would be better off without Carl Krauser because Krauser dominated the ball so much. All I know is they've got a very good frontline, and Aaron Gray is primed and ready for a bust-out year.