It's clear what the ultimate goal and expectation is for the 2013-14 Kentucky basketball team:  Raise the school's ninth national championship banner in Rupp Arena and make a run at a 40-0 record.  While those two goals are ambitious for the inexperienced Wildcats, they can be reached if each player plays to their potential in John Calipari's system. Read on to see a pass-fail mark for the four expected starters and then Alex Poythress and James Young, ...

In case you didn't know, Kentucky is good again.  That's what the preseason polls tell us, at least. The Associated Press preseason Top 25 came out on Thursday, and John Calipari's Wildcats were right where Big Blue Nation likes them to be.  "Last year, we learned some very important lessons," Calipari told fans at UK's Big Blue Madness two weeks ago. "We were humbled. I was humbled."  Translation: It's time to move on. Don't worry. That humility stuff ...

Gonzaga basketball’s success this season will be predicated on the play of its top players. With the loss of players such as Kelly Olynyk, Elias Harris, Mike Hart and Guy Landry Edi, players on whom Gonzaga relied heavily last season, the Zags will need to see significant growth in their remaining players. The following are pass-fail marks, or stat lines that must be reached, for Gonzaga’s most talented players in the coming season.Begin Slideshow

New UCLA head coach Steve Alford has his first recruiting gem as a member of the Bruins: 5-star power forward Kevon Looney. The Milwaukee native's recruitment was impossible to predict. Florida, Duke and Tennessee all looked like legitimate leaders (Michigan State and Wisconsin were also very much in the running) for his recruitment at some point in the last couple of days, but in the end, the Bruins won out, per CBS Sports' Jeff Borzello: Looney, according ...

The first AP Top 25 college basketball poll of the 2013-14 season features Kentucky at the top, followed by a number of blue bloods close behind.  The Wildcats narrowly earned the top spot in the poll thanks to an excellent recruiting class that was ranked No. 1 in the country by 247Sports, despite missing out on the NCAA Tournament a year ago. John Calipari nabbed commitments from five of the top 10 players in the composite rankings, ...

College basketball teams are beginning their preseason "Midnight Madness" and "Hoopfest" activities, which means lots and lots of insane dunks are coming our way. Eastern Kentucky's Marcus Lewis may have had the best dunk of them all during the team's dunk contest with this reverse dunk over a guy. Hat tip to Bob's Blitz for the find.Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com

Josh Kioh is going as a monster for Halloween—a small, high-flying monster. The 5'8" dunk master recently put on a show for members of the Adams State University basketball program, which graciously allowed him to participate in its preseason dunk contest. His crowning flush was a mind-bending, 360 dunk from way out in the paint that effectively shut the gym down. Eric Goldschein of Sports Grid spotted the amazing slam, which was originally attributed to Adams State point ...

The No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks have big hopes for the upcoming season, and that's because small forward Andrew Wiggins has the potential to lead his team to an NCAA title. Wiggins, the top recruit in the nation, will be starting from Day 1 in Kansas. He has the potential to take over games, even if it may take him a few outings to adjust to a higher level of play. It may not be fair to put ...

The 2013-14 College Basketball season is going to be awesome! From the first exhibition games to the Final Four in North Texas, we will see talented individual players and ridiculously loaded teams. Here are 10 of this year's college basketball stars who will most likely be lottery picks in next summer's NBA draft. Seven out of the 10 prospects on this list are freshmen. Half of these players come from two schools.   Here we go!  Begin Slideshow

P.J. Hairston's name made headlines this summer, but for all the wrong reasons. With college basketball season just around the corner, the extent of Hairston's suspension is still very much up in the air. Per usual, the Tar Heels are expected to contend in the ACC, though they will have competition with Duke and Virginia, while also being challenged by new members Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. As a sophomore, Hairston averaged 14.6 points, 4.3 rebounds ...