NCAA Basketball Preview - Final Four Prediction

NCAAB: North Carolina Looks to Stay on Top but Kansas and Michigan State Might Have Something to Say about That

Tyler Hansbrough no longer plays for the North Carolina Tar Heels. It feels like Hansbrough had been in college for 10 years. I mean, every time I looked up and stared at my television, I saw Hansbrough staring back at me.

It’s going to be odd not to see Hansbrough’s mug on the screen, but that doesn’t mean that the North Carolina Tar Heels are in any danger of not excelling again in the 2009-2010 NCAA Basketball Season. No Hansbrough, no Ty Lawson, no Danny Green, no problem! The Tar Heels figure to be a tough team to beat in the ACC this year and nobody can coach a team into a Final Four better than Roy Williams.

But the Heels won’t be alone, that’s for sure. It’s the Final Four, not the Final One which is why four teams, the Heels included, figure to make a big run to the NCAAB Championship in the 2009-2010 College Basketball Season. Let’s take a look at those four teams right now.

2009-2010 College Basketball Season Early Final Four

1. Kansas Jayhawks +450 - - Kansas is the favorite in the NCAAB sportsbook and they probably should be. The Jawyhawks made it all the way to the Sweet 16 in the 2008-2009 College Basketball Season without stars. Well, this year, their stars are back which means they should run roughshod over a Blake Griffin less Oklahoma Sooners and a Texas Longhorns squad that, although talented, just won’t be able to stick with Kansas’s firepower.
   
   Guard Sherron Collins averaged 18 points a game and 5 assists last season. He also averaged a steal per game. That cannot be overlooked. As Collins’s ability to take away the ball could lead to a number of fastbreak opportunities for the Jayhawks because 6’ 10” center Cole Aldrich has the wheels get it done from the center position. Aldrich averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds per game last season. He can get up and down the court too which means that the Jayhawks can do whatever they want, fast-paced, slow-paced, pick and roll, whatever they want on offense. On defense, Coach Bill Self is a master at getting his fellas to play that pressure zone that leads to blow-outs. These guys might be worth the bet at +450.

2. Michigan State Spartans +1400 - - The Spartans return one of the best point guards in college basketball in Kalin Lucas. Lucas averaged 15 points and 5 assists last year when running Coach Tom Izzo’s offense. The college basketball odds on Michigan State are much higher than they should be as the Spartans won’t face a lot of competition in the Big Ten and Izzo, as every NCAA basketball betting fan should know, knows how to get his teams to peak right before March Madness.
   
   When he gets it going, forward Raymar Morgan can be one of the better players in the Big Ten at his position. He averaged over 10 points per game last season. If Izzo can get more out of forward Delvon Roe, who averaged a paltry 5 points per game in the 2008-2009 season, then the Spartans figure to challenge for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. No matter what, the hoops odds on the Spartans should make some gamblers salivate.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels +700 - - Forget the talk about Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson leaving. If you want to get on the Heels’ case for not having talent, then talk about Danny Green and Wayne Ellington leaving as well. Then, take a look at their roster and marvel at Ed Davis, Deon Thompson and Tyler Zeller. Expect Ed Davis’s numbers to skyrocket in his sophomore season the. The 6’ 10” 215 lbs forward put up roughly 7 points and 7 rebounds in the 2008-2009 season, but he was a freshman back then and he backed up Hansbrough.
   
   How good could this guy be? Expect him to be a lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft. Deon Thompson averaged close to 11 points a game last year coming off the bench and the 7 foot Zeller should average close to a double-double each game. Then, there’s Marcus Ginyard who’s a senior guard that can also play forward and used to be one of the top players at NC until Lawson, Green and Wellington showed up. Something drastic for the basketball version of Pete Carrol’s USC football team to not win the ACC Conference.

4. Villanova +3000 - - Texas would have been a better choice for some basketball gambling fans, but I prefer ‘Nova to round out my Pre-Season Final Four. Coach Jay Wright turned down the job at Arizona, although some will say he wasn’t even offered it, because he liked what was returning for the Wildcats this season. Yes, Dante Cunningham is gone, but Scottie Reynolds is a super stud.
   
   Arguably the top guard in the Big East, Reynolds went for 15 points and 4 assists per game last season. His numbers will increase this season and Corey Fisher hanging out with him in the backcourt makes for a terrific guard centric team. That’s the way Wright likes it. The Wildcats won’t be as good as they were last season, but neither will N.C. or Kansas and nobody in the Big East will be able to stop this team. Wright will have these guys ready for another Final Four run.