Preseason rankings announced

The ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll was released today. Here is the top 10, with the top-ranking votes in parentheses:

1. North Carolina (31)
   
2. Connecticut
3. Louisville
4. UCLA
5. Duke
6. Pitt
7. Michigan State
8. Texas
9. Notre Dame
10. Purdue

Rest of the Top 25, in order: Gonzaga, Memphis, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Miami (Fla.), Marquette, Georgetown, Florida, Davidson, USC, Wisconsin, Kansas, Wake Forest, Villanova.

Reactions
-- This fits in perfectly with the Big East coaches' poll of conference rankings, with Pitt placing third behind UConn and Louisville. Both powerhouses have some major players this year. And with great coaching to led 'em, it's going to be tough for Pitt to surpass these two squads.

-- North Carolina is not a shocker. If the Tar Heels' top ranking surprised you, you've been living under a rock for the past eight months. UNC returns its Big Three -- Tyler Hansbrough (who is the frontrunner for player of the year), Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington -- and its key role players, too, like Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard (out for eight weeks with a stress fracture in his foot), Deon Thompson and Bobby Frasor. Oh yeah, and don't forget coach Roy Williams's absolutely sick recruiting class. Expect to see that crew make an impact right away, even with diminished minutes.

-- After those two things, the first thing I noticed was four Big East teams in the top 10. Four! Three more Beast teams are rated 11 through 25. That means seven Top 25 teams to start Big East commish Mike Tranghese's last year. What a way to go out, huh? But it doesn't end there ... Syracuse and West Virginia are also receiving votes. That's probably why the Big East is on TV so much this year.

-- Here's the breakdown by major conferences (ranked, then receiving votes):

1. Big East: 7, with two receiving votes
2. ACC: 4, with two receiving votes
3. Pac-10: 3, with three receiving votes
4. Big 12: 3, with two receiving votes
5. Big 10: 3, with one receiving votes
6. SEC: 2, with three reciving votes

-- It wouldn't be preseason hoops if I didn't make grandiose predictions that probably won't come true, so let's do it ...

Title game
North Carolina vs. UCLA, UNC wins

Final Four
UNC, UCLA, Louisville, UConn (way to go out on a limb, Jeff)

Elite 8
UNC, UCLA, Louisville, UConn, Duke, Michigan State, Purdue, Gonzaga

-- So where does Pitt fit in? I think the Panthers get a 3 seed and drop out after the Sweet 16. I was high on the team after the NCAA Tournament earlier this year, but that love has slowly trickled away. Don't get me wrong, Pitt will still be huge. I have the Panthers finishing 24-7, with the inevitable trip to the Big East tournament title game.

So why isn't this Pitt team different?
Well, it's different in a lot of ways, but not enough ways. Pitt still has that underdog, scrappy mentality. I get the sense that may never go away. With Big Fella Blair dominating the paint, Sam Young doing pretty much everything and Levance Fields leading the troops, this team sounds a lot like last year's, without the shooters.

The difference is that some key role players are much improved, and the bench will have far more of an impact than it did last year, as long as Pitt avoids the injury bug that killed its chances last year. I really thought last year's team, with Mike Cook and Fields playing every game, was a Final Four darkhorse. This year's team feels more like a team that should do well.

Look out for some of the newcomers, particularly Jermaine Dixon, Travon Woodall and Nasir Robinson. Also, expect Gary McGhee to be a little better around the basket and Tyrell Biggs to be a nice impact player either off the bench or as a starter.

Still, the problem is, none of these guys are shooters. Young scores all sorts of ways, but hit many of 3s because he was left alone on the perimeter. Fields is a streaky shooter at best, and takes more 3s than he should. That leaves two wing players from last year's team and a newcomer to handle the perimeter scoring load -- Brad Wanamaker, Gil Brown and freshman Ashton Gibbs. Wanamaker has shown that he can fill it up, but that was before he ever set foot on the court in a Pitt jersey. Since then, he has seemed apprehensive and uncertain of his game. Brown had a heck of a time as a shooter last year, and it's not really his game. Gibbs is still developing and will need to beef up a bit to become a consistent threat.

Pitt will still defend and rebound with the best of 'em, but the lack of a consistent outside scorer will probably come back to haunt the Panthers in the NCAAs. Expect a lot of excitement from these guys, though, and a far less rocky road than last year's rollercoaster of a season.