| TEAM | CONFERENCE | GRADUATION RATE | GRADE |
SKINNY
|
| 21 Michigan State | Big Ten | 71% | A | Early departure of Zach Randolph and Jason
Richardson a blow, but latest Flint recruit, Kelvin Torbert, will uphold
Spartans' winning
tradition
|
| 22 Texas | Big 12 | 40% | B- | Star recruit T.J. Ford must fit in quickly at point
guard for Longhorns to get maximum from senior center Chris Owens (14.4 points,
7.9 boards a game)
|
| 23 Cincinnati | Conference USA | 8% | F | With Kenny Satterfield off to NBA, Steve
Logan (17.6 points a game) faces hard time trying to repeat as league player of
the
year
|
| 24 Mississippi | SEC | 57% | B | Sophomore Justin Reed, a 6'8" forward who led
all SEC freshmen in scoring last year with 11.0 points a game, must fill the
void left by Rahim Lockhart
|
| 25 Gonzaga | West Coast | 36% | B- | With beefed-up schedule, Bulldogs, led by
point guard Dan Dickau (18.9 points a game), are looking for fourth consecutive
Sweet 16
|
| 26 Alabama | SEC | 33% | C | Swingman Rod Grizzard is star, but freshman point
Maurice Williams is key to improving Tide's dismal 1-15 road record in SEC over
last two years
|
| 27 Wyoming | Mountain West | 15% | D+ | Forward Josh Davis (13.5 points, 9.4
rebounds a game) and swingman Marcus Bailey (17.4 points) will vie for league
MVP
honors
|
| 28 Wake Forest | ACC | 36% | B- | Playmaker Josh Howard will thrive in new coach
Skip Prosser's up-tempo style, and Darius Songaila could be ACC's top big
man
|
| 29 Xavier | Atlantic 10 | 70% | B+ | New coach Thad Matta's game plan? Get the ball
to junior David West (17.8 points, 10.9 rebounds a game), one of nation's top
low post
players
|
| 30 North Carolina | ACC | 60% | B+ | String of 37 top three finishes in ACC in
grave danger; uncharacteristically dependent on freshmen (Melvin Scott and Jawad
Williams)
|
| 31 Connecticut | Big East | 50% | B- | Caron Butler (15.3 points, 7.6 rebounds a
game) is the star, but improvement of guard Taliek Brown is key to Huskies'
getting back to NCAAs
|
| 32 Boston College | Big East | 53% | C+ | After going from worst to first a year
ago, Eagles will struggle until star junior Troy Bell recovers from Oct. 31
knee surgery
|
| 33 Butler | Horizon | 69% | B+ | Kinetic 5'9'' point guard Thomas Jackson sets tone
for tenacious defense, which last year held opponents to 60 points or fewer 17
times
|
| 34 Charlotte | Conference USA | 38% | C | The 49ers will rely on standout
backcourt of Demon Brown (11.7 points, 4.0 assists a game) and Jobey Thomas
(14.0
points)
|
| 35 Indiana | Big Ten | 43% | B- | Though still smarting from first-round loss to
Kent State in NCAAs and Kirk Haston's NBA jump, Hoosiers will rebuild around
sophomore Jared Jeffries
|
| 36 Syracuse | Big East | 17% | D | Preston Shumpert (19.5 points a game) gets
little help, especially after top recruit Billy Edelin was suspended
indefinitely for alleged sexual assault
|
| 37 Providence | Big East | 40% | C | Pesky 5'9" guard John Linehan, fourth in
nation in steals (3.1 a game) a year ago, leads pack of pressing,
three-point-shooting
no-names
|
| 38 Tennessee | SEC | 8% | D- | Juco star Thaydeus Holden, taking over at point
guard, must get most out of frontcourt duo of Vincent Yarbrough and Ron Slay
|
| 39 Fresno State | WAC | 25% | F | Melvin Ely (16.0 points a game) and Chris
Jefferies (15.5) will be overwhelming up front, but can Bulldogs find
replacement for Tito Maddox at
point?
