61. Minnesota, 60. Providence

61. Minnesota
The Golden Gophers graduated its top three scorers from a 20-win team a year ago which made their first postseason berth under Tubby Smith’s first season as head coach. Lawrence McKenzie, Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson combined for 33 points per game, half of the Gopher total. Minnesota started out the season 12-3 before coming back to reality during the conference play, winning one game against the upper tier of the conference.
When a team must replace their top three scorers it never figures to be a positive atmosphere nor does it promise very much success, but this Minnesota team may be an exception. New acquisitions of a pair of 6’11 freshman bigs, Ralph Sampson III (son of UVA great Ralph Sampson) and Colton Iverson will make immediate impacts within the Big 10 and will make the back end of the Minnesota defense along with fifth year senior, 6’9 Jonathan Williams tough to crack. Junior Lawrence Westbrook and Blake Hoffarber return in the backcourt and both will move into prominent starting roles this year. An X-factor for Tubby Smith this season may be 6’8 juco-transfer forward Paul Carter. Carter adds height and athleticism to the frontcourt and swing game similar to a Tayshaun Prince-type player who Smith would love to emulate. Carter should see significant minutes as a big three for the Gophers this year.
This team will be incredibly young and could end up foiling and going 12-18 or so; but I really feel Smith will put this team together very quickly and let the newcomers gain confidence. With only two seniors on the team, and only one (Williams) expects to see time, this team will grow up quickly in the conference. Without question the best thing for this squad will be not leaving Minneapolis more than once in the non-con. Look for Minny to be rolling again and growing up as a team before crashing a little in the Big Ten season. I will not say an NCAA appearance is an expectation but with the talent here it is a realistic goal and possibility.

60. Providence
A high amount of talent combined with a high amount of experience normally yields the greatest kind of success a collection of individuals can have on a basketball court. Unfortunately for the Providence Friars and Tim Welsh, great expectations do not always warrant great success. Preseason expectations were set very high as Welsh was on the hotseat with all of his top scorers returning and garnering preseason top 25 votes. An opening week upset of then number 18 Arkansas showed the Friars could play with the most athletic teams in the country. After a victory at Boston College on Dec. 1, the wheels fell off. Going 10-16 the rest of the way, only six of the victories coming in conference threw the Friars in 12th place and almost missed the Big East tournament. As a result, a change was demanded and Tim Welsh was showed the door.
Enter former Drake coach Keno Davis. Davis resurrects Drake in one season and cashes in, getting a job which could change the landscape of the Providence program. Five of the top six scorers are back; the entire starting lineup returns promising another season of high expectations where they must come to play every night in an incredibly difficult Big East. They have size, 6’11 Randall Hanke and 6’11 Ray Hall both return however neither were forces on the defensive end, hurting the Providence frontcourt when in foul trouble. The guards are there and will be one of the deepest, best backcourts in the league. Jeff Xavier, Weyinmi Efejuku, Brian McKenzie and Geoff McDermott all return accounting for 45 points per game. Xavier will be the biggest piece to this Friar enigma as he must lead the team again but continue to score against the best defenses in the league. Luckily this season he should have help running the point with more experience around him.
One freshman on this Friar team means this team should come out clicking on all cylinders and ready to really turn some heads this season. So much experience, so much talent, so much athleticism and a new face at the head of the table means the sky is the limit for this squad. The schedule will get dicey quick as they travel out to the Anaheim Classic over Thanksgiving and they then will face a challenge every night in the league. Nothing should surprise this squad after last season’s debacle. I think this is a possible sweet-16 team on paper, but will in all reality be a bubbler come March.

