NCAA Basketball 2018-19

Ununhexium

Ununhexium

I closed my eyes and I slipped away...
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Hey gang! The time is nearly upon us as the college basketball season tips off on Tuesday! This season is looking like an interesting one with some of the usual suspects at the top of the preseason rankings (Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, etc) but also some teams that are trying to make their first Final Four (Nevada, Tennessee, Auburn).

The preseason AP poll is as follows
  1. Kansas
  2. Kentucky
  3. Gonzaga
  4. Duke
  5. Virginia
  6. Tennessee
  7. Nevada
  8. North Carolina
  9. Villanova
  10. Michigan State
  11. Auburn
  12. Kansas State
  13. West Virginia
  14. Oregon
  15. Virginia Tech
  16. Syracuse
  17. Florida State
  18. Mississippi State
  19. Michigan
  20. TCU
  21. UCLA
  22. Clemson
  23. LSU
  24. Purdue
  25. Washington
I will also be posting links to interesting articles and stuff as the season goes on.

Who do YOU think will be cutting down the nets in April?
 
SEC looking as deep (and as strong) as it ever has. Probably the 2nd best conference behind the ACC. My Hogs will likely struggle this year within the conference after losing its senior backcourt, but I'm happy Gafford decided to come back and I'll love watching him dominate this year. Hopefully he vaults himself into the top 5 pick discussion for the 2019 draft
 
So Tuesday night is the beginning of the season and I wanted to talk about two of the highlight games and my predictions
1. Kansas vs 10. Michigan State

Kansas is stacked this year. They've got a star freshman in Quentin Grimes (No. 8 overall recruit) who should be an immediate threat in the backcourt and be a top pick in this year's draft. They also return some important players from last year's team that earned a 1. seed, including center Udoka Azubuike (who shot 77% from the field last year) and LaGerald Vick, who entered the draft but then decided to return to college for another year. That said, they also add Dedric and KJ Lawson who sat out last year after transferring from Memphis, of which Dedric is a frontrunner for Big 12 player of the year. They should have little trouble dealing with Michigan State, though they have 2 solid veteran players in Cassius Winston who is a prolific passer and Nick Ward who should be their go-to big man this year.

2. Kentucky vs 4. Duke
Anyone who knows me knows I hate Duke, but Kentucky should be a fantastic team this year. Duke and Kentucky bring in the 1 and 2 recruiting classes, respectively, but the reason Kentucky gets the edge here is because for once they actually have some experience on the team. Reid Travis, a grad transfer from Stanford, should put up a double double per game for Kentucky and offer some experience to the still young squad. PJ Washington is another player to watch, as he had a solid freshman season at Kentucky last year but decided to return for a second season (at Kentucky? Who even knew it was possible to play more than one season there?) And yes, of course, they still have their outstanding freshmen. Duke has the top 3 freshman recruits in the country (and a 5 star point guard, a position Duke is usually lacking in), but they have no fifth man. If I remember correctly, none of Duke's returners averaged more than 10 minutes per game last season. In addition, they pose little threat from the arc (actually, Kentucky isn't that great of a 3 point shooting team either). Anyway, the experience and depth of Kentucky should lead them to a victory here.

That said, I want them both to lose.
 
I put money on a Duke x Golden State Multibet, paying 12:1 odds if both teams win their titles.

I don't usually bet on college basketball, but Duke's recruiting class is probably the best I've seen in the time I've been a fan of the sport. Kinda surprised me that they started off at 4 in the preseason polls, but they're taking it to Kentucky in the early going.
 
Duke the huge early favourites here. I’m already super hyped about Zion Williamson, the most hyped I’ve been for a college player besides Ben Simmons (ofc I am Aussie).
 
So after a few weeks I would say that the Big Ten is looking like the strongest / deepest conference in the sport. Gonzaga just lost to Tennessee so the AP voters will probably go back to blowing Duke because Kansas hasn't lost but hasn't looked super impressive either. In other news, UVA is doing as well as expected and Michigan is crushing it out there and looks like the best team in the country sometimes.

I'm just out here praying that Duke loses to Texas Tech on the 20th
 
Del Rio said:
I'm not a fan but the Buffalo Bulls are looking like the Jordan era Bulls ngl
Click to expand...
I agree. If Buffalo beats Marquette (which is definitely a possibility and maybe even a likelihood) they have the potential to enter March undefeated. The only other team that I think can pull that off this season is Nevada.
 
To be fair Duke was trailing Texas tech for most of the game and was getting outplayed, but with about 7 minutes left TT's shots just magically stopped going in. They weren't able to capitalize on Williamson fouling out early and barrett being on 4 fouls for the final minutes. Implying TTU didn't have a chance is smug though.
 
The 3 teams with the best likelihood to win the championship from what I’ve seen so far look like UVA Michigan and Tennessee.

UVA has done more offense this season which I think will really help them when the tournament rolls around, Michigan has played a tough schedule and just looks incredibly solid in every game they play, and Tennessee has looked strong top to bottom just playing some good old fashioned basketball.

I think Duke is gonna have a phenomenal regular season and make the tournament but teams that are that freshman dependent and lack so much depth never seem to be able to close the deal
 
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