10. MJ’s heir steps into the limelight
Walking on at Illinois, Jeffrey Jordan doesn’t have nearly the same expectations his father had, but everywhere he goes, fans will be curious to see how the young Jordan will fare.
Having a Jordan at your school will make games in Champaign a must-see for Illini fans all season. In high school, the point guard struggled with the limelight in high profile games, and will need to learn to handle what it’s like to be the star of a legend. The 6’1” guard from Loyola Academy is a three star guard that expects to see limited action behind three solid freshmen Bruce Weber has coming in. One guy that Jordan expects to resemble during his time in college is Patrick Ewing Jr. over at Georgetown who has seen his playing go up each year he’s been a Hoya.

9. The ACC’s fall from the top
North Carolina is loaded, and will compete for a national championship, but there is a significant drop off after that. N.C. State looks like it will compete for second place, along with Duke and Maryland, but none of these teams are juggernauts. Both the Terrapins and Blue Devils lost their top players from a season ago, and many questions surround those teams as they aim to compete for a conference title. Long considered the nation’s best conference, the ACC is in a state of transition, with the middle of the pack looking less and less imposing than in the past. Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Florida State all lost key players to the NBA, and will struggle to match the success of last year. The ACC has never lost to the Big Ten in their annual challenge, but this may be the year that their impressive dominance comes to a close.

8. O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love in Southern California
Two of the nation’s top recruits enter the hub of Hollywood. With Mayo joining the Trojans, and Love in Westwood, these two talented teams have become the class of the Pac-10. Mayo has created a circus-like atmosphere at USC, becoming a larger than life figure that coach Tim Floyd has no problem dealing. He comes to USC with one goal in mind: Making the USC basketball program as revered as football. Any publicity is good publicity, and the Trojans are happy to be a factor in basketball. UCLA, meanwhile, thinks they can finally get over the hump with Love playing center, and finally break through and get that elusive national championship that has escaped Ben Howland. Love is a towering presence that the Bruins have lacked in the post, and with one of the nation’s best backcourts, UCLA could be the most balanced team, both inside and outside, in America.

7. Are Duke’s days as a national powerhouse over?
Fans in Cameron had to deal with their program’s worst season in over a decade. However, after a trying year in 1997, the Blue Devils welcomed an unbelieveable recruiting class that included Elton Brand, Shane Battier, and Corey Maggete. Unfortunately, for Blue Devil fans, their recruiting class this year doesn’t stack up to that one. With all due respect to Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, don’t expect Duke University to be a Final Four contender like they were in 1998 after welcoming that storied class. The Blue Devils don’t have a presence in the middle with Josh McRoberts gone to the NBA, and with DeMarcus Nelson forced into playing the four position against bigger guys, this team will struggle. Struggling for this program is different than most, but this team will have a difficult sniffing its usual spot near the top 10 this season.

6. The Pac-10’s rise to prominence
The major conference out west is experiencing a renaissance, and nearly every team in this conference looks much-improved heading into 2007-08. As many as eight teams, a staggering 80% of the conference, looks talented enough to make a run at an NCAA bid this season, which makes this conference the nation’s best preseason. With UCLA, USC, and Washington State leading the way as Final Four hopefuls, this league is stacked across the board. Even Arizona State, an easy win for every team in the Pac-10 last year, looks better and will be competitive in most of the games it plays this year. Competitive games should be a recurring theme for the conference; with the teams beating up on each other night in and night out, the records may be misleading, but make no mistake about it, this conference is dripping with quality teams.

5. Billy Gillespie at Kentucky
After performing a remarkable turnaround at Texas A&M, Gillespie is now at the helm of one of college basketball’s most recognizable programs. The Wildcats have struggled in recent years, and former coach Tubby Smith was done in by his great success early in his career. The SEC East has lost much of its power, with the exception of Tennessee, and will probably be second fiddle to the West division for the first time in awhile. Gillespie steps in without the unrealistic expectations that Smith had, which will serve him well. However, fans in Lexington expect to see their team at the top of the college basketball world each and every year, and the new coach will have to adjust to a program that expects lots of wins, contrary to what he experienced in College Station. With the Gators in the process of rebuilding, the division is Kentucky’s for the taking; no first year coach will be as scrutinized as Gillespie, and it should be great to see how he responds.

4. The end of the easy 3-pointer
After this season, the trifecta will no longer be simply an easy jump shot, as the NCAA finally decided to move the line back next year. Players like J.J. Redick, Chris Lofton, and Lee Humphrey have made a mockery of the The move should have a significant impact on the game in the future, but this season, teams will take advantage of the gift of “3” as much as they possibly can. The new line will be moved a full foot back then where it stands now to 20’9”, longer than even the international line. The move should open up the intermediate game in a way that hasn’t been seen since before the three-point shot was implemented in the mid-80’s. For now, though, we get to watch one last time as players take advantage of the short three point line.

3. Which mid-major do we need to watch out for?
The term mid-major doesn’t mean what it used to; these guys can play with anyone, and a stunning upset isn’t surprising anymore, it’s starting to become expected. Last year, it was Winthrop that everyone had their eye on, and they didn’t disappoint, upsetting a solid Notre Dame team to win their first NCAA Tournament game ever. As usual, Southern Illinois and the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference will be strong, but the mid-major to watch this year is Davidson. The Wildcats were a stacked group last season, winning 29 games and giving Maryland all they could handle in the Tournament. Sitting in the hub of college basketball, 19 miles north of Charlotte, these guys are good enough to play with the likes of Wake Forest, Duke, or maybe even North Carolina if everything goes right.

2. Florida’s Rebuilding Process
Billy Donovan wrestled with the idea of going to the NBA, and even signed a deal with the Magic, but you had to believe there is a reason he decided to come back. Even though every recognizable player from the back-to-back run is gone, Donovan has brought in a great recruiting class that will have the Gators contending for the NCAAs once again. Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas are highly regarded freshman that will be tremendous for UF in the backcourt. Forward Chandler Parsons is a solid man down low, who comes to the Gators as Calathes’s teammate from high school. He has the most potential of any incoming player. Sophomore Center Marreese Speights looks ready to break out and be a stud in the middle for the University of Florida. Walter Hodges received some tremendous experience as Taurean Green’s backup, and should be great at driving to the basket and setting up Speights down low. Every national powerhouse has to rebuild at some point, but Donovan has enough talent here to get this team back to the NCAAs, and back into the national scene very soon.

1. The wide-open race for San Antonio
Many list UCLA, Memphis, and North Carolina as early favorites to win the 2008 title, but there are quite a few teams below them that can get there as well. With star-studded freshman joining the fray at Indiana, Kansas State, and USC those teams are suddenly feeling Alamo Fever. Joining those teams are Georgetown, strengthened by Roy Hibbert’s return, Kansas, bolstered by Brandon Rush deciding to stay in school, and Tennessee, with Chris Lofton. Oh ya, Louisville is loaded with experience and talent and with Rick Pitino leading them, the Cardinals have as good a chance as anyone at crashing the party. It’s likely that one of these teams will fail miserably, ala LSU last year, and that another, maybe N.C. State, Gonzaga, or maybe even Pittsburgh, can crash the party from off the radar like Georgetown did a year ago.

10 Must See Games:

Arizona @ Kansas, November 25

N.C. State @ Michigan State, November 28

Duke @ Davidson, December 1

Indiana @ Southern Illinois, December 1

Georgetown @ Memphis, December 22

Georgetown @ Louisville, February 9

Michigan State @ Indiana, February 16

UCLA @ USC, February 16

Tennessee @ Memphis, February 23

Kentucky @ Tennessee, March 2