Lopresti: Head start on college basketball
by Mike Lopresti, USA TODAY Sports
Kentucky, North Carolina, Connecticut and Maryland — nine of the past 17 national champions — are all unranked, but Gonzaga is now No. 2. And you thought the Academy Awards had some screwball moments.
Here comes March, and it’d better be heavy on the Madness. The college basketball regular season certainly has been. To get the idea, just look at some of the matters that must be settled the next three weeks.
*The player of the year will be …
Indiana had the preseason favorite in forward Cody Zeller. The Hoosiers probably still have the favorite, only now it’s his name is guard Victor Oladipo. You couldn’t find Oladipo on preseason All-America lists with a search party.
*The coach of the year will be …
Who had Jim Larranaga as a candidate in October? Miami has won but four NCAA tournament games in its history, and the university high command is otherwise indisposed at the moment fighting the NCAA. But here the Hurricanes are, contending for a No. 1 seed. They are the first team since the ACC was born in 1953 to crush Duke and North Carolina each by at least 25 points.
Then again, they just lost by 15 points to 12-14 Wake Forest, so maybe there are some unresolved issues. We do know that in this one-and-done age of young lineups, Miami is like a postcard among Twitter messages. Saturday, the Hurricanes sent out a starting lineup with an average age of 22.4. Sunday, the NBA New Orleans Hornets sent out a starting lineup with an average age of 23.
*Teams most likely to get back into the NCAA tournament after being lost in the wilderness …
It’s been 22 years for Louisiana Tech, 24 for Middle Tennessee, 28 for Mercer. All lead their leagues today.
*TCU and South Florida will have what in common? …
Right now, they are both in last place at 1-13 in their conference standings, and their lone victories were against the … [For more on Lopresti: Head start on college basketball's mad March, click here.]
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