Check out the Honorable Mentions

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2825071&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

4/5/2007 12:29:58 PM

some other preseason pick had us at #25

4/5/2007 12:32:13 PM

WOW THIS MEANS A LOT

4/5/2007 12:37:02 PM

I know it doesn't mean crap but it's nice to see State getting a little bit of recognition

4/5/2007 12:38:36 PM

Not really a good thing. This just means stupid idiot delusional fans will actually believe it and think we've underacheived when we don't meet that expectation.

You have to be high as a kite to think we'll be top 25, IMO.

Our goal is to finish in the middle/upper half of the ACC and possibly earn an NCAA bid. I think top 25 is pushing it

4/5/2007 12:42:28 PM

i believed it until larry harris got arrested.

4/5/2007 1:09:24 PM

news about Larry sucks, but hopefully when he goes to court it will be solved.

GO PACK for making the preseason top 25 after being preseason last in the ACC

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 1:17 PM. Reason : GO PACK]

4/5/2007 1:16:45 PM

^^^you are out of your mind.

with the talent on this team anything less than top 25 would be a major disapointment.

4/5/2007 1:18:01 PM

WE ARE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE NATION!!

4/5/2007 1:19:21 PM

Quote :

"with the talent on this team anything less than top 25 would be a major disapointment."

Until somebody steps up and shows that they can run the 1 spot, we don't have a point guard. Teams without point guards don't end up in the top 25.

4/5/2007 1:23:19 PM

Assuming JJ Hickson is at least costner quality

how many teams in the country have 2 AA like that and dont hit top 25?

4/5/2007 1:30:27 PM

anything below making ncaas will be a reasonable disappointment for anyone.

anything below making the top 25 at some point throughout the year will be a disappointment for me. but i accept that my expectations are a bit higher than reasonable.

4/5/2007 1:44:35 PM

I think its a reasonable thought to think we'll be top 25 next season.

4/5/2007 1:45:45 PM

Katz always shows us love

glad he is on our side.

4/5/2007 1:48:32 PM

Quote :

" Teams we'll regret not having, but reserve the right to toss in here after we know all the early-entry fallout: Davidson, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Washington, NC State, Miami, Providence, Virginia, Maryland, VCU, Alabama, Butler, BYU, Southern Illinois, Vanderbilt, Connecticut, Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn and LSU."

I'm sorry but that list sucks.

Davidson (may be a top 25 team a little later in the year if they beat two quality opponents from the big conferences, and continue to run train in the Southern Conference)

Oklahoma State (they lose their best player in senior Mario Boggans, and couldn't win a road game in the Big XII if their life depended on it. what in the world is going to make them better this year?)

Oklahoma (no offense to Jeff Capel, but he may be in a little over his head. he's a good coach, but i don't know if he was truly ready to take over a major program. it doesn't matter how good of a coach you are if you don't have decent talent then you probably won't beat the top 25 teams in overall record.)

Washington (my how they've fallen. decent talent is still there and Lorenzo Romar is a good coach, but I still see them outside of the top 25. they should improve themselves in Pac 10 play though. now that Tony Bennett has shown himself to be a good coach, they'll have even more competition in getting the top players from the region.)

Miami (while their win over Maryland in the ACCT was no fluke, the Terps proved to be a shell (pun intended) of their late regular season selves with how they played in the NCAAT. Miami may not finish last next season, but they won't be a top 25 team.)

Providence (they'll get eaten up in the Big East. there are way too many talented teams in that conference to allow them to put up the record worthy of top 25.)

Virginia (this all depends on Singletary and if he stays or goes. he'll likely stay, but what talent does he have around him that will fill in for the offense of Reynolds and the gritty rebounding of Cain and Cain's pornstache for that matter?)

Maryland (they won't be a pushover, but they are losing way too many guys to be a top 25 team next year. even with all the guys that they are losing they only snuck into the top 25 every now and then this past year.)

VCU (like Davidson they will need a couple quality wins over some big OOC opponents and take care of business in the CAA to crack the top 25.)

Alabama (if Steele gets healthy i could see them working their way in the top 25 and should definitely make the NCAAT.)

