Things

1. I'm going to stop with the full-team basketball previews. I've done 10, and when I realize I have 40 left to go, it makes me tired. It's too much. I'll do some conference breakdowns as we get closer to the season.

2. The smart money (me) is on WVU -7 @ South Florida tonight. The Bulls are a nice team, and they are ranked for the first time in school history, are at home, and beat VWU last year at the Mountaineers place.

Good story and all, but WVU is a national title contender, while USF is just a cute little team that everyone feels all warm & fuzzy towards. Pat White, Steve Slaton, Noel Devine, and Darius Reynaud are going to slice right through that Bull defense. This one's not even going to be close.

3. One of the top players in the country, Eloy Vargas, has verballed to Florida. The interesting part of this is that Minnesota was actually in the list of teams he considered. I don't think anybody thought the Gophers would get him, unless he was planning on just showcasing himself like Kris "Black Hole" Humphries, but it was cool to at least see the Gophers on the list of a recruit of that caliber.

4. Want to know some of the schools that have more highly ranked recruiting classes for 2007 than the Gophers did according to Van Coleman of hoopmasters? They include Ball State, New Orleans, Middle Tennessee State, Central Michigan, Morehead State, Pepperdine, Idaho, and Central Connecticut State. Thanks Monson!

5. In the President's Cup, which I, and apparently the entire sporting world forgot about, the U.S. is kicking some commie ass.

6. Here's my OFFICIAL top 50 teams this year:

50 Baylor
49 Cal
48 Stanford
47 Rhode Island
46 Maryland
45 Purdue
44 West Virginia
43 Notre Dame
42 Virginia Commonwealth
41 Auburn
40 Butler
39 Illinois
38 Villanova (Scottie Reynolds is still overrated)
37 Pitt
36 Virginia
35 Gonzaga
34 Wisconsin
33 Washington State
32 Alabama (no Steele hurts)
31 George Mason
30 Florida
29 UCONN
28 Xavier (will dominate A-10)
27 Davidson
26 USC
25 Southern Illinois
24 Ohio State
23 Arizona
22 Arkansas
21 Mississippi State
20 Washington
19 Kentucky
18 Kansas State
17 Clemson
16 NC State
15 Texas
14 Michigan State
13 Marquette
12 Georgetown
11 Duke
10 Texas A & M
9 Syracuse
8 Oregon
7 Indiana
6 Kansas (they'll just flame out in the tournament anyway)
5 Tennessee
4 Louisville
3 North Carolina
2 UCLA
1 Memphis