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HOOP SCOOP’S PRE-SEASON RANKING OF THE TOP 30 COLLEGE TEAMS FOR THE 2008-2009 SEASON
Published November 9, 2008
by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP
| Rank | Team | Returning Starters | 2007-2008 Record League/Overall |
Conference | Talent Rating | Comments |
| 1. | North Carolina | 5 | 14-2/36-3 | Atlantic Coast | 96.8 | With all five starters, including Tyler Hansbrough, who is the best player in college basketball today, back from last year's NCAA Final Four team, this is the best team (at least on paper) that we've seen in a long time. |
| 2. | Connecticut | 4 | 13-5/24-9 | Big East | 66.4 | All of those freshmen & sophomores who were in the program two years ago have grown up and there aren't many starting fives any better than Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, Jerome Dyson, Kemba Walker, & A.J. Price. |
| 3. | Louisville | 4 | 14-4/27-9 | Big East | 84.5 | The Cardinals have the second highest talent rating, but what really set this group apart is their experience in the backcourt and out on the perimeter & the two freshman big men (Samardo Samuels and Terrence Jennings) inside. |
| 4. | Michigan State | 3 | 12-6/27-9 | Big-10 | 77.5 | 6'7 Jr Raymar Morgan, 6'10 Sr Goran Sutton, & 6'0 Soph Kalin Lucas will be key pieces to the puzzle, but it's the depth and the addition of 6'7 Frosh Delvon Roe, who is a killer inside, that make the Spartans a Final Four contender. |
| 5. | Pittsburgh | 3 | 10-8/27-10 | Big East | 64.6 | Sam Young & DeJuan Blair will do the dirty work inside, Levance Fields will run the show, Gilbert Brown & Jermaine Dixon will provide athleticism on the perimeter, and a good freshman class will provide most of the depth. |
| 6. | Purdue | 5 | 15-3/25-9 | Big-10 | 47.5 | All five starters are back from a team that finished 25-9 a year ago and, with two of the best players in the league (E'Twaun Moore & Robbie Hummel), the Boilermakers are currently one of the most undervalued teams in the nation. |
| 7. | Oklahoma | 3 | 9-7/23-12 | Big-12 | 80.1 | The 4th highest talent rating and a beast inside like 6'10 Soph Blake Griffin is enough to sell us on the Sooners. But there is still some risk, as Willie Warren and the plethora of junior college players must step up and fill the bill. |
| 8. | Gonzaga | 3 | 13-1/25-8 | West Coast | 57.8 | Depth and balance appear to be the order of the day, as Austin Daye, Jeremy Pargo, Matt Bouldin, Steven Gray, Micah Downs, & Josh Heytvelt are good enough to take you a long way in the NCAA Tournament. |
| 9. | Xavier | 3 | 14-2/30-7 | Atlantic-10 | 45.1 | With Derrick Brown, C.J. Anderson, B.J. Raymond, Jason Love, and Dante Jackson all back from an Elite Eight Team, plus an impressive array of recruits, it's hard to believe the Musketeers aren't in everybody's pre-season top 20. |
| 10. | Wake Forest | 5 | 7-9/17-13 | Atlantic Coast | 60.4 | All the freshmen and sophomores (James Johnson, Jeff Teague, Ishmael Smith, Chas McFarland, L.D. Williams) are a year older, plus freshman Al Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods, and Ty Walker are good enough to contribute right away. |
| 11. | Baylor | 3 | 9-7/21-11 | Big East | 75.7 | The Bears have a great mix of experience, depth, & freshmen (Anthony Jones & Quincy Acy) who should make an immediate impact. But it's their surprisingly high talent rating that really gets our attention. |
| 12. | Georgetown | 3 | 15-3/28-6 | Big East | 62.6 | If 6'10 Frosh Greg Monroe steps in and is able to fill the bill for the graduated Roy Hibbert, then you have to like the Hoyas chances of being back in the NCAA Final Four for the second time in three years. |
| 13. | Duke | 4 | 13-3/28-6 | Atlantic Coast | 81.1 | The talent is there (i.e. Kyle Singler, Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, & Elliott Williams), but quickness at point guard, toughness inside, & getting over the hump in March are still legitimate question marks. |
| 14. | Notre Dame | 4 | 14-4/25-8 | Big East | 52.7 | What the Irish lack in McDonald's All-Americans they more than make for with experience, chemistry, coaching, & a great go-to-guy, like Luke Harangody, who was the Big East Player-of-the-Year last season. |
