ESPN Andy Katz Give Their Early Preseason Top 25

[tornado]

and two factors that might keep Gonzaga from getting into the Top 10...

--first, their conference schedule is weak, and they'll get little credit for whupping up on Portland, Marymount, and Pepperdine.

--second, even though their non-conference schedule has some strong opponents, they still have some really weak guys like Idaho, UC-Riverside (who will have Xavier Crawford this year), and Northern Colorado, and the few good teams they always get (Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UConn, Tennessee, Oklahoma) they can never get those guys at home, and always have to leave Spokane to get those teams on the schedule, which makes it all the harder to beat them.

[cpacmel]

But it's still Miami!
They're a football school.

So is Ohio State, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Okie and any number of other schools.

Just because they have been known to be good in football, that doesn't mean they can't have very good years in other sports. Men's basketball included.

[cpacmel]

and the few good teams they always get (Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UConn, Tennessee, Oklahoma) they can never get those guys at home, and always have to leave Spokane to get those teams on the schedule, which makes it all the harder to beat them.

In the last 5 years the following schools have played vs. the Zags in Spokane:

Washington State
Washington
Baylor
Virginia
Stanford
Georgia

[tornado]

Trivia Question Time...

When was the last time Miami was ranked in the Top 10?
When was the last time they were ranked #8 or higher?

3/1/99 they were ranked #9 (AP) but #10 in Coaches Poll
The last time they were ranked higher than #9 was #8 on 3/1/60, and that's the highest they have ever been ranked.

When was the last time they were ranked in the Top 10 in the preseason?

Never, not even in the Rick Barry era. Their highest and only preseason ranking ever was #25 in the preseason of 1999-2000.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mifl/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/0708-mbb-guide-7.pdf

(mouse over the answers to read...)


Disclaimer...past performance is no indicator of future performance

[MacabreMob]

and the few good teams they always get (Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UConn, Tennessee, Oklahoma) they can never get those guys at home, and always have to leave Spokane to get those teams on the schedule, which makes it all the harder to beat them.

In the last 5 years the following schools have played vs. the Zags in Spokane:

Washington State
Washington
Baylor
Virginia
Stanford
Georgia

I think Tornado might be talking about all the nuetral games they settle for like these in the last 5 years:
vs UConn
vs Oklahoma
vs Tennessee
vs Georgia
vs Texas
Vs Georgia
vs Duke
vs Nevada
vs Oklahoma St
vs UMass
vs Georgia Tech
vs Oklahoma St
vs Missouri
vs Stanford

[mportsch]

Miami returns most of their team from last year, with the only big loss being rebounder and shotblocker Anthony King. They add a 5-star SF in Dequan Jones. I see them being better next year, but I agree that #9 is probably a little too high. I think they're more in the 15-20 range.

[Bravesfan]

and two factors that might keep Gonzaga from getting into the Top 10...

--first, their conference schedule is weak, and they'll get little credit for whupping up on Portland, Marymount, and Pepperdine.

--second, even though their non-conference schedule has some strong opponents, they still have some really weak guys like Idaho, UC-Riverside (who will have Xavier Crawford this year), and Northern Colorado, and the few good teams they always get (Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UConn, Tennessee, Oklahoma) they can never get those guys at home, and always have to leave Spokane to get those teams on the schedule, which makes it all the harder to beat them.

Texas Tech won't even help them this year. They are supposed to be pretty bad this year under first year head coach Pat Knight.