The Ohio Bobcats became one of the darlings of the 2010 NCAA Tournament when they upset three seed Georgetown in the first round. Coach Jim Groce is hoping the Bobcats can carry that momentum into next season. Ohio will be without their March Madness hero Armon Basset, but have ace point guard D.J. Cooper and powerful forward DeVaughn Washington back in Athens. Ohio is hoping they can punch their ticket to tournament this year by winning the MAC outright. Last season the coach Groce’s team had to win the conference tournament to make it to the Big Dance. On the upside, Alex Kellog will be eligible to play after transfering from Providence University last year. Alex’s point guard brother Nick will also be a Bobcats this year as a freshmen. Coach Groce also has double-digit scoring starters Steven Coleman and Tommy Freeman back in green this year. If Ohio plays up to their potential we could be seeing them back in the tourney in 2011.

Lipscomb University is hardly a force in NCAA Divison I basketball, but the Bison have one of the nation’s most exciting players. Center Adnan Hodzic averaged more points per game last season than any returning player this year. The 21-year-old grew up in the war-torn city of Sarajevo during bloody Bosnian War of the 1990’s. A eye injury Adnan suffered as a child punched his family’s ticket out of the country, as the Hodzic’s were allowed to leave the country to attend to their son’s medical needs. Adnan and his family settled in Columbus, Ohio where he eventually found his way to basketball. Hodzic didn’t start playing organized basketball until the 8th grade, and was slow to develop in high school. Landing at Lipscomb, Hodzic quickly learned how to attack the basket in the post and made the freshmen all-conference honors. Last season Hodzic led the Bison to a Atlantic Sun regular season title. College basketball fans should keep their eye on Hodzic this season, because Lipscomb might punch their first ticket to the Big Dance in 2011.

Following in the footsteps of his older brothers Miles and Mason, Marshall Plumlee has committed to Duke University to play his college basketball. When Marshall joins Coach K’s roster it will mark the first first time that three brothers all featured on one ACC team together. At 6′11, Marshall has a inch on his pair of 6′10 brothers. Last season as a sophomore Miles solidified himself as a important rebounder for the Blue Devils off the bench, and will play a much more involved role this year. Mason saw similar time on the court in his freshmen year. When the 2011-12 season rolls around opposing coaches won’t know what to do with themselves seeing Plumlee after Plumlee crash the boards. The signing of Marshall just gives Coach K more much needed strength in the paint for the future. I can’t wait to see these three brothers together inside the Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Bob Huggins and the West Virgina Mountaineers went all the way to Final Four in 2009, and should be in contention to return to college basketball’s summit in 2010. The Mountaineers are returning starters Devin Ebanks, Darryl Bryant, and Kevin Jones to Morgantown. Da’sean Butler graduated last year, but WVU should still be in the hunt for the Big East title. West Virgina finished the regular season in second place in the Big East with a 31-7 record, and lost in the semifinals to Syracuse in the Big East Tournament. The valuable experience that Ebanks, Bryant, Jones, and Joe Mazzula gained in the NCAA Tournament will make the Mountaineers both a better regular season team and a better tournament team. Kevin Jones gives WVU the size and scoring option down low that is so necessary in the Big East. Huggins also signed 6′10 ft Kevin Noreen out of Minnesota (a ESPN-rated 92 recruit). When all the pre-season Top 25 lists come out I don’t know how you couldn’t put West Virginia in at least your top 5.

The fact that Tom Izzo hasn’t  squashed rumors about leaving Michigan State for the Cleveland Cavaliers is proof enough for many that the Spartan coach could be on his way out of East Lansing. Early reports indicate that Izzo could make $6 million as the head coach of the Cavs (double what he currently makes at Michigan State). A anonymous source close to free agent superstar LeBron James was quoted in The Cleveland Plain Dealer stating the 2010 NBA MVP would endorse Izzo as the next Cavs head coach. One would think that the only way Izzo signs on to becoming the head man in Cleveland is if LeBron stays. Izzo is one of the great coaches in NCAA basketball at Michigan State with six Final Four appearances to his name. College coaches like Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian have failed miserably in the NBA, but they never had LeBron on their teams. Things are looking more likely that LeBron stays in Cleveland, but I’m sure there’s still some more twists and turns left in this story.

