Welcome to The Sports Bank’s third annual college basketball season preview series. Two years we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. Last year, we were slightly more aggressive and expanded to 111 teams in 111 days and will do so again as we look ahead to the 2012-2013 season.
We will rank the 75 power conference teams and top 36 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
The Florida Gators season tipped off Friday evening… sorta. Their much anticipated aircraft carrier game versus Georgetown was cancelled after the first half due to condensation on the court.
FLORIDA GATORS
Last Season: T-2nd, 10-6 in SEC, 26-11 overall
Predicted SEC Finish: 3rd
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Patric Young (Jr)
PF: Erik Murphy (Sr)/Will Yeguette (Jr)
G/F: Casey Prather (Jr)/Michael Frazier (Fr)/Devon Walker (Fr)
SG: Mike Rosario (Sr)/Dillon Graham (Fr)
PG: Kenny Boynton (Sr)/Scottie Wilbekin (Jr)/Braxton Ogbueze (Fr)
Gone: SG-Bradley Beal, PG-Erving Walker, F/C-Walter Pitchford (transfer-Nebraska), C/F-Cody Larson (transfer)
2012-2013 Outlook:
Florida will once again rely on their talented group of guards to lead the way this season. With expected starting point guard Scottie Wilbekin suspended indefinitely by Billy Donovan for undisclosed reasons, Kenny Boynton will run the point. The three-point gunner has played off the ball most of his college career so his transition until Wilbekin’s return will be vital to the Gators’ success.
With Bradley Beal and Erving Walker gone, Mike Rosario will step into a bigger role on the wing. The Rutgers transfer is a pure scorer but struggled to find his niche last season coming off the bench. Casey Prather brings athleticism and versatility to the starting five while four freshmen will make up the depth at guard. Braxton Ogbueze is the most highly-touted of that group and his role should be bigger than expected due to Wilbekin’s suspension.
Patric Young and Erik Murphy form a solid frontcourt duo. Young is a beast inside, plays with an incredible motor, but is fairly limited on the offensive end. Murphy is an inside/outside threat who can stretch defenses with his three point shooting.
The frontcourt depth took a major hit with Cody Larson’s decision to transfer just prior to the start of the season. That will leave Donovan with only Young and Murphy as their big guys. Will Yeguette and Prather will see some time at the four but Florida has used three, even four-guard line-ups in the past so expect to see a lot of that again this year.
Florida did pick up a couple of key transfers who will tremendously help the frontcourt depth next season. Damontre Harris comes from South Carolina while athletic forward Dorian Finney-Smith arrives in Gainesville after spending his freshman campaign at Virginia Tech.
Player to Watch: Mike Rosario
The former McDonald’s All-American was a volume scorer in his first two seasons at Rutgers but struggled to earn minutes last year with guys like Beal, Walker, and Boynton ahead of him on the depth chart. Rosario needs to return to his scoring ways now that he figures to see regular minutes.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/14 vs. Wisconsin
11/18 at Middle Tennessee
11/23 vs.UCF
11/29 vs. Marquette
12/5 at Florida State
12/15 at Arizona
12/22 vs.Kansas State
OTHER 111 IN 111’S:
#10 Michigan Wolverines
#11 Syracuse Orange
#12 Duke Blue Devils
#13 Ohio State Buckeyes
#14 Arizona Wildcats
#15 North Carolina Tar Heels
#16 Michigan State Spartans
#17 UCLA Bruins
#18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
#19 Cincinnati Bearcats
#20 Marquette Golden Eagles
#21 Creighton Bluejays
#22 Gonzaga Bulldogs
#23 Minnesota Golden Gophers
#24 Memphis Tigers
#25 Baylor Bears
#26 Wisconsin Badgers
#27 Tennessee Volunteers
#28 Pitt Panthers
#29 New Mexico Lobos
#30 St. Mary’s Gaels
#31 Georgetown Hoyas
#32 North Texas Mean Green
#33 Ohio Bobcats
#34 Texas Longhorns
#35 Miami Hurricanes
#36 Purdue Boilermakers
#37 Alabama Crimson Tide
#38 St. Joseph’s Hawks
#39 Murray State Racers
#40 VCU Rams
#41 Davidson Wildcats
#42 Stanford Cardinal
#43 UMass Minutemen
#44 St. John’s Red Storm
#45 Butler Bulldogs
#46 Florida State Seminoles
#47 Drexel Dragons
#48 St. Louis Billikens
#49 West Virginia Mountaineers
#50 BYU Cougars
#51 Temple Owls
#52 Washington Huskies
#53 California Golden Bears
#54 Kansas State Wildcats
#55 Nevada Wolfpack
#56 Colorado Buffaloes
#57 Iowa State Cyclones
#58 Northern Iowa Panthers
#59 Colorado State Rams
#60 Iowa Hawkeyes
#61 South Florida Bulls
#62 Valparaiso Crusaders
#63 Illinois Fighting Illini
#64 Arkansas Razorbacks
#65 Wichita State Shockers
#66 George Mason Patriots
#67 Virginia Cavaliers
#68 Villanova Wildcats
#69 Maryland Terrapins
#70 Marshall Thundering Herd
#71 Iona Gaels
#72 Northwestern Wildcats
#73 Oklahoms State Cowboys
#74 Rutgers Scarlet Knights
#75 USC Trojans
#76 UConn Huskies
#77 Harvard Crimson
#78 Xavier Musketeers
#79 Ole Miss Rebels
#80 Clemson Tigers
#81 Oregon State Beavers
#82 Texas A&M Aggies
#83 Providence Friars
#84 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
#85 Oklahoma Sooners
#86 Lehigh Mountain Hawks
#87 Washington State Cougars
#88 Long Beach State 49ers
#89 Belmont Bruins
#90 Vanderbilt Commodores
#91 Dayton Flyers
#92 Houston Cougars
#93 UCF Knights
#94 Old Dominion Monarchs
#95 Oregon Ducks
#96 LSU Tigers
#97 South Carolina Gamecocks
#98 Seton Hall Pirates
#99 Georgia Bulldogs
#100 DePaul Blue Demons
#101 Boston College Eagles
#102 Penn State Nittany Lions
#103 Arizona State Sun Devils
#104 Virginia Tech Hokies
#105 Texas Tech Red Raiders
#106 Auburn Tigers
#107 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
#108 TCU Horned Frogs
#109 Mississippi State Bulldogs
#110 Utah Utes
#111 Nebraska Cornhuskers
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag.)
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.