Wednesday, November 10, 2004

The Four Teams Most Likely to Win the National Championship

Wake Forest: The quality of their defense remains to be seen, but everybody’s back, last season ended only at the hands of a similar but more veteran team in the tournament, Chris Paul is the best player in college basketball, and I still think Danelius (if healthy) is the most talented big man in the ACC.

Kansas: They salvaged a lost year with a tournament run picking off those who had upset others. The team was never healthy and didn’t buy into Self’s system for much of the year. That they played their best basketball when most banged up augurs well for this season. It will be imperative that one of the three freshman big men relieve some of Simien’s workload each night.

Georgia Tech: The loss of Marvin Lewis and Clarence Moore throws into question who will play after the first six. Will Bynum has yet to show he can do much without the ball in his hands, but every touch he takes away from Jarrett Jack will be to the Yellow Jackets detriment.

Oklahoma State: They’ll miss Tony Allen on the defensive end of the court, but slashing, physical wings rarely make the difference on the other end of the court in college basketball. John Lucas will be hard pressed to improve on last year’s performance, but Joey Graham could move closer to the Carmelo Anthony than the Ryan Gomes end of the ‘tweener continuum.

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