My 'Not So Much A Preview' College B-Ball Preview

So, as mentioned earlier, went to the Preseason NIT Tip-Off Classic or whatever it's called now-a-days the other day with my buddy Mike. Good times. Got to see two really good games; UCLA-Drexel & Duke-Memphis.

Drexel came within a point of upsetting #16 UCLA in the 3rd place game, which was really impressive. Definitely left me with a "Hey, they may not make the field of 65 out of the CAA, but people should watch Drexel this year" type of feeling.

Then, last night, UCLA beat Albany College by like 6 points, and were losing for a bit in the 2nd half. Now I'm retracting my statement about Drexel. It wasn't them. UCLA just isn't as good as people thought they were this year. This is a team that won't be in the Top 25 anymore once conference play rolls around.

As for Duke-Memphis, this game delivered. Just a great game. Memphis led for the first 19:30 of the first half before Duke took a 2 point halftime lead. (or 1 point. I forget.) Duke ended up winning by 3, while a last second 3 point shot by Memphis bounced off the rim. Great game. Confirmed that Memphis is a serious power out of a "mid-major conference" and that Duke really is the #1 team in the country.

But, moreso than that, it confirmed that Duke fans are insane. In the seat next to me was the biggest trash-talking fan of any sports team I've ever come across. Cool, I guess. He gets into it. But wait. It was a kid! He was ten! As soon as I sit down we get to talking, I find out he's rooting for Duke. I throw out a casual "Go Memphis!" because I wanted to toy with the little bastards emotions. Without even thinking, he countered with a quick "Memphis sucks." Wow. That was impressive. Seriously, it may not sound like a big deal, but the way he casually slid that into the conversation as if it were a natural response for a 10 year old in a sports conversation changed the entire night.

I wish I had a notebook with me so I could have jotted down everything he said. But I didn't. He said a lot of funny shit, though. The only one I really remember (and Mike eluded to this in his blog a few days ago) went something like this.

To set it up: Duke just had a big play. Don't remember what it was. Big rebound+dunk combo or something. Everyone is cheering, but the kid just looks at Mike & I and says "Are you guys hungry?" I'm not used to getting food offers from a 10 year old, so it took us both a minute to respond before one of us goes "Not really, why?" He came back with a loud shouting of "BECAUSE YOU JUST GOT STUFFED!"

That's it. I'm no longer allowed to trash talk at sporting events, because this 10 year old just outdid 23 years of work on my part.

But anyway, on to college basketball. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm a huge fan. I'm not. In february & march I love it. And I know a bit about it. But I don't really have a favorite team. I don't even know who this years Top 10 are.

So here's my "I don't know what I'm talking about 05-06 Predictions:"

*Duke really is that good.

*Memphis is also really good, but they have no inside game at all, which will hurt them come March.

*Villanova is everybody's preseason "sleeper" or favorite or whatever you want to call them. Too many people like them. They won't make the Sweet 16. Remember where you heard that.

*I don't like UCLA at all.

*The Big East is retooled & reloaded and ready for war this season. So who will win it? Well, I don't know who'll win the big east tourney, because there will be 7 teams that you can make a case for come March, but I know who will be the #1 seed. Don't laugh. It'll be Georgetown. This school is back, ready to re-stake its claim as a national powerhouse. Couple that with their insanely easy Big East regular season schedule this year. Because the conference is so big, they only have to play UConn, Syracuse & Villanova once, and don't play Louisville at all. Other schools, like Providence, USF, Rutgers, St. Johns, Seton Hall, they pop up multiple times on their conference schedule. They may not be the best team in the big east this year, but they'll go 12-4 or 13-3 in conference play and get the tourney's #1 seed.

*Everyone is going to love West Virginia this year after that run they had last year. This program is definitely on the rise, but it won't be as good as it was last year. I'd be shocked to see them make the sweet 16, and wouldn't be surprised at all if they were one-and-done in the tourney.

*Finally, onto my final four prediction. I don't have one. But I'll definitely have Duke in the championship game come March. As for the national champion? Memphis. That's right, Memphis. This is going to sound insane, but about two months ago I had a dream where I was hanging out with Darius Washington (a player on the Tigers) and we were talking about his team having just won the national championship. I have no idea what the hell that means. I'm probably losing my mind, and you all might be smart to commit me to some sort of hospital before things get worse, but that had to mean something. Right? I don't know. It probably didn't. I was probably doped up on NyQuil that night. You know how that stuff gives you wacky dreams. This was probably a result of that. But regardless, I'm going with my dream.

Memphis will win the 2006 Mens National Championship.