NCAA Set to Tip Off Season with 135 Games

On Friday, Nov. 9th, the NCAA will throw open its doors to the 2012-13 US collegiate basketball season with most eyes set on finishing the season on April 8th at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, the date and site for the 2013 NCAA Final Four Championship. Depending on the source you count, the number of Division 1 games set to be played on Friday is 135, give or take a dozen or so, but the key fact is that there will be a lot of hooping going on at Universities and Colleges across the United States come Friday. The fact grows much larger when you factor in the Division 2, Division 3, NAIA and Junior College squads that are also getting started.

As is the case in any new season, there are a number of changes on the horizon as the first tip-off draws closer; 22 Division 1 schools have changed conferences; at least three schools will have new arenas to play in; and at least 50 squads are looking at a new face with the whistle this season as the latest list shows that many head coaching transitions for the 2012-13 season. The NCAA implemented new rules in 2012 that allow coaches slightly more time to work out with their teams in the off-season and the big change, how coaches can personally contact recruits. This year college coaches were given the green light to show up at the big April AAU events, they changed the July recruiting period from two, 10-day sessions to three, five-day periods and they now allow unlimited contact, including text messaging.

Pre-season polls have Indiana overwhelmingly picked as the number 1 team in the country with last years NCAA Champion Louisville second, Kentucky third, Ohio State fourth and rounding out the top five with Michigan. Both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press polls have the top 10 teams exactly the same. The AP also released their pre-season All-American team with Indiana’s Cody Zeller picking up 64 out of 65 votes to lead the pack. Doug McDermott of Creighton earned 62 votes, Isaiah Canaan of Murray State was on 43 ballots, Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas grabbed 26 nods, and tying for the fifth spot were Trey Burke of Michigan and Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum with 16 votes.

Commonly thought of as the top six collegiate conferences in the US, the ACC, the SEC, the Big 10, the Big East, the Big 12, and the Pac 12, will most likely again send enough teams and players into March Madness to man the army of a small country. In the 2012 Tournament, 30 of the 68 teams entered came from these six, the remaining 38 teams came from 25 other conferences.

Preseason favorites and locations of Conference Tournament for the ‘Big Six’:

ACC – For the first time since the year after the 1973-74 North Carolina State Wolfpack that was led by David Thompson earned the first of two National Championships NC State owns, the boys of Raleigh have been picked as the preseason favorite in the ACC. That 73-74 squad defeated a UCLA squad that included Bill Walton and Jamaal Wilkes and the loss snapped a seven-year domination of the NCAA Tournament. With four starters returning from a contingent that worked their way to the ‘Sweet 16’ of last season’s NCAA tournament, the Wolfpack picked up 26 of 53 first-place ballots and 601 points on the media poll and also came out on top of the first ever ACC coaches poll. Coming in behind NC State was Duke with 21 first place votes and 589 points. North Carolina earned no first place votes, but came in third in the overall voting with 520 points. Florida State grabbed six first place ballots and 484 points and Miami rounded out the top five with 436 points and no nods for the top spot. Four of the top five in the media poll have also earned spots on the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. They are, with their position listed after their names: NC State (6), Duke (8), North Carolina (12), and Florida State (T24). The ACC will hold their Conference Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Greensboro Coliseum from March 14th thru March 17th, 2013.

SEC – Coming off a National Championship with five underclassmen in your starting five is a collegiate coaches’ dream come true, but too much of a good thing can lead to problems and Coach John Calipari has basically had to start from scratch after all five starters and one graduating Senior were taken in the 2012 NBA Draft. Of course, the flip side of that is a bonanza when it comes to talking to recruits and Coach Calipari and his staff ended up with the number two ranked recruiting class in the country. From just the six that were drafted they had to replace 72.0 points per game (the team averaged 77.4 ppg), 30.3 rebounds per game (averaged 38.9 rpg), 8.4 assists per game (averaged 13.3 apg) and 30.4 minutes per game (40.0). In the media poll they received 17 of 22 first place votes and 328 total points. The runner-up spot went to Florida with 310 points and five top spot nods. Missouri grabbed one first place vote and 286 votes. Tennessee pulled in 269 votes and the final first place ballot and Arkansas wrapped up the top five with 226 points in the poll. The top three also earned spots on the ESPN/USA Today Coaches preseason poll: Kentucky (3), Florida (10), and Missouri (17). The SEC Conference Tournament will be held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN from March 13th thru March 17th, 2013.

Big 10 – The Indiana Hoosiers have been picked by a number of publications and websites to be the number one mens basketball team in the country, so it comes as little surprise that they are also an overwhelming pick to bring home a 2012-13 Big 10 Crown. Leading the way for the Hoosiers is sophomore sensation Cody Zellar, a near unanimous (64 of 65 votes) pick for preseason All-American, picked as the preseason collegiate player of the year, preseason Big Ten player of the year, and most likely a few others. Zeller, a 6’11” (213 cm) forward, averaged 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 28.5 minutes (of 40) as a freshman last season. He ranked in the top 10 of over 20 stat categories in the Big Ten and cracked the top 10 in three in the NCAA (player efficiency rating, field goal percentage and offensive rating). He’ll be surrounded by four other starters from last year’s squad that advanced through the NCAA Tournament to the ‘Sweet 16’. The Michigan Wolverines were ranked second in the Big Ten preseason poll and Ohio State came in third. Five Big Ten clubs made it onto the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll: Indiana (1), Ohio State (4), Michigan (5), Michigan State (14), and Wisconsin (21). The Big Ten Conference Tournament will be held at the United Center in Chicago from March 14th thru March 17th.

