In a spring during which the talk of college basketball was about who was leaving for the pros, the players who decided to stay have gone virtually unnoticed.

And now with the June 20 deadline having passed for players to return to college basketball after initially testing their NBA prospects, it's finally reasonable to scribble down 25 teams in order.

Call it the Summer Power Poll.

Certainly Duke and Kentucky received major boosts, with major stars opting to stay to help lead veteran ballclubs. The debate through the summer figures to be whether the Blue Devils or Wildcats should go off in 2001-02 as the favorite to snip down a couple of nets in Atlanta.

They are the two programs of the '90s (two titles each) that have matched up in some of the sport's greatest recent games. Duke will be gunning for title No. 4 for Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. In Lexington, the parade route for title No. 8 is already planned.

Duke?

The Blue Devils are the defending champs and return the preseason player of the year in point guard Jason Williams -- a player who could have been among the top handful of players selected by the NBA.

His return gives Duke the best starting five in college basketball, featuring Chris Duhon, Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer and Rutgers transfer Dahntay Jones, who tore it up in USA Basketball tryouts in early June.

The bench is solid, with much-improved Casey Sanders and the return of big man Nick Horvath adding interior depth, while freshman guard Dan Ewing provides another option in the backcourt.

Kentucky?

The Wildcats are even deeper than Duke, at least a 10-strong crew whose biggest question mark is a rare one in today's parity-driven game: Is there too much talent in Lexington?

The decisions by leading scorers Keith Bogans (17.0 ppg) and Tayshaun Prince (16.9) to pull their names out of the NBA Draft leaves coach Tubby Smith with a wealth of options. The 'Cats are so loaded that even without Bogans they were a top five team.

The frontcourt is the nation's deepest and most talented with SEC player of the year Prince, and Jason Parker, Marvin Stone, Marquis Estill and the return from suspension of athletic Jules Camara.

The only Wildcat who isn't back from last season is under-appreciated point Saul Smith, which means lead guard duties will fall to Gerald Fitch or Cliff Hawkins.

But they will have plenty of places to pass the ball -- especially with freshman Rashad Carruth, a pure shooter, and Chuck Hayes, a 6-6 wing, coming in.

So who do you like? Probably depends where you call home.

Other strong contenders

Duke and Kentucky aren't the only programs with their best players sticking around campus. Which means, while these are the top two, they aren't the only title contenders.

Maryland loses Terrence Morris and Danny Miller, but welcomes back the bulk of a Final Four club, including stars Juan Dixon and Lonnie Baxter.

UCLA coach Steve Lavin had a tranquil spring after All-American candidates Dan Gadzuric and Jason Kapono declared early that they'd be back in Westwood. If he can find a point guard out of a top five recruiting class (hello, Cedric Bozeman), the Bruins will be the best in the West.

Then there is Illinois, with Frank Williams and Brian Cook leading a deep group.

And don't forget Florida, which returns a great nucleus of Brett Nelson, Ted Dupay and Udonis Haslem bolstered by two McDonald's All-Americans in James "Flight" White and David Lee. In Gainesville they've (almost) forgotten about recruit-turned-NBA prospect Kwame Brown.

In the Big 12, someone is going to have to find a way to stop Drew Gooden (Kansas) and Kareem Rush (Missouri).

And, oh yeah, Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian, in what he says will be his final season, just happens to have his most talented team since his final days in Vegas with point Tito Maddox, wing Chris Jefferies and center Melvin Ely.

It's less than four months until Midnight Madness and six months until the Blue Devils and the Big Blue match up at the Jimmy V Classic in the Meadowlands.

That's when we'll find out whether Fitch can guard Williams, or whether Parker is better than Boozer, or whether Jones is ready for the big stage.

Regardless of the outcome, the debate will continue until these two heavyweights meet again. Which, we say, will be on the first Monday of April in Georgia.