Hoops season off and running

It's hooping tiiiiime in the cityyyy. It feels like Christmas season already, but only because roundball is back and OJ Mayo is gone. Every new hoops season reminds me of a freshly fallen snow just waiting for footprints. Alas, the first footprints have been made ...

The 2k Sports Classic (benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer) has produced one intriguing matchup and a handful of blowouts so far, but it'll only get better as the field narrows and the action moves to New York, where we can expect UCLA, Duke, Southern Illinois (or UMass?) and Michigan to meet up.

For now, though, there are regional finals and semifinals to look at.

In Durham, No. 8 Duke has trampled its first pair of opponents -- shocking, I know -- with a 31-point win against Presbyterian (yes, that's a team in Division I and, yes, they are called the Blue Hose) and a 43-point knuckle-wringer against Georgia Southern. Houston, which I still can't believe lost to Georgia Southern in the first round, toppled Presby in the consolation game.

The best region, though, is in Carbondale, Ill., where the regional final has UMass taking on Southern Illinois. The Minutemen looked good in their opener against Arkansas-Monticello (how can you not look good in this game?), but SIU is another beast all together. The Salukis' defense is usually one of the best in the nation -- if not the best -- and will be able to slow UMass's offense. The Minutemen are trying out a new O with their new coach, Derek Kellogg, a former UMass point guard and coaching protege of John Calipari. He even looks like Coach Cal. In all seriousness, while I think SIU is a team should have a shot at the Tournament come March, UMass is a team to keep your eye on. Ricky Harris, Chris Lowe and Tony Gaffney are pretty good players.

The worst grouping has to be in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Michigan beat Michigan Tech, Northeastern topped IUPUI and the title game is tonight. Terrible.

Kicking off today in Movieland, No. 4 UCLA gets set to absolutely annihilate Prairie View A&M. Miami (Ohio) will play Weber State in the early game. None of these games matter in terms of wins and losses -- UCLA is going to win both games by 20 or more -- but they do matter in terms of how UCLA plays. Is its defense stifling as usual? How are the new guys playing together? Keep a close eye on this, because Duke will probably see UCLA in the finals of the tournament, and if UCLA is having chemistry problems, Duke has to be the favorite to win the tournament.

And one more thing, SIU can beat UCLA and Duke in November. SIU can beat those teams in March. I've seen the Salukis in action twice over the past three years. That is not a team I'd ever want to play.

Side notes and elsewhere
-- Watch how Miami (Ohio) deals with UCLA's pressure D. Not that Pitt's defense is anywhere near UCLA's, but it's still a good barometer for how the Redhawks will (or won't) handle Pitt.

-- Also, if a school doesn't have its own site for athletics, expect a blowout (see: Arkansas-Monticello).

-- Did you see ESPN.com's power rankings? Doug "I don't know anything about college basketball" Gottlieb didn't even rank Pitt. You know, the No. 5 team in the AP poll.

-- And that brings us to polling. During the presidential campaign, there was a lot of hubbub over which polls are the best. There isn't that kind of confusion in college hoops. Start with the AP poll. End with it, too.

-- ABC should have flipped this to some channel in the thousands, not ESPN 2. Spare us, please.

-- Haha, a brief look into why everyone hates Duke.