63. Vanderbilt, 62. Southern Mississippi

63. Vanderbilt
Shan Foster led the Vanderbilt Commodores to a sensational ’07-’08 season, claiming the consensus award for SEC player of the year as well as all-America honors in nearly every publication. Foster notched a career high 42 points against Mississippi State in his final game in Nashville as the Commodores finished up with 26 wins, and third in the SEC. Foster’s career and the Commodore season did not end up quite as well as expected; a 21-point drubbing at the hands of Siena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Tampa Bay. Vandy started out the year on a 16-game winning streak, but then struggled mightily on the road, going 2-6 in the league. They went undefeated at home and climbed up to a top-10 ranking for the first time ever after they beat then-number one Tennessee at home.
The Commodores will certainly struggle to fill the gap that Foster will leave, but they do already have a go-to-guy in place. 6’11 sophomore A.J. Ogilvy had a sensational freshman year, averaging 17 points and seven rebounds per contest while establishing himself as a top tier post presence in the SEC. The only other returning starter is junior point guard Jermaine Beale who will see his role as a scorer increase drastically. Beale only averaged 7.6 points per game, but led the squad in assists and also held a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio which will be necessary again to lead this young squad on the road. Andre Walker, a 6’8 forward should start this season and should help compliment Ogilvy on the inside.
Vanderbilt will face some serious rebuilding time and will not resemble at all of the squad that climbed to the top-10 last year. Gone are four of the top six scorers, including one of the nation’s best in Foster. I think that Ogilvy should be able to help these young bigs grow quickly and with Beale in the backcourt there is significant leadership still around. The ‘Dores should start out the seasons facing cupcakes at home but will quickly get some tests in a Cancun tournament against Drake and either New Mexico or VCU and then also against Massachusetts and Georgia Tech. Vandy must learn how to win on the road in conference and if it continues its home court dominance a fourth NCAA appearance in six years is a decent possibility.


62. Southern Miss
The youngest team in C-USA last season, head coach Larry Eustachy is trying to finally instill his systems and ideals in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles finally showed some signs of life last season, going 19-14 and a 9-7 conference mark, their second straight season over .500 under Eustachy. Southern Miss achieved moderate success, but really faced a weak schedule and their record was certainly a product of the cupcakes early and then road games late. Defeated by 28 at Houston, 36 at Memphis, 20 at Mississippi, and 15 at Tulsa, Eustachy noticed his team was still entirely too young to compete with the big dogs in C-USA. Southern Miss has found their building block, junior guard Jeremy Wise, who averaged 18 points per last season.
Along with Wise, the Golden Eagles return their top six scorers, five of which are guards. Sophomore R.L. Horton and senior Courtney Beasley look to aid Wise in the scoring and will continue their uptempo, high pressure defense which looks to be improving with every year Eustachy has been at the helm. The issue will be determining an inside force for this season, as 7’0 center Gijo Bain and forward Demar Dotson have graduated; they combined for nine boards per game and were the strong forces inside. The Golden Eagles frequently started four guards last season, and there is no reason why that will not happen again, as Wise, Horton, Beasley and junior Sai’Quon Stone can all lock up on defense and can penetrate in the lane to score.
This Southern Miss team looks to be very similar to a Memphis team of last season, though massively less talented. The Golden Eagles will feature an exciting punch of guards, all of which penetrate and kick similar to the Memphis offense last season of Rose, CDR and Antonio Anderson. The problem lies in that Memphis had an inside force and Southern Miss does not; plus Southern Miss is incredibly undersized. Look for the Golden Eagles to ramp up the pressure and trap at every opportunity. They will wear down a lot of teams in C-USA and should get a 20 win season and maybe sneak up on one of the C-USA giants, UAB and Memphis. Do not hold too much hope for an NCAA appearance, but a return to the postseason should happen and a probable third place finish in the league is certainly no disappointment.

TOP 65: 65. Old Dominion, 64. UTEP

65. Old Dominion

Two seasons ago Old Dominion was the controversial at-large selection from the CAA as it really arrived on a national stage after shocking Georgetown in D.C. Last season was considered to be a rebuilding job for the Monarchs as they sought to replace their big time scorer Valdas Vasiliyus. Fortunately for ODU, the CAA had not been quite as strong as recent years and they managed to finish in the upper tier, finding the new Monarch cornerstone, Gerald Lee (Jr.). Lee averaged 13 and 6 in his sophomore season earning first-team all conference accolades.

