Pam Richter
Starting late Monday night, ESPN began airing a 24-hour midnight marathon of college basketball. For any college basketball enthusiast like myself, this is a dream come true. At any point on Tuesday, I could turn on the TV and there would be the refreshing sight of college basketball.
With college basketball officially underway, there's so many questions that will need to be answered during the next few months. Most of them, won't be answered until the brackets are drawn up and the teams go head to head in the greatest event in all of sports - March Madness.
Let's take a quick look at some of the main story lines for both the men's and women's basketball season:
Men's: Kansas comes into the season as the No. 1 team in the nation, but it has some tough contenders close on its heels. Michigan State, the team that lost to North Carolina last year in the National Championship game, is a year older and even more experienced. Michigan State is a team that will hang around the top-10 throughout the regular season and into postseason play.
The Villanova Wildcats sit as the No. 5 team in the nation. Jay Wright continually has his teams ready to play in the regular season and also in the postseason. Guard Scottie Reynolds returns for his senior season and in my mind will lead the Wildcats to a Final Four apperance.
But as we all know, favorites will falter and underdogs will rise up and shock the nation.
Women's: Will anyone be able to beat the University of Connecticut this season? This is the question that is being tossed around the women's basketball world. Granted, I'm not a UConn fan at all, but I don't think they will be able to go undefeated for a second straight season. Maya Moore will most likely cruise to Player of the Year honors once again, but I don't think UConn is capable of going undefeated for a second straight season.
Looking at the top-5 in the women's game, I'm hesitant to say that No. 2 Stanford is a contender for the national title. Standford has a history of playing well during the regular season and then faltering in the postseason. It seems that North Carolina has the same problem as well. The biggest shock to me comes with Tennessee being ranked No. 5. The Lady Vols recently beat a high ranked Baylor team in the opening game, but the Vols should not have been that highly ranked to begin the regular season. The Vols are unproven after their first round defeat last season.
It will be interesting to see what other contenders outside the top-5 emerge to unseat the Huskies as National Champs.