| The Rest of the Best |
|---|
| Rank | Team | Conference | Skinny |
|---|
| 26 | Siena | Metro Atlantic |
The Saints go marching up and down the floor:
Nation's third-highest scoring team last year -- 86.6 points per game -- has
four starters
back
|
| 27 | Louisville | Conference USA |
Three returning starters -- forwards Nate Johnson
and Tony Williams and guard Marques Maybin -- all averaged between 12.1 and
12.3
points
|
| 28 | Stanford | Pac-10 |
Bad news: Cardinal has only one starter back. Good news: He's
league player of the year candidate Mark Madsen (13.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 60.5
FG%)
|
| 29 | Miami | Big East |
Hurricanes will rely heavily on Big East's most improved player
last season, guard Johnny Hemsley, who increased scoring from 14.1 to
17.8
|
| 30 | Maryland | ACC |
Terps must find help for Terence Morris, who last year was lone
player in ACC top 10 in scoring, rebounding, blocks, steals, FG% and
FT%
|
| 31 | New Mexico | Mountain West |
Lobos will no longer follow their Bliss (coach Dave
was replaced by Fran Fraschilla). Instead they'll rely on guard Lamont Long
(16.8
ppg)
|
| 32 | Oregon | Pac-10 |
Conference's most prolific three-point shooting team hopes
7'2" center Chris Christoffersen can improve on so-so freshman
year
|
| 33 | Wake Forest | ACC |
Junior point guard Robert O'Kelley can score (17.5-point
average, tops in ACC) but needs to improve his playmaking (2.0
assists)
|
| 34 | Fresno State | WAC |
Return of senior guard Courtney Alexander (21.4 ppg) plus fact
that league tournament is in Fresno equals return to NCAAs for
Tark
|
| 35 | Indiana | Big Ten |
Hoosiers have won just two games in last four NCAA tournaments;
senior guard A.J. Guyton (16.0 ppg) lacks the help needed to add to that
total
|
| 36 | Weber State | Big Sky |
Forward Harold (the Show) Arceneaux (22.3 ppg) and point
man Eddie Gill return from team that shocked North Carolina in 1999
NCAAs
|
| 37 | Georgia Tech | ACC |
Seven-foot Jason Collier and 6'11" Alvin Jones, who
combined for 29.9 ppg and 17.0 rpg last season, give Tech formidable Twin
Towers
|
| 38 | Tulsa | WAC |
Realigned WAC won't get automatic NCAA berth, but center Brandon
Kurtz (11.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) should lead Hurricane to sixth bid since
1994
|
| 39 | Missouri | Big 12 |
Expectations are high for new coach Quin Snyder, who will up
the tempo to capitalize on talents of sophomore star Keyon
Dooling
|
| 40 | Michigan | Big Ten |
Knee injury to forward Brandon Smith (out until January) will
give top recruit LaVell Blanchard a chance to develop into a
star
|
| 41 | Alabama | SEC |
New coach Mark Gottfried's bumper crop of recruits is led by junior
college All-America forward Schea Cotton (25.8
ppg)
|
| 42 | Penn | Ivy |
Senior guard Michael Jordan (15.3 ppg) leads deep Quakers, who will
face Kentucky, Kansas and Temple in nonconference
games
|
| 43 | New Mexico State | Big West |
Eight of the top nine players -- including senior
point guard Billy (the Kid) Keys (13.7 ppg) -- are back from a team that won
23
games
|
| 44 | N.C. State | ACC |
Freshman Damien Wilkins (Gerald's son and Dominique's nephew)
counted on to end Wolfpack's eight-year NCAA tournament
drought
|
| 45 | Oklahoma | Big 12 |
Forward Eduardo Najera (15.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg) is a star, but
Sooners will miss Ryan Humphrey (7.5 rpg), who transferred to Notre
Dame
|
| 46 | Toledo | Mid-American |
The MAC should once again get two NCAA bids if the Rockets'
6'8" junior Greg Stempin (15.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg) continues to
improve
|
| 47 | Vanderbilt | SEC |
Lanky 6'11", 220-pounder Dan Langhi is as dangerous on the
perimeter as he is inside (17.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .385 three-point
FG%)
|
| 48 | Bradley | MVC |
All five starters are back, led by 6'4" guard Eric Roberson,
who led the Braves in rebounding and had nine steals in one
game
|
| 49 | Kent | Mid-American |
Golden Flashes have top six scorers back from team that won
23 games but still must find a point guard to lead
them
|
| 50 | Xavier | A-10 |
Hopes for 11th NCAA tournament bid in last 15 years rest on
surgically repaired right knee of Darnell Williams (17.3 ppg in
1997-98)
|
| 51 | Detroit | Midwestern Collegiate |
Coming off upset of UCLA in the NCAAs, Titans
will again rely on defense that held opponents to 55.3 ppg, third best in the
nation
|
| 52 | Indiana State | MVC |
Sycamores could win a second NCAA bid for conference behind
all-around talent Nate Green, who led league in assists with 4.6 per
game
|
| 53 | Samford | TAAC |
With Reed Rawlings leading all five starters back from a 24-6
team, the Bulldogs may run Princeton's offense better than
Princeton
|
| 54 | Delaware | America East |
Will again rely on 1999 conference player of the year,
6'5", 240-pound forward Mike Pegues, who bulled his way to 21.8 ppg and 7.2
rpg
|
| 55 | Appalachian State | Southern |
The buzz on coach Buzz Petersen's team: It's deep
enough to end College of Charleston's stranglehold on conference
title
|
| 56 | Murray State | OVC |
Racers have won conference regular-season championship 11
times in last 12 years, and six returning seniors should ensure another
title
|
| 57 | Lafayette | Patriot |
Leopards boast a lineup that contains two former conference
players of the year, center Stefan Ciosici and guard Brian
Ehlers
|
| 58 | Arkansas State | Sun Belt |
Chico Fletcher is only 5'6" but ranked second in
nation in assists, with 8.3 a game, and led Indians in scoring, with 17.0 points
a
game
|
| 59 | East Carolina | Colonial |
Evaldas Jocys, 6'9" senior forward, averaged 13.8
ppg and made 42.5% of his treys on a bum leg last year -- and now he's
healthy
|
| 60 | Md.-Baltimore Cty. | Northeast |
With four starters back, the Retrievers, who won
their first 15 league games last year but lost in the conference tournament,
look
golden
|
| 61 | Louisiana-Monroe | Southland |
This school figures to improve on woeful 41.8%
marksmanship to earn first NCAA bid since 1996, when it was called Northeast
Louisiana
|
| 62 | Norfolk State | MEAC |
Damian Woolfolk (23.2 ppg, fifth-best in country) should put
former Division II powerhouse in NCAAs in its first year of
eligibility
|
| 63 | Southern | SWAC |
Jaguars are smiling thanks to 6'7" Adarrial Smylie (19.0
ppg), the consensus choice to win conference player of the year
honors
|
| 64 | Winthrop | Big South |
Lost a lot of frontcourt firepower, but senior point guard
Tyson Waterman (11.5 ppg) should make the Eagles fly
again
|
The following are the 39 other schools that SI projects will fill out the NCAA tournament field. Of the 64 invitations to be awarded on March 12, Selection Sunday, 30 will be automatic bids to conference champions, and the remaining 34 will be for at-large berths.