Fearless Basketball Predictions
With just over two months separating the end of the 2008 College World Series and the start of the 2008 college football season, college sports aren’t out of the limelight for very long. With that in mind, we asked one of our experts to peer into his crystal ball during this down period and give us an idea of what might transpire in the upcoming season. Among the many things he predicts is Duke falling short of the Final Four yet again.
Check out our college football predictions as well.
1. When it’s all said and done, we’ll once again be talking about two freshmen in contention for the No. 1 pick in the ’09 NBA Draft. Ohio State center B.J. Mullens and USC shooting guard DeMar DeRozan aren’t Oden and Durant, but they should make a decent splash this season. Athletic 7-footers (like Mullens) and powerful perimeter players (like DeRozan) are in higher demand than power forwards like Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, who’s currently projected in the top spot.
2. The Big East will finally break through the eight-bid ceiling and send nine teams to the NCAAs. The league is going to be that good.
3. Marquette’s Buzz Williams will have the lowest Q Rating of any coach fresh off the major-conference carousel … but he’ll also win more games than any of the others. With what Williams is inheriting, he’d have to seriously botch things not to make the Sweet 16.
4. Stephen Curry will still be a thrill to watch, but Davidson won’t be the top-20 team that some folks are expecting it to be. To rank the Wildcats that high is to seriously underestimate the impact of losing Jason Richards, perhaps the country’s most underrated point guard last year.
si.com
7/16/08
Magnolia Tribune
