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This year’s Big Ten ACC Challenge will be Dec. 3-4. It features a lot of college basketball teams from the ESPN.com early preseason top 25: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 20 Indiana and No. 25 Iowa.
Three of the games will pit ranked teams against each other: No. 9 Michigan at No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina at No. 3 Michigan State and No. 20 Indiana at No. 8 Syracuse.
It’s never too early to start thinking ahead. Here is an a very early projection of the 2014 NCAA Tournament Bracketology.
UPDATED: 4/7/13
Yesterday, the Big Ten officially announced what we all knew for at least a week. However, for those who are oblivious I’ll reiterate: new realignment and division names starting in 2014 and nine-game conference schedules starting in 2016. Most important about this college football news nugget or tidbit if you will, the Big Ten has laid to rest the HORRIBLE division names: Legends and Leaders.
Thankfully we only suffered through that pathetic pablum masquerading as division names for just two years. With Rutgers and Maryland joining the conference, where’s Rebecca Martinson when you need here? I’d love to hear her SCREAM and CURSE LOUDLY IN ANGER at whoever came up with that Legends and Leaders garbage.
Moving on, the new division alignments are:
With the Louisville Cardinals cutting down the nets, the book was officially closed on the 2012-2013 college basketball season. Hoop junkies like myself are already looking ahead to next season so allow me to present to you my updated way too early 2012-2013 preseason Top 25 college basketball rankings.
So here is my preliminary preseason Top 25 college basketball rankings for next season. I have updated these rankings since the NBA Draft early entries list is complete and a number of transfers have since been announced. There is still one major x-factor out there, the undecided Andrew Wiggins who is the #1 prospect in the 2013 class. Leave a comment below if you think a team is too high, too low, not getting enough respect, or if you notice an error in a projected roster. (Click here to see how my 2012-13 way too early preseason college basketball rankings turned out.)
Here are teams 16-25 in my updated 2012-2013 preseason Top 25 college basketball rankings and other teams who just missed the cut.
CLICK HERE FOR TEAMS 1-15 IN MY 2013-14 PRESEASON TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS
The 2013 NBA Draft will soon be here. The deadline for college basketball underclassmen having to decide their future has officially passed so at this point, you are either in or out. Here is an updated list of underclassmen who have declared for the 2013 NBA Draft and where they could end up being selected.
Click here for The Sports Bank’s 2013 NBA Draft mock.
Updated: 4/29/13
Happy NFL mock draft day!
This 2013 NFL mock draft is a reader submission from an author who wishes to remain anonymous. This is not my 2013 NFL mock draft, but this is a very comprehensive NFL mock draft as it covers all seven rounds. As always we encourage debate, and reader comments are very much welcome. Especially if you have a NFL mock draft of your own and would like to compare it up against this NFL mock draft.
Like I say on my own, detailed first round NFL mock draft. You’re free to say “this sucks because x, y, z,” but if your comment is simply “this sucks.”
Then I have to say “hey, thanks for coming!”
And check out our NFL mock draft of all 7 rounds for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Rose Bowl is hitting the century mark!
Like Dr. Dre and 2pac Shakur told us in “California Love:” “Pasadena. Pasadena, where ya at?”
The Rose Bowl will become the first college football bowl game to reach 100 this Jan 1. And the Rose Bowl is also hosting the next college football national title game on top of that. Late last night, the Tournament of Roses, the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences unveiled modifications to the champion’s trophy and a new logo to commemorate the 100th Rose Bowl Game.
The 2014 NBA Draft class is shaping up to be way more loaded than the 2013 group. Here is an insanely early 2014 NBA Mock Draft where team needs and outstanding trades have NOT yet been taken into account. Click here for The Sports Bank’s 2013 NBA Mock Draft.
The Golf Channel’s Holly Sonders is about to bring a lot more eyeballs to the sport of golf. Well, she’s bringing a lot more publicity to the sport anyway. Who is Holly Sonders? Here’s her biography and photo collection. She’s also the cover girl for next month’s Golf Digest. Which is the fitness issue. And she’s going to be showing off just how fit she herself is.
Holly Sonders can be seen on “Morning Drive” and “School of Golf” on the Golf Channel. She was a four-year member of the Michigan State golf team, and the Lady Spartans won a Big 10 title during her time there. She might the most inspiring MSU figure this side of Tom Izzo. Certainly, these Michigan State people are NOT role models.
The Big Ten was the best conference of all this past college basketball season. That will change as a lot of talent graduates and declares for the NBA Draft. In the past few days, we’ve already seen Deshaun Thomas of Ohio State and the Hoosiers’ Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller declare. Add in the fact that only one McDonald’s All-American is coming to the Big Ten- Noah Vonleh to IU.
Still, we have Michigan State ranked #2 in the nation in our way too early top 25. Ohio State is #3, the Hoosiers #8. Michigan is #14 and Wisconsin #15 rounding out the Big Ten representation in the top 25.
SB Nation’s Purdue site “Hammer and Rails” breaks down all the departures for every team and includes the scoring ppg averages:
Ah, the national title game of college basketball. The graduation ceremony of college hoops commences Monday night as the Michigan Wolverines take on the Louisville Cardinals. National title game tips on CBS around 8:30 CDT.
So as you watch the national title game, do you show allegiance to your conference brethren?
As your team is no longer playing, do you root for your conference rival on the bigger stage? Or do your natural rivalries still hold in the national title game?
Read through some interesting opinions of players, coaches and fans. And comment with your opinions and thoughts below.
Last night, I watched the Final Four with David Kmiecik, the finest college basketball mind you will ever find, and the man who gave me the idea/pushed me to start this website. Between the two of us you had two really big college hoops nerds: One Illini graduate (myself) and therefore a “Big Ten guy,” and one Marquette alum, therefore a “Big East guy.” Just like the Michigan vs. Syracuse battle to reach the national title game we were watching.
But it’s not always that simple.
