Thursday, November 18, 2010

The College Basketball Blog: 2010-2011 Predictions

This year I’m getting my college basketball predictions out early. Well, I guess it’s not early, as the season is about a week or so old, but I’m getting my predictions out earlier than usual for this sport. Strangely, I must say that doing my predictions this year was a much more difficult task than it has been in the past. This was partly due to a lack of truly great returning players, and also due to a lack of obviously great newcomers. In addition there seemed to be an unusually high number of eligibility questions this year. Unfortunately, I think we’d all better get used to that stuff.

The format of these predictions is a little bit different this season. As always, I predicted the 31 conference champions, but this year I predicted the standings for all of the conferences (I always predict win-loss records for the SEC teams only). I predicted all of the at-large bids as usual, but this year the number of at-large bids available was 37, as there will be 4 play-in games this season. One thing to remember is that I always that the regular season conference champions will win their conference tournaments and receive the automatic bids. Obviously this is unlikely to happen, as there is almost always at least 1 team that steals a bid with a surprise conference tournament run, but it’s just easier this way. As usual I predicted the #1 seeds, the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, the Final Four, the National Final, and the National Champion. My award predictions are a little different this season. Once again I predicted the player of the year awards for all conferences, as well as the major national awards and the All-American teams. Last year I also predicted the defensive player of the year, coach of the year, and freshman of the year awards for all the major conferences, but I decided not to do it this year.

2010-2011 College Basketball Predictions

• Conference champions in bold italics.
• At-large bid teams in bold.

High Majors

Atlantic Coast

1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Virginia Tech
4. Florida State
5. NC State
6. Maryland
7. Clemson
8. Miami
9. Boston College
10. Georgia Tech
11. Virginia
12. Wake Forest

Atlantic Ten

1. Temple
2. Xavier
3. Richmond
4. Saint Louis
5. Dayton
6. Charlotte
7. Rhode Island
8. Duquesne
9. George Washington
10. La Salle
11. Saint Joseph’s
12. Massachusetts
13. Saint Bonaventure
14. Fordham

Big East

1. Pittsburgh
2. Villanova
3. Syracuse
4. Georgetown
5. West Virginia
6. Marquette
7. Connecticut
8. Notre Dame
9. Louisville
10. St. John’s
11. Seaton Hall
12. Cincinnati
13. South Florida
14. Rutgers
15. Providence
16. DePaul

Big XII

1. Kansas State
2. Kansas
3. Baylor
4. Missouri
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma State
7. Texas A&M
8. Colorado
9. Texas Tech
10. Nebraska
11. Oklahoma
12. Iowa State

Big Ten

1. Michigan State
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State
4. Illinois
5. Wisconsin
6. Minnesota
7. Northwestern
8. Penn State
9. Michigan
10. Indiana
11. Iowa

Conference USA

1. Memphis
2. Southern Miss
3. UTEP
4. UAB
5. Central Florida
6. Tulsa
7. Marshall
8. Houston
9. East Carolina
10. SMU
11. Tulane
12. Rice

Mid-American

East
1. Kent State
2. Ohio
3. Akron
4. Miami (Ohio)
5. Bowling Green
6. Buffalo

West
1. Ball State
2. Central Michigan
3. Eastern Michigan
4. Western Michigan
5. Northern Illinois
6. Toledo

Missouri Valley

1. Wichita State
2. Missouri State
3. Bradley
4. Northern Iowa
5. Creighton
6. Illinois State
7. Indiana State
8. Drake
9. Southern Illinois
10. Evansville

Mountain West

1. San Diego State
2. BYU
3. New Mexico
4. UNLV
5. Colorado State
6. Utah
7. Wyoming
8. TCU
9. Air Force

Pac-10

1. Washington
2. Arizona
3. UCLA
4. Washington State
5. Arizona State
6. USC
7. Oregon State
8. Stanford
9. California
10. Oregon

Southeastern

East
1. Kentucky (13-3)
T2. Florida (11-5)
T2. Tennessee (11-5)
T2. Georgia (11-5)
5. Vanderbilt (11-5)
6. South Carolina (3-13)

West
1. Mississippi State (9-7)
2. LSU (8-8)
T3. Alabama (7-9)
T3. Mississippi (7-9)
T5. Auburn (3-13)
T5. Arkansas (3-13)

Sun Belt

East
1. Western Kentucky
2. Florida Atlantic
3. South Alabama
4. Florida International
5. Middle Tennessee State
6. Troy

West
1. North Texas
2. Arkansas State
3. Denver
4. Louisiana-Monroe
5. Arkansas-Little Rock
6. Louisiana-Lafayette

