Midnight Madness is almost upon us and with it the start of official practices and the 2012/13 college basketball season! An octet of teams to keep tabs on this year:

KENTUCKY

The main storyline heading into the 2012/13 season will no longer be can Calipari win, it will be can he repeat? Having lost all of his starting 5 and sixth man to the NBA draft he will be reloading with his fourth consecutive #1 ranked recruiting class. No. 1 recruit & McDonalds All American Nerlen Noels (pictured) will be looking to make a similar impact to Anthony Davis - the scouting reports suggest that he is a better shot blocker than Davis (?????!!!!!!!) but that he is something of a work in progress offensively. Sophomore forward Kyle Wiltjer who averaged 5 points on 43% in 11 mpg last season will surely feature more significantly this year and Cal has also added an athletic 7 footer in Willie Cauley-Stein who played wide receiver in high school. In the backcourt another All American, Archie Goodwin has been brought in to score. Kentucky will certainly be making another run at a national championship this year. Trivia: the last and to date only Wildcats squad to repeat as national champion were Adolph Rupp's 1949 vintage.
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LOUISVILLE

Elsewhere in the state fresh off another Final 4 appearance - the Cardinals ninth and coach Pitino's sixth - Louisville will have national championship aspirations themselves. Senior point guard Peyton Siva (pictured) and Senegalese shot blocker Gorgui Dieng will be playing their last season together. What they will need is a greater contribution from their shooters - last season Louisville were 12th in the Big East in 3FG% - a measly .318. Wing Luke Hancock is projected to be the star after sitting out last season following his transfer from George Mason.
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INDIANA

Up in Bloomington, Indiana are many peoples pre season favourites to win it all. With their five most prolific scorers and four best rebounders returning from last year (spearheaded by Cody Zeller, pictured) along with a top 10 recruiting class featuring #1 nationally ranked point guard Yogi Ferrell and uber athletic PF Hanner Perea they appear to have the perfect blend. The Hoosiers had the most potent scoring offense (77.3 ppg) and shot the highest field goal percentage (.492) in the Big Ten last season and Ferrell - who has been inevitably compared with Isiah Thomas - will be a valuable addition. Coach Crean sure has turned this storied program around - they won 11 conference games last season having won only 8 the previous three seasons combined.
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UCLA

With no conference titles and only two NCAA tournament wins since back to back to back Final 4 appearances in 06-07-08 this was the season that the Bruins were supposed to be back in the national spotlight. With a newly renovated gym and having beaten Duke & Kentucky to the signature of 2012 Mr. Basketball USA Shabazz Muhammad (pictured) big things were expected. Unfortunately Ben Howland's program is in turmoil right now, UCLA are still waiting for the NCAA to confirm the aforementioned Muhammad's eligibility for the 2012/13 season, just days before practice begins.
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NC STATE

The Wolfpack will be looking to usurp perennial ACC superpowers Duke and North Carolina this year - in fact many experts make them pre season favourites for the conference title. Coach Gottfried has one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, for the first time in school history NC State have three All Americans in the same class: Rodney Purvis, TJ Warren & Tyler Lewis. Beyond ACC bragging rights they will be striving to improve on their 2012 Sweet Sixteen appearance in the postseason. Leading scorer from last season, CJ Leslie (pictured) returns.
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OHIO STATE

One can't help feeling a little underwhelmed at what Thad Matta's teams accomplished over the past two seasons. The meltdown at the end of the NCAA tournament semi final versus underdog Kansas ensured that Jared Sullinger's college career ended without an appearance in the national championship game. In fact his decision to return for his sophomore season really did irreparable damage to his draft stock - he fell from lottery pick status to 21st. Still, the Buckeyes have tenacious point guard Aaron Craft (pictured) who averaged 2.5 steals per game en route to winning defensive honours (Big Ten DPOY & Defensive all American), ergo they'll still be fun to watch.
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MISSOURI

As much as anything what makes Mizzou an intriguing team to watch this season is the fact that it will be their first since jumping ship to the SEC from the Big 12, will they challenge UK for conference supremacy? They were one of the revelations of the 2011/12 season until their stunning loss to 15th seeded Norfolk State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The only starter who returns from that team is Phil Pressey (pictured) and with so many newcomers they will face something of a baptism of fire in the Thanksgiving weekend tournament "Battle 4 Atlantis" which will feature Duke, Louisville & Memphis amongst others.
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ARIZONA

Preseason Pac 12 player of the year Solomon Hill (pictured) returns for his senior year. He provides some experience and stability for a program that saw tumultuous times last season with players being arrested, suspended and dismissed for all manner of indiscretions. Coach Miller will be hoping Xavier transfer Mark Lyons will also provide some leadership and experience having been part of 3 Sweet 16 teams at the Catholic university in Ohio. With some highly rated recruits coming to Tucson and only two years removed from a 30 win campaign (14-4 in conference play) and an Elite 8 appearance Arizona are poised for a bounce back season.
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Bobby Knight is auctioning off his 3 national championship rings & his Olympic gold medal.

Apparently its for his grandkids college fund. I'd assume he's made enough money in his career to not have to do this but I'm sure he has his reasons.

Bill Self chimes into the age old debate over whether amateur student-athletes should be paid to play basketball in college:


www.kansascity.com/2012/10/22/3880116/se...d.html#storylink=cpy

I have to say he has a point. The ideal of amateurism is very noble but when schools and television networks are making a kings ransom out of the college basketball product it looks like the kids are just getting exploited. Even if they get a full scholarship, room & board that might only account for a fraction of the money the college generates from their endeavours - it doesn't seem fair.

