UNC Ranked #1 in Preseason Coaches Poll

With just eight points separating the top three teams in the first coaches poll of the 2007-08 men's college basketball season, the North Carolina Tar Heels came in #1. UNC returns all of their young stars from last year with the exception of Brandon Wright. Junior center, Tyler Hansbrough, is among the top preseason candidates to take home the Neismith and Wooden Awards. Roy Williams has a heck of a roster again, and they will probably be my pick to win it all.

The UCLA Bruins came in #2 in the poll, and actually finished with more first place votes than the Heels. Darren Collison and company will try and win Los Angeles a National Championship after two disappointing losses to Florida the last two Final Fours. Of the big three teams, they suffered the biggest loss. Replacing a leader in Arron Afflalo will be very difficult to do. UNC's Wright was probably the best talent lost, but Afflalo led UCLA.

The Memphis Tigers finished #3, with eight first place votes. With the exception of Jeremy Hunt, the CUSA champions return their entire roster from last year. Unless you are Joe Lunardi, it is too early to predict what the NCAA Tournament will look like, but with a cake Conference USA schedule, Memphis is set up perfectly to be the #1 overall seed come March. All of their tough non-conference games are at home, so that helps too.

Kansas and Georgetown round out the top five, with some returning stars from their deep tournament runs from last year. My biggest surprises are #8 Michigan State and #9 Indiana. The Spartans do have a great recruiting class to go with senior star, Drew Neitzel. Having them at #8 means the coaches think they will be a #2 seed, which might be a bit high right now. Indiana also has a great recruiting class, and Kelvin Sampson is going to do great things with the Hoosiers over the years. However, being #9 (the top #3 seed) seems high to me as well. The team that I think will rise into the top 10 is the #18 USC Trojans. With O.J. Mayo aboard for the year they should make a run. They are a thin team though, having lost three of their top four scorers from last year's Sweet 16 team. In any event, its great to debate the rankings knowing they mean absolutely nothing. No BCS in this college sport!

Pat Morgan