Dick V’s Top 40…

I know most people do not care about the pre-season polls and even more I know that there is way too much time before any program tips off the new season, but on the other hand when someone like Hall of Famer Dick Vitale puts out his Top 40 I love seeing what he says about the Tar Heels. The diaper dandy of wild sentences when it comes to college hardwoods believes that head coach Roy Williams and his squad will “bounce back” from last year, saying that people should remember the name Harrison Barnes as he could be the premier freshman in the `10-`11 season. That is not really going out on a ledge, especially when the ESPN sportscaster puts UNC as the tenth best team in the land. I guess that after a 20 and 17 season seeing North Carolina in the Top 10 I should not have much to argue about, and in the end I don’t. The only point I will make is that if Carolina has to rely all on Barnes they will not stay long in the Top 10.

On the other hand the other nine teams leave something to desire…

Yes, Duke is number one, which had to be because of the returning players from a national championship, as well as the ones coming in/eligible to play in the upcoming season. I do not like the fact that the Blue Devils are top, but that is more because I am a Heel than anything else. Michigan State, who has a great core and their head coach returning, is second. I would have had them first, but with the tendency of Tom Izzo to get to the promise land but never cut the nets down #2 might even be too high. Purdue is third, and I have no problem with that, while Thad Matta and OSU are fourth, which I find just a bit too high. Rounding out the first five teams is the first squad from the Big East, Villanova. Overall, with all the talent on these teams, you could move them around a bit and no one would truly care, they all have talent, they all have good coaches, they all (with the exception of ‘Nova) have a good shot at a long run in March.

Now it gets tricky in my opinion. The sixth team is Kentucky and the seventh is Syracuse, who both lost a lot and Mr. Vitale is doing the addition by freshman discussion, which I think is fine, but he can not think that what happened to coach Calipari last year can happen over and over, especially in the Salt City where to play there you need to learn that 2-3 zone that is no joke! Next up is Florida, who I am thinking might just take down Kentucky this year, but we shall see, and would have them above the Wildcats and the Orange in this pre-season ranking. Finally, one slot above North Carolina, is Kansas State, and here too, mostly cause I don’t watch them too much, maybe cause I think Dickie V is right, that looks good to me.

So, two ACC teams and two Big East squads in the Top 10. Kentucky in the top positions because of the one and done theory, OSU and MSU capable to be a very good team and many many other tidbits fill up the first ten team of Dick Vitale’s list. Here is my prediction out of all of this: all the teams that will be in the Final Four should come out from the ten squads mentioned by Dick V, going even further, SU or KSU won’t be part of that.

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