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Friday, October 13, 2006
Blatant plug for Blue Ribbon
The new Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is out and even if we had not written the Patriot League section, we'd insist it remains the top preview publication going. Ours arrived in the mailbox yesterday; 384 pages of facts, figures and information. No filler. No advertisements.

You can order yours now by going to the Blue Ribbon Web site. While there, you might want to bookmark BR Editor Chris Dortch's new BasketBlog page. Not much there now, but Chris promises a top notch effort and if the Yearbook is any indication, we are sure it will be.

Along with co-conspirators Kyle and Ken, Blue Ribbon will also be launching its own power rankings this season. They also are planning a return of their popular NCAA Tournament Guide come spring.

Obviously we are not going to post the stories we wrote for Blue RIbbon here. But we will offer a quicky, capsule preview version in hopes of whetting your appetite.

Here is our early preseason predicted order of finish, along with an excerpt from each team's previews that should help explain our reasoning:

1. BUCKNELL:
Until somebody knocks them off, Bucknell is still the team to beat,” said Colgate coach Emmett Davis.

Davis’ reasoning is simple.

“With (Chris) McNaughton inside, they will still be a very good team,” Davis said
2. HOLY CROSS:
With four of five starters from that team returning, there is plenty of reason for optimism in Worcester. . . . A healthy Holy Cross will contend for the league title.
3. COLGATE:
On paper, the Raiders look like a challenger for the league title. But that was the case last year, too, which makes it tough to predict big things for this year’s squad. . . . Simply put, the quality of the team as a whole last season was far less than the sum of its parts.
4. AMERICAN:
There are too many ifs for AU to project the Eagles as title contenders this season. But, if (there is that word again) things fall into place, it could be a big season in D.C. . . . The ingredients are there, potentially: depth, size, scoring, experience.
5. LEHIGH:
. . . depth is a big question. . . . With the experienced rosters that are back for a lot of other schools in the league, it is tough to see Lehigh contending for the title. A more realistic goal for the Mountain Hawks might be earning a home tournament game by finishing in the top four of the eight-team league.
6. NAVY:
When Navy was a power in the Patriot League during the mid-90s, they won games by coming at you in waves. Lange is developing that kind of depth in the backcourt. With guys like Sprink, Johnson and Kina, the Mids backcourt could be very special . . . in 2007. . . . At that point, Lange’s team could surprise some people. Navy is clearly an improved program over Lange’s first two seasons.
7. ARMY:
While Army is in good shape on the perimeter, the paint might be a different story. . . . If the inside game develops to compliment the perimeter attack, Army might be able to climb out of the cellar.
8. LAFAYETTE:
(Fran)O’Hanlon’s contract at Lafayette runs through 2014. By the time it ends, expect the Leopards program to be back near the top of the league year in and year out. . . . Just don’t expect it this year. With the question marks surrounding this year’s squad, and a challenging schedule that starts with a preseason NIT date with Indiana, matching last season’s 11 wins would be a realistic, and demanding, goal.
Our preseason all-league team? We won't give away names, but it includes four guards and a center (unlike our annual post-season All-Hoop Time team, this five is purely the guys we felt are the best five players in the league).

The actual entire section runs seven pages of fairly small type, so obviously this is a small sampling. You'll need to buy the book to read the rest.
Published at 5:27 AM by Hoop Time.
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