Doyel: UConn's title caps memorable season
SAN ANTONIO -- Let someone else go with the sexy pick, like Gonzaga. Not me. Not next year.
You want the safe choice for next season's national champion? It's the same choice as it was this time last year. No one's going to be better in 2004-05 than Connecticut, and yes, that'll be the case even if Ben Gordon joins Emeka Okafor in the NBA.
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| Rashad Anderson and UConn will have a legitimate shot at a repeat.(AP) |
The Huskies will add 6-8, 250-pound Georgia Tech transfer Ed Nelson, the 2002 ACC rookie of the year. They'll get back redshirted Marcus White, another 6-8 animal on the boards. Add 6-10 Josh Boone and 6-11 Charlie Villanueva, and the Huskies will rebound better next season -- without Okafor.
And don't get me started on Villanueva. If he returns to school, and he said Monday night he has a decision to make, but he is "leaning toward coming back," Villanueva will be awesome.
Assuming he can break the starting lineup.
Connecticut will be that good.
In other news, the Big Ten and ACC will have three Top 10 teams apiece. And maybe, if they cobbled together an all-star team from among them, they could beat Connecticut.
Without a crystal ball, there's no telling which underclassmen will and won't go pro, but this Top 25 was crafted with the assumption(s) these guys are gone: Recruits Josh Smith (Indiana), Sebastian Telfair (Louisville) and Shaun Livingston (Duke), plus Arizona's Andre Iguodala, Stanford's Josh Childress, Nevada's Kirk Snyder, Providence's Ryan Gomes, Florida's Anthony Roberson and Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts.
One or more of these players will declare for the draft, but this Top 25 assumes they'll ultimately return to school: Wisconsin's Devin Harris, Syracuse's Warrick, Illinois' Deron Williams, Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack, N.C. State's Julius Hodge, Saint Joseph's Delonte West, Memphis' Sean Banks and Duke's Luol Deng.
With that done, SportsLine.com boldly goes into the future with our Offseason Top 25:
1. Connecticut: Point guards A.J. Price and Marcus Williams will be an upgrade over Taliek Brown.
2. Georgia Tech: Let's do this title-game thing again, shall we?
3. Wisconsin: Redshirt Brian Butch, injured Alando Tucker, Penn State transfer Sharif Chambliss join Harris and Co.
4. Duke: Even without Chris Duhon and heir Livingston, the Blue Devils are loaded.
5. Michigan State: Frosh PG Drew Neitzel is the missing piece for deep team that puts Izzo back at the top.
6. Wake Forest: Everyone is back, PG Chris Paul is a year older and PF Vytas Danelius ought to be healthy again.
7. Illinois: Bruce Weber will win big with Bill Self's studs, but he needs to get some of his own.
8. Texas: Another ridiculous recruiting class includes the point guard Texas needed in 2003-04, Daniel Gibson.
9. Michigan: Young NIT champs return everyone but Bernard Robinson.
10. Arizona: Huge Isaiah Fox returns from injury, and is joined by some awesome frosh.
11. Syracuse: With or without Billy Edelin, the Orangemen will be fine with recruit Josh Wright at the point.
12. Kansas: A great recruiting class, plus Simien, plus a senior point guard equals another big year.
13. Memphis: Darius Washington for Antonio Burks isn't such a bad trade -- and Burks was plenty good.
14. North Carolina: Impossible to say exactly who will be on team next year, but there is enough talent to go around.
15. Louisville: With Telfair, this would be our preseason No. 1. Without him, Cards are still good.
16. Notre Dame: Healed Torin Francis, Arizona transfer Dennis Latimore provide the frontcourt to match the guards.
17. Pittsburgh: Even without Jaron Brown and Julius Page, Pitt is not going anywhere.
18. Oklahoma State: Reclamation projects du jour are Juco G Jamaal Brown, partial-qualifier C Julius Lamptey.
19. Maryland: Gary Williams is great, John Gilchrist is back and freshmen become sophomores.
20. Mississippi State: A top-10 team with Roberts, but the return of injured wing Ontario Harper will help.
21. Alabama: You are not fooling anybody next year, Tide, especially with a great recruiting class en route.
22. North Carolina State: Ex-Hoya PG Tony Bethel and 6-9 super-frosh Cedric Simmons keep Wolfpack in business.
23. Kentucky: The stars are gone, but Tubby Smith, two frosh guards and two 7-footers go a long way.
24. UCLA: Ben Howland hasn't recruited like he left Pitt to settle for losing. Watch the Bruins rocket up Pac-10.
25. Charlotte: Iti, Withers and Juco transfer E.J. Drayton give Charlotte the best front-court in America.
Stock rising:: Oklahoma (if Kevin Bookout heals), Southern California (if Robert Swift reports), Indiana (if Bracey Wright returns).
Stock falling: Saint Joseph's, Stanford, Gonzaga, Nevada, Providence, Xavier.
