2008 Virginia Tech Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
October 6, 2008
Last year was supposed to be a down year for the Virginia Tech basketball program with so many fresh faces. The team was relying on eight freshman, but Seth Greenberg got his team to work together and end the season at 21-14 and 9-7 in the ACC. After a fourth place finish in the conference there are going to be a lot higher expectations for this team that returns four of five starters. They were snubbed by the selection committee a year ago, but anything less than an NCAA tournament appearance...
2008 Virginia Basketball Season Preview & Predictions
October 6, 2008
Just two short years ago Virginia earned a share of the ACC conference title, but last year the team took a major step back by going 17-16 and 5-11 in league play. That was with Sean Singletary contributing almost 20 points and more than six assists per game. He’s gone, and so is Adrian Joseph’s 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. Without those two to help keep this team in games, we see it being a long year for Cavaliers basketball. The defense is going to have to improve greatly...
2008-09 North Carolina Basketball Season Preview & Predictions
October 6, 2008
What’s to stop this North Carolina basketball team from winning the national title? That’s the question that everyone has to ask as it has been a long time since a team has been such a clear cut favorite to win a championship. This team is loaded with talent (they have eight McDonald’s All-Americans) and experience. They return all five starters and the top six scorers from a team that went 36-3 overall, 14-2 in the conference, and made the Final Four a year ago. If you haven’t...
2008 NC State Wolfpack NCAA Basketball Season Preview & Predictions
October 6, 2008
Things couldn’t get much worse for North Carolina State last year when they finished at 15-16 and 4-12 in the conference, good for a last place finish in the ACC. Head coach Sidney Lowe is confident his team will be improved this year. One of the keys to success is how well Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley play. In 2006-07 they averaged 31.2 ppg, but last year that number dipped down to 14.6. If you think they can get back to form then you can win $15,000 on a $100 bet for this team to...
2008 Miami Basketball Picks & NCAA Predictions
October 5, 2008
It seems strange that the Miami Hurricanes basketball team is turning more heads than the football team these days, but we see that trend continuing into this season. There are skeptics out there who felt that the 23-11 record Miami put up a year ago was a fluke, but we are not one of them. Head coach Frank Haith has his top five leading scorers coming back and they landed a top recruit in DeQuan Jones. This is a program that is on the up and up and should be mentioned with the conference elites...
2008 Maryland Basketball Season Preview & NCAA Predictions
October 5, 2008
Gary Williams is on the hot seat at Maryland. It seems hard to believe since he was on top of the world only a few short years ago when he took the team to the national title in 2002. For years this Maryland basketball program has been competing with Duke and North Carolina for the ACC crown, but the last four years have seen plenty of disappointments with three years of sitting at home watching other teams playing the tournament and fans are getting fed up. It’s too bad that it looks like...
2008 Georgia Tech Basketball Preview & Predictions
October 5, 2008
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball program has had to struggle with many players departing over the last few years. Ten players have either transferred, graduated, or left early over the last two seasons. This year the team saw Ra’Sean Dickey forgo his senior season to play professional ball in Ukraine. Anthony Morrow graduated after scoring 14.3 ppg last year, and Jeremis Smith ran out of eligibility after scoring 10.5 ppg. With five total players gone you would expect to see...
2008 Florida State Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
October 5, 2008
It seems that Florida State has made some strides in recent years, but this year’s Seminole squad is probably going to be more in rebuilding mode. They lost some talented seniors in Jason Rich, Ralph Mims, and Isaiah Swann, who contributed 37.9 ppg to the offense a year ago. The six incoming freshman though have been highly touted, so if veterans Toney Douglas and Uche Echefu can help the youngsters learn quickly there is a chance this team could surprise us. The problem is we think they...
2008 Duke Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
October 5, 2008
The 2008-09 Duke basketball team is going to have to finish a lot stronger than they did last March in order for this to be considered a successful year. The team made big improvements by going 13-3 in the ACC and 28-6 overall, but losses in three of their final five games stung a little bit. The loss at home to North Carolina cost them the ACC regular season title. The second round loss against West Virginia sent them home early from the NCAA tournament. With all eyes on North Carolina this...
2008 Clemson Tigers Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
September 30, 2008
Head coach Oliver Purnell seemed a little bit crazy at the beginning of last year when he mentioned that his team’s goal was to win the national title. However, after finishing up at 24-10 and 10-6 in the ACC we think he gained a lot of respect for his team on a national level. After five seasons, this Clemson team has gotten better each year under the direction of Purnell. Last year was the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 and followed three straight solid showings...