Western Athletic

1. Utah State
2. New Mexico State
3. Nevada
4. San Jose State
5. Fresno State
6. Hawaii
7. Boise State
8. Louisiana Tech
9. Idaho

Mid-Majors

Big West

1. UC Santa Barbara
2. Long Beach State
3. Pacific
4. UC Davis
5. Cal Poly
6. UC Irvine
7. Cal State Fullerton
8. Cal State Northridge
9. UC Riverside

Colonial Athletic

1. Virginia Commonwealth
2. Old Dominion
3. George Mason
4. Drexel
5. James Madison
6. Hofstra
7. Delaware
8. William and Mary
9. Northeastern
10. Towson
11. UNC Wilmington
12. Georgia State

Horizon League

1. Butler
2. Cleveland State
3. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
4. Valparaiso
5. Detroit
6. Wright State
7. Loyola (Illinois)
8. Wisconsin-Green Bay
9. Illinois-Chicago
10. Youngstown State

Southern

North
1. Appalachian State
2. Chattanooga
3. Western Carolina
4. UNC Greensboro
5. Samford
6. Elon

South
1. Wofford
2. Furman
3. College of Charleston
4. Davidson
5. The Citadel
6. Georgia Southern

West Coast

1. Gonzaga
2. Saint Mary’s
3. Loyola Marymount
4. Santa Clara
5. San Francisco
6. Pepperdine
7. Portland
8. San Diego

Low Majors

America East

1. Stony Brook
2. Maine
3. Boston University
4. New Hampshire
5. Vermont
6. Hartford
7. Binghamton
8. Albany
9. UMBC

Atlantic Sun

1. East Tennessee State
2. Lipscomb
3. Belmont
4. Jacksonville
5. Campbell
6. Kennesaw State
7. Mercer
8. North Florida
9. Florida Gulf Coast
10. Stetson
11. USC Upstate

Big Sky

1. Weber State
2. Northern Arizona
3. Northern Colorado
4. Montana
5. Montana State
6. Eastern Washington
7. Portland State
8. Idaho State
9. Sacramento State

Big South

1. UNC Ashville
2. Coastal Carolina
3. High Point
4. Charleston Southern
5. Winthrop
6. Liberty
7. VMI
8. Presbyterian
9. Radford
10. Gardner-Webb

Ivy League

1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Cornell
4. Pennsylvania
5. Brown
6. Yale
7. Columbia
8. Dartmouth

Metro Atlantic

1. Fairfield
2. Saint Peter’s
3. Sienna
4. Iona
5. Rider
6. Niagara
7. Canisius
8. Loyola (Maryland)
9. Manhattan
10. Marist

Mid Eastern

1. Morgan State
2. Norfolk State
3. South Carolina State
4. Bethune-Cookman
5. Howard
6. Maryland-Eastern Shore
7. Hampton
8. Delaware State
9. Coppin State
10. Florida A&M
11. North Carolina A&T

Northeast

1. Quinnipiac
2. Long Island
3. Central Connecticut State
4. Robert Morris
5. Mount Saint Mary’s
6. Saint Francis (Pennsylvania)
7. Saint Francis (New York)
8. Fairleigh Dickinson
9. Wagner
10. Monmouth
11. Sacred Heart
12. Bryant

Ohio Valley

1. Murray State
2. Morehead State
3. Austin Peay
4. Eastern Kentucky
5. Eastern Illinois
6. Jacksonville State
7. Tennessee Tech
8. Tennessee State
9. Southeast Missouri State
10. Tennessee-Martin

Patriot League

1. American
2. Bucknell
3. Lafayette
4. Lehigh
5. Holy Cross
6. Navy
7. Colgate
8. Army

Southland

East
1. Nicholls State
2. Southeastern Louisiana
3. McNeese State
4. Northwestern State
5. Lamar
6. Central Arkansas

West
1. Stephen F. Austin
2. Texas State
3. Texas-Corpus Christi
4. Sam Houston State
5. Texas-San Antonio
6. Texas-Arlington

Southwestern Athletic

1. Jackson State
2. Texas Southern
3. Mississippi Valley State
4. Alabama A&M
5. Alabama State
6. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
7. Prairie View A&M
8. Grambling State
9. Alcorn State
10. Southern

Summit League

1. Oakland
2. Oral Roberts
3. IUPUI
4. North Dakota State
5. IPFW
6. Western Illinois
7. South Dakota State
8. Southern Utah
9. UMKC
10. Centenary

Non-Automatic Qualifiers

Great West

1. South Dakota
2. Houston Baptist
3. New Jersey Tech
4. Chicago State
5. Utah Valley
6. Texas-Pan American
7. North Dakota