Butler (who knows on these cats (or should i say dogs). this team is decent but tended to wither away a little late last year. i forgot who they're losing and who's coming back. to be taken seriously they'll have to repeat what they did last year by winning against some quality OOC opponents early on and be in the top 2 of their conference.)

BYU (Katz are you high?)

Southern Illinois (they lose two of their top players off of what was probably their best team in history. they'll probably be top 35, but i don't know if they'll have what it takes to get into the top 25. they do have a good coach though, with capable players, so who knows.)

Vanderbilt (no problems mentioning them. they could easily get into the top 25 if they play like they are capable of.)

Connecticut (too much talent and too good of a coach to not get back in the top 25 next year.)

Georgia (Katz did you snort some coke before putting them down?)

Arkansas (Katz you really were high when you came up with this.)

Auburn (Katz put the needle down, you're scaring me.)

LSU (Katz you just may be coming down, but Big Baby Glen Davis is leaving so I doubt they'll find someone to replace his presence (when healthy) down low.)


As for mentioning NC State we could crack the top 25 if we find some good guard play. That's the only thing that looks to really hold us back from being Top 4 of the ACC good next year.

4/5/2007 1:54:48 PM

Quote :

"^^^you are out of your mind. with the talent on this team anything less than top 25 would be a major disapointment."

We nearly finished last in the ACC.

Unless this class is the Fab 5, we're gonna struggle. Do you remember how we looked without Atsur? Well...Atsur ain't coming back

FWIW, I expect us to be more improved and challenge for top half of the ACC...but you don't go from near-last to top 3 in one offseason...especially banking your success on a freakin recruiting class.

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 5:34 PM. Reason : ]

4/5/2007 5:33:41 PM

wow, Tennessee #10, never thought I would see that... wonder if them and Florida will be the only two preseason #10 in both football and bball (Florida will obviously, Ohio State maybe, anyone I am forgetting?)

4/5/2007 5:40:31 PM

Depends on Kevin Durant

4/5/2007 5:43:45 PM

USC will be top-10 in both football and basketball.

4/5/2007 5:43:53 PM

^^ might be a reach in bball... but then again, I wouldnt have considered Tenn top 10 either... USC could do it too

4/5/2007 5:45:08 PM

rivals had us #19 FWIW

4/5/2007 5:46:38 PM

And I think basically everyone on Florida will be gone, so I don't see them preseason top 10.

4/5/2007 5:46:48 PM

not really sure where to put this, didn't figure it deserved it's own thread. might as well put it w/ stuff concerning next year.

Quote :

"Pack, Gamecocks in Orlando basketball event KEN TYSIAC ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com N.C. State and South Carolina will spend Thanksgiving weekend in Orlando, Fla., where each will play three games in the Old Spice Classic, ESPN Regional Television announced Monday. The eight-team men's basketball tournament field also will include Villanova, Kansas State, Penn State, George Mason, Rider and Central Florida. Games will be held Nov. 22, Nov. 23 and Nov. 25 at the Milk House at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. ESPN2 and ESPNU will televise the games"

http://www.charlotte.com/302/story/79358.html

4/9/2007 1:53:32 PM

^ nice, decent field

4/9/2007 1:57:23 PM

^ i was waiting to see what others thought on the competition, personally i thought it was somewhat weak except for 'nova and k-state (who probably still had huggins at the helm when they signed on). does anybody know anything about the other teams for next year? are any of them expected to be ranked in the top 25 at any point next year?

4/9/2007 2:04:02 PM

it's definitely a step forward compared to any other kind of preseason "tournament" we've been involved with lately.

4/9/2007 2:20:45 PM

Hmmm. Well considering we never make the V classic or the preseason NIT, this should be fun.

Yeah most of those teams we should be able to beat, but then again who knows what we will look like next year with DeGand running the point? Maybe much better... maybe not....

[Edited on April 9, 2007 at 2:25 PM. Reason : /i]

4/9/2007 2:25:18 PM

^It is still hard for me to understand why we have been in the Jimmy V classic only once. It would have been logical to be in the first one whenever they started it. But that is just my opinion.

[Edited on April 9, 2007 at 2:38 PM. Reason : .]

4/9/2007 2:38:05 PM

thats a great field considering what we've been scheduling early in the season.


I also think that they key to us making the tournament and possibly finishing in the top 25 is guard play. At least we have some options there next year...basically 2 true points and a combo guard...one of them has to be good enough.

