Who'd win an alumni tournament?

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl answers your college basketball questions every Wednesday. Click here to send him a question.

SOMEWHERE IN KANSAS ABOARD THE JAYHAWKS' TEAM BUS -- I'll fill you in soon enough on why I'm here, but let's just say that after their rout of Oklahoma State Tuesday night, the Kansas Jayhawks were in excellent spirits on the ride home. So excellent, in fact, that for nearly an hour Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and I collaborated on answering a first-rate question from Dave in Brookline, Mass.:

"A challenge for you: My roommates and I were picking the best 'post-1985 all-star team' from any school. The two best teams we came up with were Michigan ( Rumeal Robinson, Jalen Rose, Glen Rice, Juwan Howard and Chris Webber ) and Syracuse ( Pearl Washington, Lawrence Moten, Billy Owens, John Wallace and Derrick Coleman ). Whom do you like? Can you find any better teams? Three rules: Players are only from '86 on, college performance (not pro) is all that matters, and you must get players somewhat in position (i.e., you can't have five small forwards on your team)."

This is a solid parlor game, particularly because of the pre-1986 cutoff, which times things perfectly for me to the days when I started going nuts about college hoops. DISCLAIMER: There will probably be an omission or two, but lay off. We were on a bus. It was 2:30 in the morning. We were working from memory. We're not infallible. (Well, Nick and Drew aren't, at least.)

Without further ado, our top 20 (any better suggestions can be sent here):

1. Duke
( Jason Williams, Johnny Dawkins, Shane Battier, Grant Hill, Christian Laettner )
Talk about a great all-star team: Bobby Hurley and Danny Ferry come off the bench!

2. Michigan
(Rumeal Robinson, Jalen Rose, Glen Rice, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber)
Drew thought about putting these guys at No. 1, but I pointed out that the Fab Five never won a national title -- and it is my column, remember?

3. North Carolina
( Kenny Smith, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace )
Given that we're limiting this to college performance, might Jamison be the best player on this team? If Smith isn't age-eligible, we're going with Ed Cota instead.

4. Kansas
( Jacque Vaughn, Rex Walters, Paul Pierce, Danny Manning, Raef LaFrentz )
Talk about a loaded college frontcourt. We considered moving Kansas behind Kentucky, but then recalled how dominant Manning was in 1988.

5. Kentucky
( Tony Delk, Ron Mercer, Derek Anderson, Jamal Mashburn, Antoine Walker )
Pretty much the '96 national champs.

6. Syracuse
( Sherman Douglas, Lawrence Moten, Billy Owens, John Wallace, Derrick Coleman)
Sorry, Dave, as Nick points out, Sherm Douglas should play the point instead of the Pearl (whom we believe you Danny Almonte 'd onto the roster).

7. UNLV
( Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, J.R. Rider, Larry Johnson, Armon Gilliam )
Lack of offense kept Stacey Augmon out of the lineup. Same could be said for H Waldman. (That was a joke.)

8. Georgetown
( Allen Iverson, Victor Page, Reggie Williams, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo )
Sweet inside-outside game with Iverson, Mourning and Mutombo. I think I'd consider using Ben Gillery, but just for tipoffs.

9. UCLA
( Baron Davis, Reggie Miller, Ed O'Bannon, Don MacLean, Tracy Murray )
But who would coach these guys? Jim Harrick ? Steve Lavin ? I'm leaning toward Harrick just for the national title.

10. Connecticut
( Khalid El-Amin, Ray Allen, Tate George, Richard Hamilton, Donyell Marshall )
Not much height here, but try naming any great UConn big men.

11. Michigan State
( Mateen Cleaves, Shawn Respert, Scott Skiles, Morris Peterson, Steve Smith )
Kudos to Nick for pulling Respert from the memory bank (trumping my nomination of Eric Snow ).

12. Arizona
( Damon Stoudamire, Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Sean Elliott, Chris Mills )
Point Guard U. is severely size-impaired and PG-heavy. Where are Steve Kerr and Jason Terry, after all?

13. LSU
( Chris Jackson, Ricky Blanton, Stromile Swift, Shaquille O'Neal, Stanley Roberts )
For some reason, hearing the name Dale Brown just makes me want to start chuckling.

Vince Carter Craig Jones/Allsport

14. Maryland
( Steve Francis, Juan Dixon, Len Bias, Keith Booth, Joe Smith )
Nick and Drew wanted to put in Lonny Baxter instead of Booth, but I'm going with Booth, who was a star for his team.