Big East – The unanimous pick for the Big East title is the University of Louisville, coached by Pick Pitino. Louisville, just an hour and a half drive down Interstate 64 from the University of Kentucky and two hours from the University of Indiana, returns three starters from the 2011-12 contingent that advanced to the Final Four before getting knocked out by Kentucky, 69-61. Louisville wrapped up their season with a 31-6 record and won the Big East Tournament last season. Leading the way for the Cardinals will be Senior playmaker Peyton Siva, who’s been picked as the preseason Big East Player of the year and named to the preseason All-American Team. In the preseason voting, Louisville garnered all 14 first place votes available (coaches can’t vote for their own team) and accumulated 196 points. The Syracuse Orangemen finished the coaches vote as the runners-up with 175 points. Notre Dame picked up Coach Pitino’s vote for the top spot and earned 166 points. Finishing fourth was Cincinnati with 152 points and Georgetown rounded off the top five with 136 points. The top three Big East teams also made it onto the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll: Louisville (2), Syracuse (9), and Notre Dame (23). The 35th Annual Big East Tournament will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City from March 12th thru March 16th, 2013.

Big 12 – Coming off a season that saw them fall eight points short of the 2011-12 National Championship, the Kansas Jayhawks are the unanimous Big 12 coaches pick to win the 2012-13 Conference title. The Jayhawks have eight letter winners back from their 2011-12 squad, including three starters, Seniors Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford. Withey’s 140 blocked shots last season broke both the Kansas and the Big 12 single-season records. The Jayhawks are shooting for their eighth straight Big 12 title this season (shared or won outright). Kansas finished the coaches vote with nine first place votes out of 10 (coaches can not vote for their own club) and 81 points. Second spot went to Baylor, who received the last first place vote and 63 points. Oklahoma State was picked third with 60 points. Texas earned 58 points and Kansas State was fifth with 54. Three Big 12 teams also made it onto the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll: Kansas (7), Baylor (18), and Texas (T24). The Big 12 Conference Tournament will be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO, from March 13 to March 16, 2013.

Pac 12 – In the last 24 years UCLA or Arizona have been picked 20 times as the preseason favorite to win the Pac 12. In that same 24 year period, they have either team has won or been co-champs 16 times. This season, Arizona gets a one-point nod over UCLA in the poll 403-402, even though the Bruins picked up one more first place vote 16-15. Arizona will be led by Senior All-Pac 12 forward Solomon Hill, who’s coming off a Junior year where he averaged 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. UCLA will get it’s leadership from red shirt Junior Forward David Wear who’s coming off a season where he contributed 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. California finished third in the poll with 325 points and three first place ballots. Stanford earned 296 points to take the fourth slot and Washington snagged two first place nods along with 278 points to round out the top five. Just the top two Pac 12 teams made it onto the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll: Arizona (11) and UCLA (13). The Pac 12 will hold their Conference Tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada from March 13th thru the 16th.

2012-13 ESPN/USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	2011-12 Record	Points	2011-12 Rank
1	Indiana (21)	27-9	761	13
2	Louisville (5)	30-10	738	4
3	Kentucky (5)	38-2	718	1
4	Ohio State	31-8	617	3
5	Michigan	24-10	605	22
6	North Carolina State	24-13	581	20
7	Kansas	32-7	563	2
8	Duke	27-7	516	14
9	Syracuse	34-3	502	5
10	Florida	26-11	422	9
11	Arizona	23-12	411	NR
12	North Carolina	32-6	401	6
13	UCLA	19-14	396	NR
14	Michigan State	29-8	391	7
15	Creighton	29-6	325	21
16	Memphis	26-9	307	NR
17	Missouri	30-5	289	11
18	Baylor	30-8	266	8
19	UNLV	26-9	203	NR
20	San Diego State	26-8	196	NR
21	Wisconsin	26-10	191	12
22	Gonzaga	26-7	166	NR
23	Notre Dame	22-12	122	NR
T-24	Florida State	25-10	61	15
T-24	Texas	20-14	61	NR

Others receiving votes: Saint Louis 58; Virginia Commonwealth 40; Cincinnati 33; Murray State 30; Kansas State 13; Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 11; New Mexico 10; Tennessee 10; Minnesota 9; Pittsburgh 9; Marquette 8; Stanford 7; Butler 6; Oklahoma State 6; Colorado State 4; Middle Tennessee 3; Drexel 2; Georgia 2; Miami (Fla.) 2; St. Joseph’s 2; Marshall 1.