2008 Woodie Awards
No shortage of drama in college hoops
Jake Laxen
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Sports
Right after a hectic and exciting college football season, the NCAA is outdoing itself again in providing an exciting college basketball season.
While last season it was strongly evident that Florida would repeat as national champions, this year in college hoops there truly is no clear-cut favorite.
Memphis certainly is silencing skeptics, as they are the nation's only unbeaten team.
The Tigers play their system perfect and have the athleticism and speed to beat teams. Their biggest knock continues to be that they play in a weak Conference USA, and will not be prepared when they play schools from the powerhouse conferences.
The Tigers have slowed a bit in their conference with their past two match-ups being more competitive. But they have proved they can play at the high level when the beat Georgetown earlier in the year, despite not matching up well against the Hoyas height.
Despite all their success and the realistic possibility that Memphis will enter the tournament undefeated, everyone will be waiting for them to prove that history will not just repeat itself.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski has Duke in good position yet again with guard DeMarcus Nelson leading the solid Blue Devils.
Yet Duke has struggled in the postseason of late, making the Elite Eight just once since they last won the national title in 2000-01.
Kansas is certainly one of the better squads in the nation as Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush have developed into stars, living up to their big name.
Like Memphis, the Jayhawks tend to fall short of their potential come March. The difference this year is that the team is experienced and have all the pieces in place to go further than last year's Elite Eight apperance.
Roy Williams has North Carolina in good shape yet again, but the Tar Heels rely too much on forward Tyler Hansbrough, who scores 21.8 ppg and averages 9.9 rebounds a game. That alone should prevent them from cutting down too many nets in March.
While last season it was strongly evident that Florida would repeat as national champions, this year in college hoops there truly is no clear-cut favorite.
Memphis certainly is silencing skeptics, as they are the nation's only unbeaten team.
The Tigers play their system perfect and have the athleticism and speed to beat teams. Their biggest knock continues to be that they play in a weak Conference USA, and will not be prepared when they play schools from the powerhouse conferences.
The Tigers have slowed a bit in their conference with their past two match-ups being more competitive. But they have proved they can play at the high level when the beat Georgetown earlier in the year, despite not matching up well against the Hoyas height.
Despite all their success and the realistic possibility that Memphis will enter the tournament undefeated, everyone will be waiting for them to prove that history will not just repeat itself.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski has Duke in good position yet again with guard DeMarcus Nelson leading the solid Blue Devils.
Yet Duke has struggled in the postseason of late, making the Elite Eight just once since they last won the national title in 2000-01.
Kansas is certainly one of the better squads in the nation as Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush have developed into stars, living up to their big name.
Like Memphis, the Jayhawks tend to fall short of their potential come March. The difference this year is that the team is experienced and have all the pieces in place to go further than last year's Elite Eight apperance.
Roy Williams has North Carolina in good shape yet again, but the Tar Heels rely too much on forward Tyler Hansbrough, who scores 21.8 ppg and averages 9.9 rebounds a game. That alone should prevent them from cutting down too many nets in March.