|
| 40 Oklahoma | Big 12 | 0% | D- | Sooners not only need to hit the library but also
need full recovery from point guard Hollis Price, who had three off-season
operations on torn right triceps
|
| 41 South Carolina | SEC | 30% | C- | New coach Dave Odom inherits balanced -- but
plodding -- lineup with six returning players who averaged between 8.5 and
11.5 points
|
| 42 Miami | Big East | 62% | B- | Elton Tyler (10.1 points, 5.5 rebounds a game
in 1999-2000), who sat out last year for academic reasons, rejoins three other
double-figure
scorers
|
| 43 Ohio State | Big Ten | 20% | C- | With addition of guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham,
Buckeyes figure to outrun and outshoot foes with multiple speedy backcourt
combos
|
| 44 Utah | Mountain West | 22% | C | Coach Rick Majerus is back after season lost to
medical woes, as is center Phil Cullen, who spent summer pitching for a Seattle
Mariners farm team
|
| 45 Georgia State | Atlantic Sun | 45% | C | Juco transfers Nate Williams, a
6'11" center, and 6'3" guard LeRoy Davis will team up with Thomas
Terrell (16.4 points a
game)
|
| 46 California | Pac-10 | 18% | D- | Two stellar freshmen, center Jamal Sampson and
forward Julian Sensley, will cover loss of Bears' alltime leading scorer, Sean
Lampley
|
| 47 Iowa State | Big 12 | 56% | B | Perennial overachiever lost four starters but
has rising star in league freshman of the year Jake Sullivan, who made 44.9% of
his three-point
attempts
|
| 48 Central Michigan | MAC | 28% | C- | Chippewas have conference player of the
year, David Webber (Chris's brother), and gain speedy transfer guard Whitney
Robinson
|
| 49 Michigan | Big Ten | 14% | D+ | LaVell Blanchard (17.8 points a game) and
Bernard Robinson Jr. (14.4) can score, but new coach Tommy Amaker must improve
team
defense
|
| 50 Illinois State | Missouri Valley | 50% | B | Redbirds star guard Tarise Bryson,
nation's top returning scorer (22.8 points a game), back for extra year of
eligibility
|
| 51 Iona | Metro Atlantic | 60% | B | Say goodbye to three starters, but league's
most versatile player, swingman Dyree Wilson, should lead Gaels to third
straight
NCAAs
|
| 52 Valparaiso | Mid-Continent | 64% | B+ | Run of five consecutive NCAAs ended last
year but will be in the field this time, thanks to center Raitis Grafs (8.1
rebounds a
game)
|
| 53 Weber State | Big Sky | 20% | C- | This talented team, led by Jermaine Boyette
(19.1 points a game), won't play at home in February because gym will be used
for Winter
Olympics
|
| 54 Tennessee Tech | Ohio Valley | 17% | C- | Have league's best backcourt in Brent
Jolly and Leigh Gayden and get boost from 6'8" South Carolina transfer
Damien
Kinloch
|
| 55 Louisiana-Monroe | Southland | 25% | C | Indians have five starters back
including 7'2" Wojciech Myrda of Poland, who's on pace to break Division I
mark for
blocks
|
| 56 College of Charleston | Southern | 60% | A- | Cougars, led by Jeff Bolton (16.1
points a game), conference's most electric player, always get most out of their
assets
|
| 57 UNC Wilmington | Colonial | 56% | B | With eight players 6'6" or taller,
Seahawks played towering defense, holding foes to 58.4 points a game, tied for
fourth-best in
nation
|
| 58 Boston University | America East | 38% | C | Departure of four teams to Colonial
Conference leaves Terriers, with entire starting five returning, in charge of
weak
league
|
| 59 Alabama State | SWAC | 17% | C- | Hornets, led by forward Tyrone Levett (15.8
points, 8.3 rebounds a game), was No. 1 in league in scoring defense and
field goal percentage
defense
|
| 60 Princeton | Ivy | 100% | A | Tigers had league's top rookie in Konrad Wysocki
and add 6'10" freshman Dominick Martin and 6'7" Ray Robbins, back from
a one-year
hiatus
|
| 61 Winthrop | Big South | 75% | A- | Forward Greg Lewis, tournament MVP two years
ago, returns after missing last year with foot injury and will lead Eagles to
fourth straight
NCAAs
|
| 62 UC Irvine | Big West | 50% | B- | Passed over in NBA draft, conference
player of the year Jerry Green is back and should drive Anteaters to first
tournament
appearance
|
| 63 South Carolina State | MEAC | 22% | C- | 6'4" Texas Tech transfer Moses
Malone Jr. joins team stocked with four seniors, best of whom is Greg Gray (12.8
points a game)
|
| 64 Holy Cross | Patriot | 75% | A- | Crusaders bring back forward Tim Szatko,
reigning league MVP, and nation's second-ranked field goal percentage defense
(38.2%)
|
| 65
Monmouth | Northeast | 47% | C+ | Guard Rahsaan Johnson, who averaged 19.1
points and 2.1 steals and led league with 5.7 assists a game, directs
Hawks' experienced
lineup |