Independents

1. Seattle
2. Longwood
3. Cal State Bakersfield
4. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
5. North Carolina Central
6. New Orleans
7. Savannah State

Conference Champions

ACC: Duke
America East: Stony Brook
Atlantic 10: Temple
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State
Big Ten: Michigan State
Big XII: Kansas State
Big East: Pittsburgh
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: UNC Ashville
Big West: UC Santa Barbara
Colonial: Virginia Commonwealth
Conference USA: Memphis
Great West: South Dakota (non-AQ)
Horizon: Butler
Independents: Seattle (non-AQ)
Ivy: Princeton
Metro Atlantic: Fairfield
MAC: Kent State
MEAC: Morgan State
MVC: Wichita State
MWC: San Diego State
Northeast: Quinnipiac
OVC: Murray State
Pac-10: Washington
Patriot: American
SEC: Kentucky
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Stephen F. Austin
Summit: Oakland
SBC: Western Kentucky
SWAC: Jackson State
WAC: Utah State
WCC: Gonzaga

At-Large Tournament Teams

North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Florida State
NC State
Maryland
Xavier
Richmond
Saint Louis
Villanova
Syracuse
Georgetown
West Virginia
Marquette
Connecticut
Kansas
Baylor
Missouri
Texas
Oklahoma State
Purdue
Ohio State
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Missouri State
BYU
New Mexico
UNLV
Arizona
UCLA
Florida
Tennessee
Georgia
Vanderbilt
Mississippi State
New Mexico State
Old Dominion

#1 Seeds

Duke
Michigan State
Pittsburgh
Kansas State

Sweet Sixteen

Duke
Temple
Pittsburgh
Kansas State
Baylor
Kansas
Michigan State
Purdue
Ohio State
Illinois
Memphis
Wichita State
San Diego State
Kentucky
Florida
Butler

Elite Eight

Duke
Pittsburgh
Kansas State
Michigan State
Baylor
Purdue
Florida
Ohio State

Final Four

Duke
Michigan State
Pittsburgh
Ohio State

National Finals

Duke
Michigan State

National Champion

Michigan State

Conference Player of the Year Awards

ACC: Kyle Singler-Duke
America East: John Holland-Boston University
Atlantic 10: Lavoy Allen-Temple
Atlantic Sun: Adnan Hodzic-Lipscomb
Big Ten: JaJuan Johnson-Purdue
Big XII: Jacob Pullen-Kansas State
Big East: Kemba Walker-Connecticut
Big Sky: Damian Lillard-Weber State
Big South: Nick Barbour-High Point
Big West: Orlando Johnson-UC Santa Barbara
Colonial: Charles Jenkins-Hofstra
Conference USA: Randy Culpepper-UTEP
Great West: Andrew Gonzalez-Houston Baptist
Horizon: Shelvin Mack-Butler
Independents: Antwan Carter-Longwood
Ivy: Zack Rosen-Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic: Derek Needham-Fairfield
MAC: Brandon Bowdry-Eastern Michigan
MEAC: Kevin Thompson-Morgan State
MVC: Toure Murry-Wichita State
MWC: Jimmer Fredette-BYU
Northeast: Justin Rutty-Quinnipiac
OVC: Kenneth Faried-Morehead State
Pac-10: Derrick Williams-Arizona
Patriot: CJ McCollum-Lehigh
SEC: Trey Thompkins-Georgia
Southern: Noah Dahlman-Wofford
Southland: Anatoly Bose-Nicholls State
Summit: Keith Benson-Oakland
SBC: Steffphon Pettigrew-Western Kentucky
SWAC: Shannon Behling-Mississippi Valley State
WAC: Tai Wesley-Utah State
WCC: Elias Harris-Gonzaga

National Awards

Player of the Year: Kyle Singler-Duke
Defensive Player of the Year: JaJuan Johnson-Purdue
Freshman Player of the Year: Harrison Barnes-North Carolina
Coach of the Year: Thad Matta-Ohio State

1st Team All-American

Guard: Jacob Pullen-Kansas State
Guard: LaceDarius Dunn-Baylor
Forward: Kyle Singler-Duke
Forward: JaJuan Johnson-Purdue
Forward: Harrison Barnes-North Carolina

2nd Team All-American

Guard: Jimmer Fredette-BYU
Guard: Shelvin Mack-Butler
Guard: Nolan Smith-Duke
Forward: Trey Thompkins-Georgia
Forward: Jared Sullinger-Ohio State

3rd Team All-American

Guard: Kemba Walker-Connecticut
Guard: Malcolm Delaney-Virginia Tech
Guard: E’Twaun Moore-Purdue
Forward: Austin Freeman-Georgetown
Forward: Marcus Morris-Kansas





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