Preseason 20-16

20. Wisconsin (31-5)
Last Year: Lost in Sweet 16
Coach: Bo Ryan
Stud: Trevon Hughes
Glue: Marcus Landry
Schedule: Marquette,Texas, (Miami, or UCONN in the Paradise Jam)

How in the world is Wisconsin this good every year? I was dumbfounded that they won 31 games last year. Bo Ryan and his Swing Offense have to be a major part of why the Badgers are a consistent upper-echelon Big Ten team each and every season. They should be at or around the top this time around as well. Trevon Hughes averaged 11 a game as a sophomore. Hughes is in the Devin Harris mold, where he is more than likely going to cause match-up problems with his quickness. Marcus Landry has gotten better each season, and should continue this trend. He is a bull inside, and also has a decent perimeter game. Joe Krabbenhoft, Jason Bohannon, and Jon Leuer look like they could have played on my Chancellor teams( ie they're white). They all provide something different, with Krabbenhoft doing a little bit of everything, Bohannon steadying the point and running the offense, and Leuer providing some athleticism and 3 balls. The schedule has some challenges with in-state rival Marquette, plus Texas and possibly UCONN or Miami. The Big 10 won't be that bad outside of Michigan St. or Purdue. Wisconsin will once again be at the top of the Big 10, and people once again will not know how.

19. Arizona St. (21-13)
Last Year: Lost in NIT quarters
Coach: Herb Sendek
Stud: James Harden
Glue: Jeff Pendergraph
Schedule: San Diego St, BYU, Pac-10

I honestly don't know much about these guys, although apparently they're supposed to be pretty good. I do know Sendek was a really good coach when he was at N.C.State, so he seems to know a little bit. James Harden is a legitimate lottery pick by all accounts, and Jeff Pendergraph gives them a nice inside-outside duo. The Schedule won't kill them, so look for them to be possibly undefeated once Pac-10 play starts.

18. Kansas (37-3)
Last Year: National Champions
Coach: Bill Self
Stud: Sherron Collins
Glue: Cole Aldrich
Schedule: Tennessee, Michigan St. Big 12

The Jayhawks will probably be a lot like Florida was last year, with maybe a little bit better results. They simply lost too much from last year and will have too many kids playing vital minutes to really make a serious run. Losing Rush, Arthur, Robinson, Chalmers, Kaun, and Jackson would murder almost any program for at least a year. They are still the defending champs however, so the key is for the returnees to step up and play out of their heads, while the newcomers need to grow up and not play like freshman. It all starts with Chicagoian Sherron Collins. Coming straight from the Khalid El-Amin school of floor generals (think man boobies), he did hit a lot of big shots last year, and appears to be more than capable of replacing Chamlmers. Cole Aldrich should be the focal point inside, while the rest of the minutes will be taken up by newcomers. JC transfer Mario Little is a swing man who will take Rush's spot. Others will get some time include Tyrone Appleton, Quintrell Thomas, and Tyshawn Taylor. Kansas gets ranked this high almost as a tribute to last season. Look for them to struggle early, then make a run at the tourney late in the year.

17. Miami Fla. ( 23-11)
Last Year: Lost in the 2nd round to Texas
Coach: Frank Haith
Stud: Jack McClinton
Glue: Dwayne Collins
Schedule: Ohio St. Kentucky, (Wisconsin or UCONN in Paradise Jam) ACC

Look at The U. Their basketball team is ranked higher than, and has been more successful than their much more highly publicized football squad since the move to the ACC. They have the highest expectations in the ACC outside of Chapel Hill and Durham. They could have made it to the Sweet 16 last year if they hadn't lost a lead to Texas. They return 4 starters, none of whom is more important than Jack McClinton. He was second in the league in 3's and hit 91.9 percent of his free throws. They have some bangers inside to go along with his outside proficiency, as Dwayne Collins, Jimmy Graham, and Cyrus McGowan go 6-8,6-8 and 6-9. They also have 6-9 frosh Reggie Johnson as another big to throw in the mix. The combination of Lance Hurdle and Eddie Rios will man the point. Both should be better with another year experience. McClinton will be the bread and butter, but unlike someone like Tyrece Rice from BC, he'll have the soldiers (Kellen Winslow reference) to go to war in a watered down ACC. The schedule isn't a killer, so the Canes should be dancing into the Sweet 16.

16. Xavier (30-7)
Last year: Lost in the Elite 8
Coach: Sean Miller
Stud: Derrick Brown
Glue: B.J.Raymond
Schedule: Duke,LSU, (Memphis,or USC, in the Puerto Rico Classic) Atlantic 10

Xavier has clearly supplanted Cincinnati as the Kings of the Queen City. They along with Gonzaga have carried the mid-major flag so upwards of ten years. They get ranked a little higher than they may finish here by yours truly because, like with Kansas, I factored in how they finished last year into my ranking. The Musketeers will still be really good, but they do lose their two starting guards in Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender. It will start with junior Derrick Brown. Xavier will have to do things inside out this year, and Brown was the second leading scorer. He is an athlete who can drive or score from outside. B.J.Raymond will be another outside threat, while C.J.Anderson and Jason Love will be counted upon more for scoring and boards. Terrell Holloway looks to take over at the point, with Raymond, and Dante Jackson getting minutes at the wings. The schedule shouldn't be too difficult, with early tests against Duke,and possibly Memphis and USC in Puerto Rico getting them ready for the relatively painless A-10 slate. Look for Xavier to take a spot in the top 25 with a conference championship, and probably an early exit in the tourney. The guard play is just too much of a question mark.