15. Cincinnati
( Nick Van Exel, Ruben Patterson, Melvin Levett, Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin )
Perhaps the best defensive team on this list.

16. Georgia Tech
( Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury, Dennis Scott, Matt Harpring, John Salley )
How much sharing do you think would take place between Anderson and Marbury?

17. Indiana
( Steve Alford, Calbert Cheaney, A.J. Guyton, Dean Garrett, Kirk Haston )
Not a ton of selection inside, but you have to like the perimeter.

18. Arkansas
( Corey Beck, Todd Day, Scotty Thurman, Joe Johnson, Corliss Williamson )
Pretty much the '94 national champs.

19. Cal
( Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, Lamond Murray, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Sean Lampley )
At first I was just doing this to humor Bay Area boy Gooden, but these guys can really play.

20. Illinois
( Frank Williams, Kendall Gill, Marcus Liberty, Nick Anderson, Deon Thomas )
For some reason I thought the Illini would be better than this.

Questions, questions

I appreciated the review of your preseason picks, but I'm not sure how you can see your pick of Maryland at No. 12 as a push. Yes, Oklahoma clobbered the Terps last month, but: a) it was their first game back after a two-week layoff; and b) in the very same column you note that the Sooners are damn good. Maryland dismantled an Illinois team that you consider yourself to have hit the target on by picking them fifth. Finally, Maryland flushed N.C. State at Raleigh. State has now beaten two top-10 teams on the road (Syracuse and Virginia), which is no mean feat.
—Doug Mintz, New York

Got a lot of heat from Maryland folks this week, but Doug's note was the most polite, so we'll give him some love. Not too much, though. Look, the Terps are a good team, the second-best in the ACC. They're solid on the perimeter and -- despite Lonny Baxter's lack of height -- on the inside as well. They have a wealth of big-game experience, and I'm seeing signs that Gary Williams has learned not to have a coronary after every loss. Yet I've always felt that really good teams don't get blown out, ever, hence my reservations about Maryland (blowout loss at Oklahoma) and Arizona (huge loss at Oregon). At the very least, the Terps shouldn't be ranked ahead of the Sooners (they are), but I'd say they're actually closer to No. 7 than No. 3. That's why I'd call it a push.

How good is Jason Kapono and does he have the leadership skills to bring UCLA to a 14th Final Four appearance?
—Brandon August, Westwood, Calif.

I'm still asking myself how good Kapono is after seeing him twice in person last week -- against USC and Kansas. Perhaps it's because Matt Barnes is on such a roll these days, but Kapono doesn't strike me as a take-charge guy who can turn games around merely with his will. In other words, I don't know if his heart is always in it, which isn't a good sign. In fact, I found myself thinking that Barnes is twice as tough as anybody else on the UCLA team. Clearly, Kapono is the best shooter the Bruins have, but I'd argue that UCLA's fate this season will be decided by Barnes' competitive fire -- and whether or not it rubs off on the rest of his teammates.

When will the rest of the country take Cincinnati as a serious Final Four contender? The Bearcats are ranked No. 1 in the Sagarin, top five in the RPI and have a top-three team defense with an astounding average scoring margin. Their only loss is a road loss at Oklahoma State to open the season. If they had chosen a cupcake as opposed to a fellow Final Four contender to start the season, they may well be undefeated.
—Mike Amend, Mason, Ohio

Given that I started writing this column in the very same Stillwater Holiday Inn where the Bearcats stayed earlier this season, let me offer another reason why the Bearcats lost there: The hotels suck. Never underestimate how much crappy lodging can affect a team's performance. The only bonus is that there's an indoor hot tub where you can re-enact the famous UNLV photograph we talked about last week.

I fully expect Cincy will win C-USA for the 88th straight year, but I'm more dubious of the Bearcats making the Final Four. True, they have good guard play with Steve Logan and Leonard Stokes, and their defense is impeccable (though don't you wish they would go back to the Melvin Levett -led full-court press?), but I'm not sold yet on their inside attack.

After a tough 11 years of rebuilding, rebuilding and more rebuilding, UNLV fans have had to swallow their pride and look to the future. We don't appreciate you digging up the ugly past for your own entertainment. The hot-tub photos sparked the downfall of our program, and now years later we're still hearing about it. We have some great kids, a clean coach and some good games to talk about. How about a little positive pub once in a while?
—Erik Molzen, Las Vegas

I'll be positive: Vegas is an excellent city ... to fly over.

Sorry for the breezy 'Bag this week, folks. WATN and all your other favorite stuff will be back next week.

Click here to send your college basketball question to Grant Wahl.

 

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