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College basketball media roundtable: part I

The Student Section convenes the first part of a college basketball media roundtable, with help from our partners at Awful Announcing. The second installment of this roundtable will be published Tuesday at AA.

North Carolina State and Wisconsin get buckets… of cold water

The first day of the college basketball season featured many buckets… including the buckets of very cold water which drenched a number of ambushed programs. It’s always a part of early-season college basketball: New faces and new lineups in a sport played by only five human beings at a time will create November instability. That’s […]

Hoops Preview: bold 2016 predictions

Preseason predictions are not meant to be taken too seriously. As long as you view them in a spirit of fun, they offer an enjoyable way to ease into the season. From a writer’s viewpoint or through a prognosticator’s eyes, a preseason prediction becomes serious — and somewhat important — only if said writer or […]

Hoops Preview: the best coach no one talks about

You’ve heard the expression a million different times in sports: “No one talks about him.” This is obviously a statement that’s not meant to be taken as a literal truth. Someone, somewhere, talks about a head coach at a program in the public eye. If you’re at Kennesaw State, okay, few will talk about you […]

Hoops Preview: early-season viewer’s guide

Through New Year’s Day, most of the focus in the college sports world will fall on football — that’s just the way it is. Yet, a lot of important college basketball will be played until the turn of the calendar year. League play will start for the power-conference teams in the final week of December. […]

Cracking the code: teams and coaches that are hard to read

One could say that before any sports season begins, all the participants are hard to read. However, you can sense what’s meant underneath the surface of that expression. The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team is going to win 90-something games, maybe 100. The Seattle Mariners are going to stumble. The Tom Brady New England Patriots […]

Hoops Preview: overrated and underrated conferences

Let’s not pretend to ignore the reality that before a season begins, notions of “overrated and underrated” can be quite tenuous. Nevertheless, conference strength is an undeniably fascinating water-cooler topic, a bread-and-butter part of college sports conversations. Football certainly leads the way in this regard, but basketball — while in second place — is abundantly […]

WASHINGTON DC-JANUARY 23: Hoays head caoch John Thompson III is shown during the Georgetown Hoyas defeat of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights . Washington DC January 23, 2010. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post) StaffPhoto imported to Merlin on Sat Jan 23 15:16:05 2010

Hoops Preview: programs which need to take the next step

Need. The term is easily used in place of “want,” but even for people with various views on the matter, the word can apply to a range of situations. We’re talking here about the college basketball programs which need to step up this season, or if not then, in the near future, a two- or […]

Hoops Preview: 5 underrated players due for breakout seasons

When thinking of the word underrated, another word — unappreciated — also comes to mind. However, that is not always the case. Hype and accolades can follow a player, and he can still be deprived of the recognition he deserves. This is true with a couple of the most underrated players going into the 2016 […]

This man’s in a lot of trouble.

Hoops Preview: coaches who receive too much praise… and heat

You might wonder why the title of this piece wasn’t simply “Underrated and Overrated Coaches.” There’s a reason for that. The overrrated part remains in place, but the underrated half of the equation could not be kept intact. In this conversation, Ryan Palencer and I will deal with overrated coaches, but the other half of […]

Hoops Preview: 5 Storylines to pay attention to in 2016

With the dawn of a new college basketball season on Friday, several pressing questions will certainly be answered sooner rather than later. How each of these storylines play out will certainly have a significant impact on the schools and individuals involved. * 1) How quickly will Shaka Smart impact Texas? Texas certainly made a splash […]

Hoops preview: the best and worst coaching hires from the past cycle

Plenty of coaching vacancies will open up again at the end of this season. As we noted earlier this week, a number of coaches are set up to fail in the coming months. How well did athletic directors fill vacancies during the past offseason cycle, particularly in the scramble during and immediately following the NCAA […]

Former University of Texas head basketball coach Rick Barnes addresses reporters after being named head coach at the University of Tennessee Tuesday, March 31, 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

5 ways the 2014-2015 season changed college basketball

Each season shapes and reshapes every sport. In many instances, the effects are short-term in nature. In some instances, the effects reach well into the future and cast a long shadow over the rest of the industry. In just about every instance beyond the immediacy of who wins and loses, it’s hard to know if […]

The worst thing about college basketball

College basketball is something we love here at The Student Section, but a loving relationship sometimes requires you to get mad at the one you love. If you care enough about something or someone, you will express your anger when you feel you need to. In our latest discussion of college basketball on the eve […]

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