Georgia vs. Arizona St. : a marriage proposal

Last weekend, I missed the last three quarters of the Georgia-South Carolina game because of a wedding. I wasn't all that bummed, however, because I'm actually a pretty big fan of weddings.

In fact, I love weddings and not just because of the movie Wedding Crashers, although that doesn't hurt, but what I really love is seeing the bride and groom on display, like bugs pinned down in a glass case. I like to see their facial expressions as the marriage pin bears down on them. Do they smile at eternity or do they squirm from the pressure?

I also love the anticipation that builds for the reception because throughout the ceremony, I'm really just wondering what drink to order first. This past Saturday I went with Jim Beam and Coke. I'm usually a beer guy, but I decided to spice it up.

But it's not just the bride and groom as lab rats that I enjoy or the Christmas Eve anticipation for an open bar, it's that I think I'm a better person at weddings than I am anywhere else. I feel I was born to celebrate.

At one point, I was dancing with a girl and both her earrings went flying from her lobes. One went to the left, and one went to the right. I caught the one that went to the right in my left hand, and the one that went to the left in my right hand, never losing the beat and not spilling my drink. Yes, I grew a third arm specifically for this occasion because I came prepared, and last Saturday, I was prepared to be a dancing machine. It was my night, and it didn't matter what the band threw at me.

Stevie Wonder...nailed it. "Shout"...on top of it. Frank Sinatra...swung it. I could have danced to a kazoo and an accordian duet last weekend and been on point.

Maybe the steady chain of Jim Beam and Cokes was my Popeye's spinach, my cream and the clear, or maybe it was the relief I got when Langston texted me that Georgia had escaped from South Carolina with a 14-7 victory, intercepting the Gamecocks' final chance to score in the end zone that loosened up my hips and spine. Either way it was a strange coincidence that I received the victory news only a few minutes after the preacher said, "you may now kiss the bride."

Earlier, when I left the hotel, the score of the game was still 0-0, at the end of the first quarter, and Langston sent me a text asking for a prediction. I faked confidence and sent Langston a Georgia 35 South Carolina 17 text. I made the prediction more to calm my own nerves than the fact that I thought it would actually happen. There was no way Georgia was going to put up 35 points with the way their receivers were dropping Stafford's passes, but sometimes, one has to go out on a limb. Sometimes, one has to make a leap of faith. Sometimes, one has to dance.

Sometimes, a fan has to ask, "will you marry me?"

Love does not always travel in a straight line. Georgia started the season number one, and I was preparing one-liners for all the other SEC schools, polishing my tongue like a hunting knife. I was ready to talk some shhhhh...that's right, all of the profane cockiness got quickly muted when Georgia started the season 3-0, but slipped to number three in the polls.

The first two games of the season were like casually talking to a girl at work, slowly getting to know her. There was no pressure in the back and forth discourse; it was Georgia Southern and Troy. South Carolina was the first date, and it went alright; but it's unclear where this relationship is headed now. Relationship might even be too strong of a word because at this point, fate seems to be against this Georgia season's marriage to a national championship, and in turn, this season may not wind up on display, like a bug, in a glass case, in every Georgia fan's memory.

Did I mention the road to the altar is not always a straight line? Did I mention Georgia is 3-0 but sliding in the polls? The stars appear crossed. This season's girl seems too busy. She's infatuated with other suitors. She's playing the field, and she's calling less than she did during the summer. The first date went well--14-7. It wasn't flawless, but everyone left saying they had a good time. Love zigs. Love zags. And there are nights when receivers catch everything, like they have three arms--two that catch earrings and one that steadies the Jim Beam and Coke. But there are also nights when earrings fall and the drinks splatter, making the dance floor a sea of lost pearls.

Georgia dropped some pearls against South Carolina, but the season was not lost. She'll call back. It might not be immediately, but true love is patient and finds ways to occupy the waiting.

This past week I went to work and didn't think of the South Carolina game at all. Tonight, I checked my messages. Nothing. But I know she's calling back tomorrow. Tomorrow she will zig, and I will zag, meeting somewhere in a desert, looking for lost pearls.

Tomorrow, Georgia makes their proposal, and more important than the "yes" or the "no" may be the style points they receive from the voters because apparently, the size of the diamond does matter.

The road to marriage, however, is built on trust and taking one game at a time. In other words, love takes eternity, and diamond rings are built from centuries of pressure, not three weeks of statistics and opinion.

(Georgia wins over Arizona St., but I'm not making any score predictions. Also, congratulations, Jon and Jess. You deserve it.)