Previewing college basketball's top 100 teams for the 09-10 season (71-80)

November 9, 4:14 PMCollege Basketball ExaminerDave Ryan

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ISU's Eldridge is a lethal one-on-one scorer (AP Photo)

Over the next few months I'll be taking a look at the best that college basketball has to offer heading into this upcoming season. Starting with number one and working my way to the century mark, I'll rank each team based on a number of factors (returning players, departed players, incoming freshmen, coaching staff, conference strength, etc.). If you have any issues with these rankings then feel free to let me hear about it in the comments section.

1-10   |   11-20   |   21-30   |   31-40   |   41-50   |   51-60   |   61-70   |   71-80   |   81-90   |   91-100

71. Portland Pilots

The departure of St. Mary's point guard Patrick Mills opens the door slightly, but it's still going to take a big time effort for Portland to knock Gonzaga off their perch atop the West Coast Conference. The Pilots return all five starters, including Nik Raivio and T.J. Campbell, two All-WCC performers from a year ago. Campbell is a deadly accurate three point specialist, and an increase in his scoring output could be what finally gets Portland over the hump. Knowing that there might only be one NCAA bid up for grabs, the Pilots still need to focus on beating the Zags if they want to play meaningful basketball in March.

72. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Entering his second full season as Tech's head coach, Pat Knight needs to get things turned around pretty quickly if he wants to keep his job. Other than two late season victories over Kansas and Texas A&M, the Red Raiders were a massive disappointment in 08-09. The good news is that the majority of Knight's core is back, including guards Mike Singletary (43 points against Texas A&M) and Nick Okorie (17 points against Kansas). The bad news is that there still doesn't seem to be enough talent here for Knight's team to win with any consistency. Singletary's ability to take over a game should make the Raiders a decent upset pick every now and then, but the NCAA Tournament is probably out of reach.

73. Alabama Crimson Tide

Now that the Mark Gottfried situation is in the rear view mirror, the Tide are completely focused on winning basketball games with new coach Anthony Grant at the helm. Grant, who came over from Virginia Commonwealth, was one of the most sought after young coaches on the market this offseason. Sophomore JaMychal Green should help ease the transition for his new coach, as the 6'9" power forward gives Grant a rock on the inside who can hit double figures in both scoring and rebounding every single night. This is a team that was a mere win away from breaking even in conference play last season, and that was amidst heavy turmoil. The SEC will be tougher than it was last year, but with a new identity working in their favor it's possible the Tide can make a run at double digit conference wins.

74. Seton Hall Pirates

The Pirates upgraded their roster significantly this summer when they added three transfers (Herb Pope from New Mexico State, Keon Lawrence from Missouri and Jeff Robinson from Memphis). All three are expected to see big minutes right away, but Seton Hall's offense should once again fall on the shoulders of Jeremy Hazell. A junior guard, Hazell finished second in the Big East in scoring average last year with 22.7 points per game. Amazingly, he even found a way to post double figures in every single game the Pirates played last season. With another year under his belt and some new help around to take pressure off, Hazell could end up being one of the top scorers in the nation, let alone the conference. That alone might not be enough to get Seton Hall invited back to the Big Dance, but it could set things up for the Pirates to be a top 50 team in 2010-11.

75. Houston Cougars

When John Calipari was at Memphis, his teams were usually on a different level than the rest of the conference. But now that he's out of the picture, schools like Houston and Tulsa are licking their chops knowing that the next couple of years could to be wide open atop the Conference USA standings. After an impressive 20+ win season, it makes sense for Houston fans to be optimistic about their chances right now with the state of the league. Instead of having a lone superstar dominating the ball, the Cougars have two guys (Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis) who each scored over 18 a night last season. Lewis is the finesse, three point shooting type, while Coleman is a 6'4" do-it-all-player who racked up an unbelievable 14 double-doubles from the guard position. The talent, the offense and the experience is all here. All that Houston needs now are a few lucky breaks and they could be tournament bound.

76. Oregon Ducks

The Ducks didn't enjoy their role as the laughingstock of the Pac-10 last season after winning 18 games in 07-08 and 29 in 06-07. The decrease in Oregon's win total had more to do with injuries and player movement than any type of decline in the program as a whole, but the damage of an 8-23 season has already been done. If anything, it has made the players who are still around hungrier than ever. Senior point guard Tajuan Porter is back with an outside chance to lead the conference in scoring. Big man Michael Dunigan apparently lost 25 pounds and figures to be much more explosive than a year ago. Freshman Jamil Wilson is also drawing praise, and the lanky swingman might just end up looking like the most talented player on the roster by season's end. They might not take the Pac-10 by storm each and every night, but this is obviously a team on the rise. Getting back to their 07-08 level with 17-20 wins should be a reasonable expectation.

77. UNLV Rebels

The Rebels haven't had a player average 20 points a night since Marcus Banks in 2002-03. But after losing two of his top three scorers (Wink Adams and Rene Rougeau) from a year ago, head coach Lon Kruger is hoping that junior guard Tre'Von Willis can step up and become the team's go-to offensive weapon. In his first year with UNLV after transferring from Memphis, Willis averaged 11 points, four rebounds and three assists as the Rebels' starting shooting guard. His playing time increased as the year wore on, and he responded by averaging nearly six rebounds and two steals over the season's final ten games. Even though Willis is a poor field goal shooter (37.9% FGs in 08-09), he's still going to get plenty of shots this season. Point guard Oscar Bellfield is also back in the mix as well, and an experienced backcourt is always a plus. Talent-wise, this team is in the top third of the Mountain West. But will they actually win enough games to actually finish there by season's end?

78. St. John's Red Storm

After playing in only three games last year due to a foot injury, forward Anthony Mason Jr. was expecting to lead the Red Storm back to prominence in his final year of eligibility. Unfortunately, Mason just can't seem to shake the injury bug, and a bad hamstring is expected to keep him out until mid-December. As the only senior currently on the roster, it's probably helpful that Mason's injury last season opened the door for a bunch of underclassmen to see significant minutes. Now, nine players on the roster are in their third year of eligibility, and a handful of them have starting experience. Mason is likely to be fine by the time Big East play kicks off, but a few tough early season opponents could threaten to derail this train before Mason can even get on board.

79. Auburn Tigers

The surprise team of the SEC last season, Auburn's 24-12 (10-6 SEC) record wasn't quite good enough to land an invite to the NCAA Tournament. A big reason for the snub was that the Tigers didn't really beat anybody of substance (minus LSU to close out the regular season). So naturally, Auburn's non-conference schedule this year is hardly what you would call a gauntlet of powerhouses. Other than a few difficult games against North Carolina State, Niagara and Florida State, the Tigers should be sitting pretty with at least a 12-3 record by the time SEC play kicks off. All signs point to the SEC being much stronger this season, meaning that Auburn would likely need to reach nine wins to get tournament consideration if they don't stumble out of the gate.

80. Illinois State Redbirds

Fans were given an extended preview of Illinois State's 09-10 season last March when junior guard Osiris Eldridge combined for 42 points against Creighton and Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament. And even though the Redbirds eventually lost in the title game, it was painfully obvious that Eldridge had established himself as one of the most dangerous scorers in the conference. Now a senior, it's inevitable that Eldridge will find a way to improve on his 14 point per game average from a year ago. Things can be rough when you have to play without a go-to scorer in the Missouri Valley Conference, so Eldridge's presence gives Illinois State a shot to beat anybody in the league.