| 15. | Syracuse | 4 | 9-9/21-14 | Big East | 67.7 | Alarm bells should be going off, as the Orangemen have a talent rating that ranks among the top 10 in the nation and they are nowhere to be found any body else's pre-season top 20. |
| 16. | Florida | 4 | 8-8/24-12 | Southeastern | 71.9 | The Gators may still be a year away, but the amount of great young talent that Billy Donovan has in the program and the competition for playing time makes them really intriguing. |
| 17. | USC | 3 | 11-7/21-12 | Pacific-10 | 74.7 | A top 10 talent rating and a great mix of new players & veterans makes it easy to see why Trojans head coach Tim Floyd had no interest in the LSU job last spring. |
| 18. | Memphis | 2 | 16-0/38-2 | Conference USA | 65.0 | The big key here will be whether 6'5 Frosh Tyreke Evans is up to the task of stepping in and making the same type of impact that Derrick Rose did a year ago. |
| 19. | Texas | 4 | 13-3/31-7 | Big-12 | 57.9 | Damion James & A.J. Abrams are expected to form one of the best one-two punches in the nation. But the big key will be whether Varez Ward is up to the task of filling D.J. Augustine's shoes at point guard. |
| 20. | UCLA | 2 | 16-2/35-4 | Pacific-10 | 75.8 | Ben Howland has more than his fair share of excellent guards & perimeter players (i.e. Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, Malcolm Lee, Jrue Holiday, Jerime Anderson). But replacing Kevin Love inside will be easier said than done. |
| 21. | Villanova | 5 | 9-9/22-13 | Big East | 64.7 | The Wildcats still don't have the killer inside, but all the fire power that Jay Wright has out on the perimeter & the fact that they made a sweet 16 appearance a year ago in the NCAA Tournament may be a harbinger of things to come. |
| 22. | Tennessee | 2 | 14-2/31-5 | Southeastern | 63.5 | The Volunteers lost a lot, but Tyler Smith & Wayne Chism are great guys to build the team around and there will be plenty of options in the backcourt with J.P. Prince, Scotty Hopson, & Bobby Maze all ready to make a big impact. |
| 23. | UAB | 5 | 12-4/23-11 | Conference USA | 43.4 | Don't sleep on the Blazers. The top four returning players are seniors and Robert Vaden promises to be both the leading scorer and best player in the league. |
| 24. | UNLV | 3 | 12-4/27-8 | Mountain West | 46.4 | The Runnin' Rebels have been 29-6 and 27-8 the last two seasons, but with 7'0 Frosh Beas Hamga set to dominate inside and Tre'Von Willis ready to step in at point guard, this should be Lon Kruger's best team. |
| 25. | Florida State | 3 | 7-9/19-15 | Atlantic Coast | 61.6 | The Seminoles have the talent necessary to be one of the biggest sleepers in college basketball. But 7'1 Frosh Solomon Alabi, 6'9 Frosh Chris Singleton, and 6'4 Soph Derwin Kitchen have to live up to their press clippings. |
| 26. | Davidson | 3 | 29-7/20-0 | Southern | 31.5 | The return of Stephen Curry from last year's NCAA Elite Eight Team in enough to keep the Wildcats up there with the big boys. |
| 27. | Marquette | 4 | 11-7/25-10 | Big East | 57.2 | The Golden Eagles have the backcourt trio (Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, & Wes Matthews) and a versatile big time athletic forward (Lazar Hayward). But will 6'8 Dwight Burke and 6'7 Trevor Mbakwe be up to the task inside? |
| 28. | Arizona State | 5 | 9-9/21-13 | Pacific-10 | 50.0 | The Sun Devils return eight of their top nine players, including James Harden & Jeff Pendergraph, who are two of the best players in the league, from a team that won 21 games a year ago. |
| 29. | Miami-FL | 4 | 8-8/23-7 | Atlantic Coast | 46.8 | The Hurricanes have the depth and experience necessary, as seven of their top nine players return and 6'6 Frosh DeQuan Jones promises to be one of the best young players in the league. |
| 30. | New Mexico | 4 | 11-5/24-9 | Mountain West | 38.6 | The Lobos return four starters, plus 6'5 Sr Tony Danridge is also back after sitting out last season with an injury. But it's their great freshman class headed by 6'5 Phil McDonald that takes the program to another level. |