College Basketball Power Rankings

Posted on: November 17, 2008

After a weekend of play, virtually all of college basketball’s ranked teams have played. With it, there have been some changes to our pre-season Top 10 list as Hoops Addict unveils its first edition of the 2008-2009 College Basketball Power Rankings.

1. North Carolina (1-0, 0-0): No Tyler Hansbrough? No problem as Deon Thompson and freshman Ed Davis both had double-doubles, six players scored in double figures, and the Tar Heels beat Penn to open their season.

2. Louisville (0-0, 0-0): We had the Cardinals ranked No. 2 in the pre-season poll, and since they have yet to play a game so it would be unfair to drop them. Terrence Williams is back and healthy ahead of schedule, and Samardo Samuels has been a monster in Louisville’s pre-season exhibitions.

3. Connecticut (1-0, 0-0): UConn won’t get 23-17-5 from Hasheem Thabeet every night like they did in their opener against Western Carolina. But they won’t get zero points from A.J. Price either. This is the deepest team in college basketball outside of North Carolina.

4. Notre Dame (1-0, 0-0): We doubted Luke Harangody last year and he ended up winning Big East player of the year. The junior started this season with 30 points and 14 rebounds in Notre Dame’s opener Sunday. Don’t let the doughy physique fool you, the kid can play.

5. Michigan State (1-0, 0-0): The question coming into the season for the Spartans was how well Kalin Lucas could play point guard with the departure of Drew Neitzel. Coach Tom Izzo won’t complain about 13 points, nine assists and no turnovers from the sophomore in game one.

6. Texas (1-0, 0-0): Although all the talk surrounded A.J. Abrams 22 point performance, the Longhorns had the best defensive effort of any team in their opener, holding Stetson to 26 percent shooting, and 38 points.

7. Pittsburgh (1-0, 0-0): DeJuan Blair (17 points, 13 rebounds) showed he’ll be a load for Big East defenders all season. Looking at Pitt’s schedule, we won’t know much about this team until they hit Big East play.

8. Gonzaga (1-0, 0-0): Austin Daye and Josh Heytvelt proved to be too much for Division II Montanta-Billings in Gonzaga’s opener. While the score was pretty (83-52), the Bulldogs only led by five at halftime.

9. Duke (3-0, 0-0): Three straight wins to open the season is nice, but the near loss to Rhode Island drops the Blue Devils. We’ll know a lot more about Duke this weekend when they travel to Madison Square Garden to take on Southern Illinois and potentially UCLA.

10. Memphis (1-0, 0-0): Tyreke Evans was as good as advertised in the Tigers opener, scoring 19 points in his college debut. The supporting cast isn’t as good as last year’s, but this is still far and away the best team in Conference USA.

11. Purdue (1-0, 0-0): Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson are no longer loveable freshman, but seasoned sophomores. The results however, look a lot like last year, as each scored in double figures in the Boilermakers season opening win.

12. UCLA (2-0, 0-0): The team that fell the furthest from their spot in our pre-season poll, the Bruins struggled against Miami (OH), holding on to win 64-59. It may take awhile for the new faces to mix with the veterans, but when they do watch out: this may be Ben Howland’s deepest team yet.

13. Tennessee (1-0, 0-0): It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, when you put up 114 points- like Tennessee did in their opener- it’s always a good thing. Even more impressive was the unselfishness, as the Volunteers set a school record with 32 assists on 43 made field goals.

14. Oklahoma (1-0, 0-0): In the Sooners opener, Blake Griffin (24 points and 18 rebounds) showed why he’ll likely be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. But if Oklahoma is serious about making a Final Four run, they’ll need better than 5-14 from the foul line from their superstar.

15. Arizona State (1-0, 0-0): We all knew that James Harden could score whenever he wanted to, but his 10 assists in the Sun Devils opener showed what a complete player the sophomore is. While Arizona State isn’t deep, their starting five are talented enough to challenge UCLA for the Pac-10 title.

16. Marquette (1-0, 0-0): It was no surprise to see Marquette’s “three-headed,” monster at guard- Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James- combine for 52 points in Marquette’s opening night victory. But as always, this team will struggle when facing the Big East’s top frontcourts.

17. Florida (2-0, 0-0): Guard Nick Caltathes is the best of a young group of Gators- Florida has 11 freshman and sophomores on the roster. Of course the last time Billy Donovan had a team this young was 2006- and that season ended with a National Championship.

18. Miami (FL) (1-0, 0-0): Jack McClinton (18 points in the Canes opener) is the star of the show in Coral Gables. But if Miami can get the type of production from Dwayne Collins they did in game one (18 points, 16 rebounds), the Canes may be able to challenge the ACC’s “big two,” for the conference championship.

19. Davidson (1-0, 0-0): Stephen Curry picked up right where he left off last March- scoring 29 points in the Wildcats season opener. We know the junior will get his points, but can he distribute the ball as effectively as the departed Jason Richards, who led college basketball in assists last season?

20. Georgetown (0-0, 0-0): We won’t know much about the Hoyas until Monday night when they play Jacksonville. The 2008-2009 version of Georgetown isn’t as experienced as last year’s, but with Greg Monroe joining the core of DaJuan Summers, Jessie Sapp, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright, it may be more athletic.

Photo Credit: ICON Sports Media

This article was written by:

Aaron Torres - who has written 34 posts on Hoops Addict.

Aaron Torres is a young journalist just starting out in sports writing. With a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Connecticut, he has covered a number of different sports for several different media outlets in the northeastern United States. Aaron is a resident of West Hartford, Conn., and for more of his opinions on all things sports, please visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com, or by e-mail at ATorres00@gmail.com.

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