Though the rumors still persist over University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari leaving Lexington for the NBA, the Wildcats have brought in what looks to be the best recruiting class in the nation. Calipari came out on his twitter account and declared that he would not make the jump to the NBA, but that hasn’t done much to quell the gossip. A masterful recruiter, Calipari’s talents seem better situated for the college game. Wildcat fans will have the pleasure of watching three ESPNU Top 25 recruits in #4 Brandon Knight, #9 Terrance Jones, and #25 Enes Kanter at the Rupp Arena this season. Knight, the rated second best point guard in the country, will have to replace the hole left by All-American John Wall. Wall will likely be drafted by the Washington Wizards with the first pick of the NBA Draft this year. The Cats’ will be young and really, really good again this year. So good that it might make Calipari want to stay in Lexington a very long time.

The measure to expand the NCAA Tournament to 68 teams from 65 teams has been approved by the NCAA. The announcement comes with the news that the tournament has reached a new T.V. agreement with CBS and Turner Broadcasting worth 10 billion large. The basic lesson is that March Madness is big $$. The only thing I’d like to see is CBS expanding their coverage to more than one channel. It can be so frustrating when they keep switching back and forth between games. The fan needs the ability to be able to choose which games they want to watch. Though I don’t mind the tournament moving to an even number of applicants, I hope that they avoid continuing to add more and more teams in the coming years. If you have something like 80 teams in the tourney it takes away from the spectacle of making the Big Dance.

Some may have been caught off guard when it was announced that Butler’s sophomore star Gordon Hayward would be entering in the NBA Draft for next season. Hayward was a big reason the Bulldogs made a run all the way into the National Championship game in March Madness and his stock might never be as high is it right now. Hayward was inches away from making the greatest last second shot in college basketball history when his half court shot just ringed out of the basket, giving Duke the title. The 6 ft 9 forward has the size and scoring capabilities have him predicted as a first round draft pick. The NBA’s CBA expiring is another reason for Hayward to make the jump to the professional ranks, because rookie salaries will likely be lowered after next year’s negotiations. Another aspect is it rumored that the Pacers are interested in drafting Hayward, because of the positive press they’d receive in drafting the local star. If Larry Bird and general manager David Morway decide to keep Hayward in Indiana, it would likely mean a bigger paycheck for the former Brownsburg, IN stand out. How Hayward’s NBA career turns out? Time will only tell.

Every season Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils are expected to make it to the Final Four, but when they beat Baylor this year to make it to Indianapolis it was the first time in six years. An experienced Duke team led by John Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith are the only #1 seed in this year’s Final Four defeating Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Cal, Purdue, and Baylor in convincing fashion. Scheyer, a senior guard, has led the team in points with 18.2 per game., but juniors Singler and Smith have been right behind him averaging around 17 points per game all season.  Senior Center Brian Zoubek has provided Coach K with a force in the paint that can rebound and defend down low giving the team a balance they’ve lacked in the past few seasons. When the ball tips off in Indianapolis Duke will be the favorites to win it all when they take on Bob Huggins’ West Virgina.

The amount of upsets this year’s NCAA Tournament has featured shows how the gap between college basketball’s elite programs and the rest of the country is shrinking. The strongest case for this phenomenon in the tournament could have been on display last night in Salt Lake City when the Horizon League’s Butler Bulldogs defeated the Big East regular season champs Syracuse 63-59. Butler punched their first ticket ever to Elite 8 thanks to inspired play by sophomore forward Gordon Hayward and senior guard Willie Veasley.

The Bulldogs have never sent a player to the NBA in the school’s history. The university outside of Indianapolis has been gaining steam since making the tourney for the first time in 35 years in 1997. The Bulldogs made two previous Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2003 and 2007, but have never been this close to a Final Four berth. Their opponent will be #7 nationally ranked Kansas State, who will be coming off a double overtime victory of Xavier. Butler will no doubt be the underdog against the Wildcats, but that might just be a role that suits the Bulldogs. Should be a great game.