It's Awesome baby! College basketball review

Wow. Can you believe it? College Basketball (yes, I capitalized it) has started. Below you will find my rankings. These rankings reflect how I think the final rankings will be.

All you hear about is who is the 4th best team, after Florida, North Carolina and Kansas. Yes, all three of those teams are loaded, but that does not guarantee success. Take Uconn's team last year as an example. They had 4 first round draft choices yet they lost to George Mason in the Great 8. I can't tell you how they will fail, but all three teams will find a way to come up short.

My pick are the Arizona Wildcats. This is the year that Mustafa Shakur finally puts it together. Marcus Williams really stepped it up last year and developed into an elite player, and they bring in sharp shooting Chase Budinger. Lute Olsen's hair will get messed up once again.

(AP preseason ranks in parenthesis)

Money’s top 25

Final Four
1) Arizona (10) – This team is loaded with talent and has stars at every level, including incoming freshman Chase Budinger
2) North Carolina (2) – They had a great team last year, and they did not lose anybody of substance.
3) Wisconsin (9) – Senior Alondo Tucker will lead this team to the Final Four
4) Georgetown (8) – Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert is one of the best inside-outside combos in the nation.

5) LSU (5) – The Big Baby is a year older. One of my favorite teams last year will reload and compete again this year.
6) Texas A&M (13) – This is my dark horse team for the year. Great defense and guard play is the key to their success.
7) Kansas (3) – They have the best starting five in the country. Teams like this never pull it off.
8) Ohio State (7) – Everybody knows about Greg Oden. I think we are all waiting to see what he can do. I am tempering expectations.
9) Florida (1) – Similar to my Jayhawks pick, Florida, while extremely talented will figure out a way to underachieve this year.
10) UCLA (6) – Farmar was the glue for this team. Collison is a capable point guard, but he won’t lead this team to the Final Four.
11) Duke (12) – The Dukies slip a bit in the standings due to a new fire code that restricts the Cameron Crazies from sitting right behind the bench.
12) Alabama (11) - They lack the big time shooter, but they have all the other pieces in place.
13) Pitt (4) – I never liked this team last year and was tempted to leave them off this year, but I can’t. Aaron Gray is just too big to ignore.
14) UConn (18) – They lost so much talent. They will still be good, but it may take some time to gel.
15) Marquette (16) – They will miss Steve Novak and don’t have a lot of height, but they have great guards, especially Dominic James.
16) Creighton (19) – Nate Funk. Pretty cool name.
17) Oregon (NR) – This pick may explode in my face if the team turns on Ernie Kent. They do have great talent and this could be the year they put it all together.
18) Memphis (14) – Good team in a terrible conference.
19) So. Illinois (NR) – Another team to return all five starters. More offense would help, but they play great defense, so they get a pass.
20) Georgia Tech (23) – Remember them? They are back with great young talent.
21) Hofstra (NR) – They will play with a chip on their shoulder with the hopes of making the tournament this year by winning their league outright.
22) Texas (21) – This is probably too high given the amount of talent they lost, but they will start off the season with a good ranking so they will have to tank to drop out of the top 25.
23) Wichita State (NR) – My third team from the Missouri Valley Conference. I might be developing a man-crush on this conference.
24) Gonzaga (NR) – They always seem to reload, although this will be tough with Morrison gone.
25) Kansas State (NR) – Banking on Huggins being dirty again and bringing in some real talent.