College Basketball, Alpha to Omega By: Pat Eskew It's that time again, college basketball is back. By the time March comes around, you can forget about concentrating on your thermodynamics class. What's really important is filling out your tournament pool. What teams are hot, what players are clutch, what coach can lead his team to the promised land? The answers to these crucial questions could win you ten dollars in the pool. They could also win you bragging rights as the premier college basketball guru in your pathetic circle of friends. These answers, dear reader, lay ahead. The following is the way this season will unfold. Anyone who doesn't want to know the outcome should stop reading now. It begins with the Pre-Season NIT. Sixteen teams kick-start the college year with a bang which ends with a champion crowned in the Big Apple. This year's solid lineup of teams witnesses some intense match-ups. Reaching the semi-final round at Madison Square Garden are four of the nation's premier programs; Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Arkansas, and Michigan. Michigan advances over the tuned down Razorbacks while the Hoyas, led by sophomore sensation Allen Iverson, beat out the Yellow Jackets. In the championship final against John Thompson's tenacious crew, the Maize and Blue seem a bit tentative. On the offensive side of the court, turnovers abound; defensively no one can stop Iverson. Georgetown wins the title in an easy 87-73 romp. Immediately, Georgetown's stock rises in the national polls. The Hoyas reach as high as 3 in the AP poll released in early December. Nevertheless, no one can unseat the all-powerful Kentucky Wildcats from their spot at the top. Rick Pitino is sweating through a brand new set of designer shirts this year as he attempts to finally bring a national crown to Lexington. When he took the job, Pitino promised to stay until U K won it all. Now, seven years later, his kids are getting Southern accents and he's ready to hit the road again. This just might be his year. | |
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