[Edited on April 9, 2007 at 2:43 PM. Reason : ]

4/9/2007 2:42:13 PM

Quote :

"ESPN2 and ESPNU will televise the games"

Dear TWC, you better have ESPNU by November.

Thanks.


(They claim it will be in before the ende of the year, so hopefully)

4/9/2007 2:44:09 PM

^ they claim alot. and then they continue to suck @$$

4/9/2007 2:51:54 PM

Quote :

"^It is still hard for me to understand why we have been in the Jimmy V classic only once."

Because we(as a school) did not have a good parting of ways with Jimmy V in the eyes of many(many of who put on this tourney).

4/9/2007 3:01:35 PM

Another writer for ESPN just put out a bracket looking ahead to next year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology?lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos2

4/9/2007 5:39:31 PM

2-seed?

Niiiiiiice

4/9/2007 5:43:08 PM

solid love for the ACC all around

4/9/2007 5:48:56 PM

State and GT as 2-seeds? OSU as a 4? I must be missing something here

[Edited on April 9, 2007 at 5:59 PM. Reason : whoops]

4/9/2007 5:57:36 PM

it is WAY to early for this shit.

4/9/2007 6:04:12 PM

the day we make #2 seed is the day i shit my pants

4/9/2007 6:11:38 PM

^ guaranteed?

4/9/2007 6:19:07 PM

we were a 3 seed in 2004.

4/9/2007 7:15:12 PM

I hope out guys prepare to win that old spice shit. Would be a great series of statement games to say "we're not fucking around, this year"



Our guys should get Amato-style slogan undershirts that say "we're not fucking around"

[Edited on April 9, 2007 at 7:54 PM. Reason : sdf]

4/9/2007 7:53:52 PM

holy SHIT a #2 seed!

4/10/2007 9:59:27 AM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/ncaa_tourney/2007/2007/04/goodbye-to-gators-and-top-10-for-2007.html

On the Fringe...

4/10/2007 10:16:55 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2836005&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2

Welcome in...

4/13/2007 5:40:54 PM

I love the publicity, but I hope Degand doesn't get hurt during the off-season or early in the season or our season might go to the shitter. We have enough talent everywhere else to put up a lot of points. If our PG depth became thin though, we certainly would not be able to weather the storm. I, like many others, am very excited for the next two years of Pack basketball. We will have a ton of depth, talent, and experience.


2007/2008 Season

PG - Degand, Gonzalez
SG - Fells, Johnson, Ferguson
SF - Grant, Horner, Thomas
PF - Costner, Smith
C - McCauley, Hickson, Lewandowski

That's a good bunch that will be very experienced, and talented. But then you look at the 2008/2009 season, and we are loaded.


2008/2009 Season

PG - Degand, Gonzalez, Mays
SG - Fells, Johnson, Ferguson
SF - Horner, Thomas, Williams
PF - Cosnter, Smith
C - McCauley, Hickson, Lewandowski


Gonzalez - Florida 6A Player of the Year
Mays - A frontrunner for Mr. Basketball for Indiana
Johnson - A national Top 100 player
Ferguson - Florida High School Writers Association Class A First Team All-State
Fells - No. 30 nationally by Scout.com and Gatorade Player of the Year in Mississippi
Horner - No. 19 small forward nationally by Scout.com with a great shot and tremendous up-side
Thomas - One of the best players in the state
Williams - 4* player according to Scout.com and could be the top player in the state, definitely top 5
Costner - McD's AA
Hickson - McD's AA
Smith - 4* #13 ranked PF according to Scout.com
McCauley - A national Top 100 player, Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Player of the Year, once scored 49 points in a game when he was a junior


We'll have a lot of talent, and even our less heralded players should be fairly well developed in 2 years.

4/14/2007 12:33:08 AM

Quote :

"and we are loaded."

Man, I hope everyone stays 4 year, but probably won't happen.

4/14/2007 1:55:24 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2853904

revised again, but nothing really changed much......NC State at #24, 1 ahead of Davidson

6/17/2007 9:15:07 PM

Quote :

"Our guys should get Amato-style slogan undershirts that say "we're not fucking around" "

lol

6/17/2007 9:39:46 PM