ESPN has not one, but 2 pre season polls

ESPN Mocks

Never ever let it be said that at the World Leader in Sports the so called experts are not active at their jobs. I say this because sometime this week not one, but two, college basketball experts from ESPN have decided to come out with their (way too early) Top 25 for the 2009-10 season. And who are these two experts from ESPN to have such a feat so far away from the pre season? One is Doug Gottlieb, while the second one is done by Andy Katz, who by the way this isn’t his first pre season ranking, but a revised edition. And this is why I love checking things like this, they both have North Carolina in the Top 10, but in very different places.

Gottlieb put the Tar Heels as the ninth team in the country, giving the following reasoning:

Despite the exodus of their core to the NBA, the defending champs are loaded at every position except the point. The Tar Heels may have lost their soul (Tyler Hansbrough), their skill (Wayne Ellington) and their head (Ty Lawson), but with Ed Davis set to take on a larger role and the arrival of a loaded recruiting class, led by John Henson, don’t feel sorry for the Tar Heels.

Katz instead has Carolina as the fourth best team in the nation, saying this about the squad:

The Tar Heels did lose Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, as expected. But Ed Davis stayed, which was what he said he would do at the Final Four. Still, now that it’s official, the Heels should have the best front line in the country. If Larry Drew II can be a decent point guard, UNC might just go ahead and win the title again.

I do tend to agree with Katz’ comments, it’s going to be a pretty good season for UNC, but if Larry Drew II can step it up next season head coach Roy Williams could have the Heels once again going deep into March Madness. Definitely going to be an interesting season, with many players having some good experience to mix in with a lot of good high school players. If the mix is correct the formula just might spell Final Four!

Katz has Duke at the 10th slot, followed by Clemson at 13th and Boston College at 22nd. Meaning that only four ACC teams make it to the Top 25. Gottlieb instead has Clemson ahead of UNC, coming in 8th, then Duke at the 12th spot, and Florida State (not BC) at the 22nd spot. So, he too has four teams from the conference being in the Top 25, just not the same. In all the thing that both experts could agree on was who is the top team in the country, which they both have as Kansas. From then on each tends to see it their way, which is what makes all these pre season mocks so much fun.

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