CATCH OF THE DAY:
Hardwood classic starts next week

November 5, 2009 by Sage Sammons 

It’s only November and March Madness is in the air. Runnin’ Rebels start the season versus Washburn on Tuesday.

The air is finally cooling off and the faint sounds of the basketball bouncing are coming to the forefront for many college students around the country. Can you believe that the season is less than a week away?

So with the season right around the corner, the Associated Press came out with their rankings and so did the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll. Both polls gave Kansas the nod as the number one team in the nation, followed by Michigan State and Texas. The AP has Kentucky fourth, Villanova fifth and North Carolina sixth, whereas ESPN has North Carolina fourth, Kentucky fifth and Villanova sixth in their poll.

From there the polls differ from team to team. I like the ESPN poll because UNLV got two votes, while in the AP they received none.

But really how much do these polls mean?

Absolutely nothing, especially the preseason polls. None of the top 25 teams have played a regular season game – Kentucky did play a exhibition game and all I have to say is, wow – so it is really hard to judge how a team is going to do. It just puts pressure on them to do well.

Do I wish UNLV was in the polls a little higher? Absolutely, but they aren’t getting any respect from the media, yet. And they shouldn’t. Last year, when the media gave them some respect predicting them first in the Mountain West, the Rebels slapped them in the face by being bounced from the MWC tourney in the first round.

The Rebels eventually fell to Kentucky, who went on to win the National Invitational Tournament. That NIT victory went a long way toward boosting them up to No. 4 in the nation and giving them some first place votes, but a new coach also changes the perception.

Right now the perception that the Rebels need to give to the nation is that they are the biggest underdog. They need to be the bracket buster that every team is cussing out come March because they didn’t realize how good this team is.

And yes, they are that good.

But the other teams are pretty good too. Louisville was a number-one seed going into the tournament last year, and this year they look to bounce back to that spot. To ESPN, they are the No. 23 team in the nation, giving the Rebels a chance to knock off a ranked team around Thanksgiving.

That is just one team that is on the “receiving votes” list that the Rebels will play this season. Kansas State, BYU, San Diego State, Southern Illinois and a possible matchup with Southern Cal all are teams that Rebels will play this year that received votes in the ESPN poll. Of all the teams listed, the Rebels will only have to travel to BYU and SDSU and will play Kansas State and possibly USC on neutral courts.

The slogan for the Rebels this year is “be.” “Be a Rebel,” “be a fan” and the list goes on and on. All the Rebels will have to do to make the nation recognize them is win, so all they have to do is “be winners.”

First tip is Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. “Be there.”