Number 28: Temple Owls

After a seven year absence from NCAA Tournament play Coach Fran Dunphy got the Temple Owls (21-13,11-5) back into March Madness a year ago. The only loss from that team is off-guard Mark Tyndale everybody else is back to continue what they have started. The go-to player will without a doubt be Dionte Christmas. Christmas a 6'5'' senior guard has all the tools to be an NBA lottery selection next season and Dunphy should be very thankful he decided to play his senior year. Christmas can shoot from anywhere, score on anybody, plays underated defense and may be the best rebounding guard in the country. Did I mention he can also distribute the ball as well as anyone? Dionte may be a legitimate sleeper pick for All-American status he certainly is a canidate and if he played in the ACC, Big Ten or SEC he would without a doubt be a first teamer. Alas, he will probably have to settle for being the best player in the Atlantic 10. But, he is not alone, in the backcourt with him will be 6'3'' junior Luis Guzman who has a decent outside jumper but lacks defensive prowess to make him a all A-10 perfomer and6'4'' junior Ryan Brooks who needs to find a consistent shot from outside especially with the 3 point line being moved back a foot this year.

Up front is what is going to keep Temple from heading deep into March they have stalwart Lavoy Allen returning and at 6'9'' he must develop a more rounded offensive repatoire and not have periods of "disappearing" during games to give Temple the ability to compete with opponents with more size. The Owls have 7'0'' center Sergio Olmos, who was led to Temple by former standout Pepe Sanchez , but is not a threat offensively and even in the rebounding area last year. If he can even increase his points and rebounds by 4 to 6 a game that would be a remarkable improvement. Coach Dunphy needs some size to have even a resemblence of a frontcourt but currently on their roster it is not there yet.

Temple should be a one and done in the NCAA dance in March because of lack of size and one bad shooting night by their perimeter driven offense will certainly result in a loss. With Christmas, Guzman, and Brooks those bad shooting nights will not be frequent. Temple should challenge for Atlantic 10 championship as long as Dionte Christmas continues to play like he did a year ago.

And on a side note does anyone miss McGonnigle Hall especially on tv games when you watch the crowd standing above the basket on the surrounding track? The Liacouras Center is just not as threatening to opponents as that old gym was.

Number 29: Syracuse Orange

The 'Cuse is on a come back! Syracuse (21-14, 9-9) last season failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament and made a run in the postseason NIT only to bail out in the quarterfinal round to UMass. The biggest issue for the Orange last year was depth at every position, well, this year it should not be a problem. Eric Devendorf a 6'4'' guard played in only the first 10 games last year averaging 17 pts a game before suffering a knee injury and missing the remainder of the season, is back and healthy and also returning from missing all of last season is 6'5'' guard Andy Rautins who had a solid soph season in 2006-07. With these two additions and also the debut of 6'6'' swingman Mookie Jones who helped lead Peekskill (NY) High School to 2 state Class A titles gives coach Jim Boeheim the added depth they desparately needed a year ago.

Jim Boeheim enters his 33rd year as head coach of Syracuse something very rare in division 1 college basketball. He probably won't win his 2nd national championship this year but the fact he has been on the sidelines of the Carrier Dome this long is a remarkable accomplishment and a down year at Syracuse is when you go to the postseason NIT quarterfinal round. This team will get back to the big dance this march but it won't be easy in probably the best conference this season in the Big East Conference. They could easily send 7, 8 or 9 teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.

This season victory total I believe will hinge on the continued developement of sophmore guard Johnny Flynn who was co-freshman of the year in the Big East a year ago. He is able to distribute the ball as well as put points on the board when called upon to do so. Leading the way down low will be Arinze Onuaku a 6'9'' junior who should really benefit with the 4 guards loosening things on the perimeter. Arinze did not get alot of shot attempts last year but when he did he made them count by converting 68% of his chances. If Scoop Jardine can find a consistent outside shot this could be one of the best perimeter shooting teams in the country and could get Coach Boeheim into a Sweet 16 berth but look for probably a one and done in NCAA's this season. The 'Cuse is on the way back but maybe one year away from something really special.

Number 30: Siena Saints

The Saints (23-11,13-5) coming off a MAAC Tournament Championship and a berth in the second round of last years NCAA Tournament will be on every opponents radar this season. They return all 5 starters for 2008-09 and are looking for at least a Sweet 16 this year. Siena is led by returning leading scorer Edwin Ubiles a 6'6'' junior swing player and a solid canidate for MAAC player of the year Kenny Hasbrouck a 6'3'' Senior guard. The achilles heel for the Saints maybe size down low, they do't have a player over 6'9'' on their roster but getting through the MAAC shouldn't be a problem.

Head Coach Fran McCaffery enters his 4th season leading the squad and has a 58-36 record since taking control of the Siena program. The key to surpassing last years effort may be 6'9'' JC transfer Wolfgang Gieler who holds an important role in size and minutes in the paint.

IF the newcomers gel with an already established starting 5 last years first round victory over 4th seeded Vanderbilt will be looked back upon a starting point to success this year. The top challengers in the MAAC for supremacy of the conference will bestow upon conference foes Iona, Loyola (MD) and Marist.

Look for the Saints to be a NCAA qualifier either on automatic bid or an at-large selection and probably being a possible entrant into the second round.

Welcome to the ONLY College Basketball Blog!

This blog will be about College Basketball from my perspective, not the perspective of so-called experts. There is only one "expert" for college basketball and that is Mr. Dick Vitale. Let me give all of you a little insight to my background. I have none except I have watched intelligently and attended college basketball games for 30+ years. I have an extensive library of televised college basketball games going back into the 1970's to the present. They are for my viewing pleasure only and I take alot of pleasure out of it!!! What I want to do is to give the point of view of someone who is not on the inside and just talk about what I actually see. With that in mind we will start this new blog that will go year round with a look at my pre-season Top 30 countdown each day breaking down a team from what I believe is pre-season number 30 to the number 1 team in the country going into yet another exciting season.......