The Monarchs need to replace about 25% of their scoring due to the graduations of success stories Brian Henderson and Brandon Johnson, but this young team could sneak up on a few teams and really make some noise in the Colonial. They are young, but incredibly athletic and talented. Baby-faced sophomore guard Darius James looks to replace Henderson and lead the backcourt as the top threat; he averaged 22 minutes per contest last season. Head coach Blaine Taylor welcomes in six new faces to the Monarchs led by local product Nick Wright (Fr.) who should compliment the skill of Lee very nicely. The bulk of the Monarchs will be in the frontcourt with Lee, Wright, 6’9 freshman Chris Cooper, and 6’8 sophomore Frank Hassell. Hassell is the x-factor as he will see a drastic increase in his playing time and will need to attract some of the double teams off Lee.

You will not find Old Dominion on too many people’s radar for a top 50 countdown, but with the skill of Lee being the biggest post presence in the CAA and the size of the Monarchs inside, they should be able to make a little conference noise this season. If the freshmen grow up quickly, look for ODU to make a run for the league crown and an outside shot at an NCAA bid.

64. UTEP

The Miners return three of the top four scorers off of a campaign which saw them participate in the first annual CBI. UTEP went 19-14 on the year, and were a .500 team in the C-USA, finishing in sixth position. The great news for UTEP? 13-2 at home last season and on occasion looked like the second best team in the league . Unfortunately not every game could be played at the Don Haskins Center (R.I.P. Coach Haskins). UTEP gave undefeated Memphis all they could ask for in the Music City so there is some foundation to build upon.

6’5 guard Stefon Jackson (Sr.) returns to the fray for the Miners and he averaged 23.6 points per game while leading the league in scoring. Backcourt mate Randy Culpeper returns as well and he will assume the point guard duties from graduate Marvin Kilgore. The Miners should have no problem putting points on the board with Jackson and Culpeper on the outside, they combined for 40 points per game last year. What should really tip the tables in improvement for this squad will be the return of transfer Kareem Cooper (Jr.). The 7’0 Cooper sat out last season after transferring from Memphis, and will certainly bolster the Miner frontcourt which did not have a single player average more than five boards per game and the frontcourt chipped in barely 20 per contest.

Rebounding and hot shooting will be the key to the Miners success this campaign. There is no question that Jackson can fill it up with anyone in the nation as evident in his 33% three-point clip last season. They must be able to set up a force in the paint and Cooper promises to improve it. Outside of Memphis, the Miners have the best home court in the league and most certainly the high-powered offense to contend. The difficulty will be managing to shoot well, rebound and defend during conference road games. Hopefully for UTEP, it will set them apart from last year’s team. Certainly one of the more entertaining teams to watch this season.

SEASON PREVIEW 2008

Midnight madness is on the horizon which means excitement, eagerness and most of all time for prognostications. The all too popular preseason rankings which very rarely hold true to form have been dissected and debated and most columnists have their rankings ready and published. At Midnight to March we will join in the fun of predicting who will be the top teams of the year, and by December I will probably be completely wrong on every prediction. Regardless, an exciting time of the year is upon us, and the 2008 Season Preview at MTM will begin on Monday September 15th. Here's a rundown:
September 15 - October 17: MTM Top 65
September 22: MTM Position Rankings
September 26: MTM Coaches Rankings
September 30: MTM State of the Union Address
October 5: MTM Outside the Lines Rankings
October 11: MTM Preseason Bracket Projection
October 17: MTM Fearless Predictions
After midnight madness on October 17th, we will be jazzed up and ready for the season to commence. We will take an in-depth look at each conference and team and make sure that you are ready with every vital piece of information you need to get your college basketball season started.