Still no word on Muhammad or Anderson being declared eligible to play for UCLA, with the season just around the corner. This isn't looking good...

I have tickets for the final of the legends tournament, which will hopefully involve me seeing Indiana give UCLA a good seeing to. At which point I will roll on here drunk and go JV-style about it to Inca, which I will promptly regret when I wake up. Particularly as I am only a Hoosier-in-law.

Incandenza wrote:


Yeah, it never rains, it pours. Muhammad has an MRI on his right shoulder after he injures it in practice.

The experts have spoken, Indiana top the AP preseason poll for the first time since the 1979/80 season and the third time ever:

Associated Press wrote:


I love checking the preseason polls in April to see if the AP got it right - last year North Carolina were the consensus preseason #1 (by a landslide 62/65 votes) but #2 Kentucky turned out to be the better team.

When's the last time that NC State was ranked higher than North Carolina in a preseason poll?

Shabazz Muhammad will be out 2 to 4 weeks.

Incandenza wrote:


Thats a great question, sometime in the 80s I'd guess - I will have to look it up. NC State were actually quite the ACC powerhouse back when the conference was in its infancy - they won the first three tournaments. They have 10 tournament wins overall but none since '87. Interestingly it was only as recently as 2000 that Duke won their 11th and surpassed them in this respect.

As part of the renovated Pauley Pavilion, UCLA has unveiled a new statue of John Wooden. I didn't get to go to the unveiling today, but I'll check it out on Tuesday when staff get to go in and check out the new Pauley before the rest of the public:

Incandenza wrote:


Thats a wonderful statue - they've nailed him. Inca any chance you could post some pics when you get a chance to see PP next week - that'd be great.

Yes, I'm planning on taking a lot.

Incandenza wrote:

Cool. Inca, I was thinking of heading down to LA later this year or early next, I was hoping to catch a Bruins game - how easy is it to obtain tickets? Can you pay on the day or do you have to buy them ahead of time?

El Tel, we've discussed this a lot here.

The experts and coaches are debating the wrong problem. The fundamental problem isn't that the players aren't paid. The problem is that collectively and individually, they have very little voice in how their respective sports are governed and operated. They deserve to have some kind of union and collectively bargain. I'm not sure exactly how it would work, but even minor league hockey players and semi-pro athletes like indoor lacrosse players have a union. I imagine this would radically change the revenue sports, but not do much to the non-revenue sports. But that's ok. At least it would be fair. As of now, decisions are being made that affect their lives without their input. College players don't even have much of a voice in the in-game rules of their sports.

The Olympics have seen a similar transformation. The athletes have much more power than they used to. Some nostalgists think the days of amateurism were better, but really they were just more explotive.

We need to get out of this 19th Century mindset of a sharp distinction between amateur. College athletes are both and neither.

El Tel wrote:


It can depend on the opponent. A game against USC or Arizona at home could be tough, but for other conference opponents it shouldn't be too tough to get a ticket. And if you're talking about one of the small teams they play against around Christmas time, tickets are really easy to get (both because it's not an exciting matchup, and students are home for winter break).

I'd still look a little ahead of time. I've become a fan of looking on StubHub. Have to pay the service fee, but can print them out right after buying them.

Incandenza wrote:


Thanks for the feedback Inca - I was thinking in terms of Missouri on Dec 28th, so I'll check on ticket availability right now.

John - what do you think would be a reasonable compromise in terms of kids being properly compensated or rather not bring exploited but at the same time the ethos of college sports remaining intact.

Very impressed with the job on the Pauley renovation. At first I was a bit skeptical since it seemed like they were just adding a shell so there could be an interior concourse, but having that almost makes it seem like a completely new building. The seating isn't very different, but the seats are nicer now, the video display over the court is a lot better, and there is a video board ringing the roof inside. The jump circle logo is different, but they've incorporated the old one to be underneath the video display, which is a nice touch.

Whole Flickr set is here: www.flickr.com/photos/evang/sets/72157631890374629/

With three videos:
youtu.be/ZU3iEVK8VYI
youtu.be/5I1BY4c5kmA
youtu.be/g80l15S0UI8

Here are a few of the photos:

Southeast corner entrance by Evan G, on Flickr

New southeast entrance. Compare to:

(A different corner, but they all looked like this)

View from southeast corner by Evan G, on Flickr

My biggest gripe remains that the seating behind the baskets leaves too much space, so there isn't the intimate feel that other arenas have, but apparently the seats will be a little closer (and in this photo the seats are not extended out, FYI) Pauley is also used for volleyball and gymnastics, and it's a practice court for basketball as well, so they need to have a lot of open space.

Championship banners by Evan G, on Flickr

Banners now hung from the rafters, rather than ringing the upper wall underneath the roof (retired numbers hang there now instead)

North concourse by Evan G, on Flickr

North concourse. All 108 national championship teams listed on this display, and the photos above are on video screens that constantly change, showing different championship teams from all sports over the years.

Wooden Way display by Evan G, on Flickr

The east concourse is now called Wooden Way (with its own campus street sign on a post inside) with three displays of Coach Wooden and championship team (including 1995) memorabilia. I could look at that stuff for a really long time.

John Wooden statue by Evan G, on Flickr

Coach.

"At which point I will roll on here drunk and go JV-style about it to Inca, which I will promptly regret when I wake up."

Come.



TO THE DRUNK SIDE

Haha, I had missed that earlier post! Bring it, Box Boy.

HOOSIER DADDY!