Can you feel it? (Part II)

And the beat goes on...

In the Big East, it's between Pitt and G'town for top spot in basketball greatest conference and I'm siding with the Hoyas to pull it off aided by the dynamic duo of Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green Pittsburgh has Aaron Gray, sure, and their toughness can never be questioned, no matter what season it is, but do they have the offensive punch from the perimeter that has eluded them the past couple seasons? I've a strong feeling that that may be their downfall. Remember when Georgetown was a perrenial favorite? Man, it seems like so long ago. Hey, remember when Allen Iverson went there? Remember when Allen Iverson was in college?? There's a bizarre memory. Apart from brutal Big East play, I'll be intrigued to see how the Hoyas fair in games with Oregon, @ Duke, and @ Michigan.

UConn's lost a lot. The favorite the last couple seasons will have a lot of trouble replacing the production of Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong, and Rashard Anderson. Calhoun has talent to spare, but he need players on the court to become leaders and take charge. Everyone's looking at each other, right now, wondering who it'll be.

Don't buy into the Syracuse cupcakes! In classic Boeheim style, they don't play away from the Carrier Dome until January 7th!! Big red flag if you're thinking about March.

Completely off the map this year? Villanova. Curtis Sumpter return and all. No Foye, no Ray. It'll be a battle for 'Nova this year.

Everyone's playing for second place in the SEC, Florida is simply untouchable here. LSU? Not unless you cover the court in twinkies, right Big Baby? Glen Davis showed in the Final Four that he has both A) no room for improvement and B) is not an NBA-caliber player, what with his huffing and puffing and just being gassed and lethargic all day. The loss of Tyrus Thomas to the NBA heeps even more of the burden on Davis whose weight issues will see his Tigers run off the floor by any team that plays up-tempo and has bodies in the middle. Forget about the Final Four or an SEC crown, LSU will make the tourney, but they'll be a relative disappointment this season.

Florida's main challenge in the conference won't from coming from Lexington. Bruce Pearl and the orange jacket are back. Tennessee never warranted the 2-seed they received last year (and it showed), but this is your darkhorse for and SEC championship. And yes, with Florida being such a heavy favorite, labeling the #2 team in the conference a "darkhorse" is appropriate in this case.

The Big 12 has Kansas written all over it, but everyone in the nation has Aggie fever, this year. Billy Gillespie's sharpshooters are poised to finally take that next step and rival Texas for the conference's #2 spot. I really don't see anyone in this conference, outside of the Jayhawks, making noise in March, though. I just don't. I think it's soft.

Bob Knight, as per usual, will have the spotlight on him all season -- especially with 880 just around the corner -- and while Texas Tech figures to be in the mix for a tournament bid (especially now that Jarius Jackson is back on the team), the most intriguing team to watch this season in the Big 12, if not the entire country, will be playing in Manhattan, KS. New home of Bob Huggins. K-State was a few hardluck games away from being a factor last season and with Huggins' penchant for recruiting JUCOs who make instant contributions, not to mention freshman star Billy Walker coming into the squad, don't be surprised if Kansas State is dancing in March. And with O.J. Mayo coming next season, there could be something special brewing in Kansas State. Of course, the arrival of Huggins probably mean that graduation rates will plummet. But then, it's K-State, so no biggie (ooooooohhh).

The Big Ten always seems to do this. On the surface, they don't look terribly impressive, but they always get six or seven tough teams into March Madness. This season, you've got Wisconsin with a very dangerous, veteran team (returning starting five) led by Alando Tucker. There's, of course, Greg Oden threatening to dominate the game in Columbus, but what of Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois? That's some depth, right there, and aside from the Adam Haluska-led Hawkeyes, I think the other teams are somewhat of an unknown commodity. Michigan State certainly didn't set any hearts a-fire last night by putting only 45 points on the board against Brown. Kelvin Samspon enters his first season at Indiana where the talent has been inconsistent and the transition promises to be difficult (thank you, Bloomington faithful), Michigan is inconsistent, to say the least, playing their way out of the NCAAs last season (although I do like Brent Petway), and a ton of leadership, experience, and production went out the door in Champaigne with the exit of Dee Brown and James Augustine. Suddenly, the Illini look like a middle of the pack team and one that doesn't figure to play past the quarters of the Big Ten tournament or after the first weekend of March (should they get there).

Sigh... the ACC. Have to mention them, don't I? Tyler Hansborough at UNC, fine. Georgia Tech's got tons of talent, yes, only a couple seasons removed from a Final Four appearance. They'll be tough at home. What else... Oh yeah, I remember why I'm so sick of this conference. Duke! Oh, how I loathe them so. As far as I'm concerned, there is no forgiving the travesty of the 2001 Final, when the refs gifted the Dook a dubious win over Zona. Absolutely wrong. But let's focus on this team for a second. Forget that J.J. Redick left for the pros (where he'll flame out in three years), the Blue Devils no longer have Shelden Williams who, to me, was the whole key to beating them last season. LSU had big bodies in the middle to neutralize Williams, so it's no wonder that Redick crapped the bed the way he did in his college finale. Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus are the new inside-out combo for the Dook this season and, as sophomores, a lot more will be expected of them. McRoberts I see pulling through and having a dynamite season. I wonder about Paulus, though. Moreover, I think that, once again, all it'll take is another physical team with bodies down low to knock Coach K & Co. out of the tournament. Circle December 21st on your calendar -- that's when Duke travels to Spokane to face Gonzaga.

Boston College is a team that I'm keeping both eyes on. Last year, I had them penciled in for a Final Four run. A 1-point loss to Villanova in the Sweet 16 derailed that and now Craig Smith is no longer a collegiate. But BC still does have the SoCal connection of Jared Dudley and Sean Marshall -- both seniors, now -- and, man, there is a lot of beef on this team. They'll play physical and they're going to be at least a 4-seed come tourney time. Be sure to catch them at the end of this month against Michigan State and then make sure you're in front of a TV on Dec. 23rd when they visit Kansas.

As for the little-not-so-little guys... Gonzaga is a mid-level team this season, but again, what a schedule. Major programs around the country have been lining up to play the Bulldogs for the last few seasons (did I mention that they HOST Duke this year?), basically the dream of every other little school out there. But the Zags earned that reputation through consistent NCAA results. It actually benefits a big school to play them. A school like Hofstra in the CAA that is on the cusp of being a really strong program won't get the same shake -- not until they've shown they can consistently win in the NCAAs. Same goes for every other mid-major. So while the Missouri Valley Conference (damn right, I was cheering for them last year) is back again this season, loaded as ever, the Creightons and the Wichita States and the Southern Illinoiseseses need to rack up some wins in late March to earn the same kind of respect. Dana Altman's Creighton team looks to carry the banner this season for the little guy and Nik Fazekas in Nevada makes the Wolfpack a legit squad that could turn some head in the dance, as they did in '04. And you know what? I'm pulling for George Mason, too. The absence of Jai Lewis thrusts Hofstra into the role of CAA favorite, but GMU still has Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell. Next Saturday, they rumble with Wichita State. OH MAN, I CAN'T WAIT!

College hoops. Love it.