Looking at Dick Vitale’s Pre-Season Top 40 Teams
Waco Tribune-Herald
Since coming to a complete halt from the pandemic at the worst possible time earlier this year, college basketball is scheduled to begin again on November 25. Although the pandemic is still greatly affecting sports and will surely impact college basketball, I am ready for the season to start. I just haven’t been able to get into college football this season, especially with a lot of big schools just starting their season weeks ago. But college basketball, hopefully, will be different. Like everyone else, I’m hoping the pandemic doesn’t come back full force, thereby drastically changing the landscape of college basketball, but we’ll just have to wait and see. As of right now, I’m really anticipating the upcoming season.
Love him or hate him, everyone listens to what Dick Vitale has to say. Let’s see how he is ranking his top 40 teams before the season, along with a little brief commentary:
40. Northern Iowa
Those farm boys can really shoot the ball. I remember when they beat UNC, unfortunately.
39. Purdue
Seems kind of low for a team that is usually always in the conversation and beats top teams regularly.
38. Oklahoma
This seems about right. Middle of the road ranking for a middle of the road team.
37. Providence
As a Tar Heel fan, it seemed like every year we were playing Providence in the first round of the tournament. Although UNC never lost, I never liked the matchup because the Friars are usually very talented.
36. Indiana
Oh how the mighty have fallen. They’ll have a good year again in 8-10 years.
35. UConn
I wish UConn was relevant again. It just makes college basketball feel right. But they aren’t.
34. Memphis
Hardaway wishes he had the 34th best team in the country.
33. Arizona
See #35 (UConn).
32. Florida
The Gators are either really good or irrelevant. Either they will shoot up the list or head down into the 40s.
31. Ohio State
At least their football season finally started.
30. Seton Hall
This one’s interesting. I wouldn’t mind seeing them have a good team.
29. Richmond
Richmond?
28. Oregon
The Ducks have had some really good recent years. I think they’ll have another one.
27. Texas
Looks like they’ll be overshadowed by Baylor and Texas Tech this year. They’ll have a few big wins though.
26. Louisville
This one seems kind of low for a team that is almost always in the conversation.
25. Rutgers
Congrats on making it into Dickie V’s top 25. Now prove you belong.
24. Houston
Did Hakeem come back? Well actually they’d be a lot higher if he did.
23. Stanford
Every now and then Stanford has a team that is just good enough to get talked about, but not good enough to win anything major. Looks like this might be one of those years.
22. Michigan
Michigan always has talent. Can they put it together for a big run this year?
21. UCLA
Please…
20. West Virginia
Don’t underestimate what Bob Huggins can do when he gets a competitive roster to coach.
19. LSU
Another talented team, but will get knocked out in the 2nd round of the tournament (if we even get to have it).
18. Arizona State
It’s been a while Arizona State. Welcome back. I hope you’re not just pretending.
17. Alabama
I just don’t see them ranked this high when the season is near the end.
16. Illinois
They’ll have some big wins. But come March Madness and they’ll just let their fans down.
15. North Carolina
My favorite team. They need to rebound from an awful season last year and be one of the nation’s top teams again. A lot will depend on the talented freshmen they brought in (Sharpe, Love, Kessler, Davis).
14. Florida State
They always, always seem to be super talented anymore. They can beat top talent and lose some head scratchers, but they are always a dangerous matchup.
13. Kentucky
I’m surprised Dickie V has them ranked this low. This is basically him saying they are NIT-bound this year.
12. Iowa
I’m interested to see how this team does behind the absolute force of Luka Garza.
11. Creighton
They’ll have to prove to me they belong this high on the list. I mean, it’s not like they have Doug McDermott any more.
10. Tennessee
The Vols have transformed into a basketball school from a football school, whether their fans want to admit it or not.
9. Duke
You mean Dickie V doesn’t have them in the top 3? Even though they lost a lot of talent from last year? It will be an interesting year for the Blue Devils.
8. Texas Tech
They emerged onto the scene with their recent final four run and they are looking to prove they are still here. I say they will be.
7. Michigan State
They’ll start out the season looking like a joke of a team and by the end of the season will be a team nobody wants to play. We’ve seen this before.
6. Kansas
Every year they are the most talented team that underperforms. Bill Self is overrated. Good recruiter…overrated coach. I don’t expect anything to change this year.
5. Wisconsin
When the Badgers are good, they’re good. And this might be one of those teams, especially with a ton of experience.
4. Virginia
Tony Bennett has convinced me he’s the best coach in America, to do what he does with the talent he has. Not that his players are sub-par, but they are nowhere near the biggest recruits. Yet they always win.
3. Baylor
Alright Baylor…Dickie V thinks you are a legitimate national title contender. I don’t know about that. We shall see soon enough.
2. Villanova
They belong up here. The Wildcats are good. Again.
1. Gonzaga
Vitale got this one right. The Bulldogs have to be the pre-season favorites. They are loaded and will be a handful for any team in the country to match up against.
Garett