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Originally Posted by Assembly Hall
LOL......Way down next year? I dont see it that way. There are several teams out there that didnt lose much if anything.
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If you don't have much to begin with, is it all that impressive to keep it?
IU's team is good, no doubt. In a normal year, it'd be top ten, IMO, not vying for the top pre-season spot in the land. Same for Louisville (who overachieved and benefitted from a weak bracket in getting to the Final Four last season).
Who's behind those two, though? Nobody in the SEC. Kentucky is a shell of last season's national champion. Missouri lost three top scorers. Florida lost Beal. Maybe Tennessee comes on. Maybe not.
The Big 10 lost a ton of good players. Perhaps only Michigan looks to have restocked rather than rebuilt. I'd count OSU here, but the losses of Buford and Sullinger with no replacements will hurt more than many Buckeye fans think, IMO.
In the Big 12, Kansas lost their two top players. Maybe Texas finds a way to win something, but do you really trust Rick Barnes to deliver anything beyond recruits?
Syracuse lost three starters in the Big East. Maybe Notre Dame has something cooking in South Bend, but whatever it is will be a step slow come tournament time. Only Louisville looks halfway decent at this point.
In the west, UCLA is young and talented. That hasn't worked for Ben Howland for a decade now. Arizona's inmates are running the asylum, and Gonzaga lost Sacre (who I really like as an NBA sleeper big).
In the ACC, UNC re-tooled three-quarters of its roster, and Duke's struggles recruiting are beginning to show on its roster. NC State might make some noise, but that's a Mark Gotfried-coached team-- he's done less with more his entire coaching career.
Expect to see a lot of "You can't count out a team coached by..." articles between now and December of next season. When sportswriters have absolutely no clue what can happen, that's the cliche that gets hammered.