Alas, another March Madness has come and gone.
With this year wrapped decisively in Carolina blue, we turn our eyes towards next year. Will it be another year of Tar Heel bliss? Will the Big East continue to impress? Who's heading up and who's sliding down? It's time to pull out the crystal ball again and see what's in store for next year. So without further ado, let's see what to look for in 2010...
The South will rise again. Expect the SEC to recover from its miserable slump and come back stronger next year. Florida will bounce back and be a NCAA team, while Bruce Pearl will continue to succeed at Tennessee. Trent Johnson is laying the foundation for something big at LSU, while Darrin Horn could have a real darkhorse in South Carolina. Anthony Grant will send a fresh wave of energy through Alabama. And oh yeah, did anyone forget that John Calipari is the new head coach at Kentucky?
Speaking of Calipari, while he's at Kentucky, and Rick Pitino's at Louisville, expect a surge of Italian restaurants to hit the Bluegrass State. Kentucky Fresh Pasta, anyone?
North Carolina will be a little down from last year. After all, you don't lose Tyler Hansbrough and expect to go up, do you? But as long as Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington stay in Chapel Hill though, UNC will still be incredibly tough to beat.
Kansas will win another Big 12 title. Okay, so I didn't look in the crystal ball to make this prediction, but let's face it. KU put on the court a much different team than the 2008 national champions, and still won the conference title. Should we expect anything less?
Speaking of another Kansas team, for some reason, I expect Wichita State to make a serious rise in 2010. Nothing in particular, except for the fact that Gregg Marshall is a heck of a basketball coach and I have to believe that, in his third season, he'll make the Shockers a mid-major threat again.
The Big East won't be as potent, but it'll still send half of its conference to the NCAA tournament. Despite the slight fall from this past year, the Big East tournament will still be one of the best tickets in college basketball.
Oklahoma will be way down with Blake Griffin heading to the NBA. If Willie Warren, OU's very talented freshman guard, joins Griffin in going pro, the Sooners will have a long 2010 season.
Billy Gillispie will sit out this season somewhere in Texas, where he'll take a job somewhere in the Lone Star State for the 2010-11 season. And unlike at Kentucky, he'll succeed there.
Tom Crean's second season at Indiana will be a surprising one, not in that they'll improve, but by how much they'll improve. The Hoosiers don't have much time to wait before they're back in the Big 10 picture.
The big-name coach that will retire at the end of the 2010 season? I'm going with Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. Honestly, I have no clue as to why, it's just a hunch that I have.
And finally, in what may be the clearest picture in the crystal ball yet, Wisconsin will go through the 2009-10 season without coming close to scoring 100 points in a game.
This season may be over, but already I can't wait to see what actually happens next year! What are you looking forward to?
