Archive for July, 2014

Predicting the Biggest Underachieving Teams for the 2014-15 CBB Season

Posted by Brian Pedersen on July 30 2014 Add Comments
We're smack dab in the middle of college basketball's offseason, that long stretch from early April until mid-November when there are no games to keep us entertained. Instead, it's a time reserved a little bit for past reflection, but it's mostly devoted to future expectations. In other words, hype and hope. While offseason projections and predictions naturally tend to skew toward the positive, offering fanbases unbridled optimism for the upcoming season, the hard reality is that some ...

Syracuse Basketball: 1 Reason Each Orange Starter Will Be a Success in 2014-15

Posted by Justin Neuman on July 30 2014 Add Comments
The Syracuse basketball season needs to get here already. Is anyone else dying to see what Kaleb Joseph and Chris McCullough can do in an Orange uniform? Alas, the season is still a few months away. And after losing C.J. Fair, Jerami Grant, Tyler Ennis and Baye Keita, some would say it is shaping up to be a down year for the Orange in 2014-15. But that's not necessarily the case. Jim Boeheim still has some playmakers ...

Ohio State Basketball: Breaking Down the Buckeyes Bench for 2014-15 Season

Posted by Scott Polacek on July 30 2014 Add Comments
The Ohio State basketball program is about to find out if winning a Big Ten championship without the benefit of an established superstar is a possibility. The only way to do that is with critical contributions from the bench and a scoring-by-committee approach. With that in mind, what will the bench actually look like for the Buckeyes in the 2014-15 campaign? We projected the starting lineup earlier this offseason, and the thought here is that Ohio State goes ...

Brady Hoke Won’t Quiet Hot Seat Questions Without Michigan Victories

Posted by Michelle Bruton on July 29 2014 Add Comments
Brady Hoke told reporters at Day 1 of Big Ten Media Days, including MLive.com's Nick Baumgardner, that he's not worried about his job security at Michigan. But that doesn't mean the questions are going to stop anytime soon.  Athletic director Dave Brandon has dispelled notions that Brady is on the hot seat this season multiple times, most recently to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News. "I have all the confidence in the world that he’s bringing ...

Miami Football: 5 Hurricanes Poised for Breakout Seasons

Posted by David Kenyon on July 29 2014 Add Comments
College football followers are familiar with Duke Johnson, Stacy Coley and Denzel Perryman, but five lesser-known Miami Hurricanes are poised for breakout seasons in 2014. Youth, injury and nationally popular teammates have overshadowed the members of the list, keeping them as relatively unknown commodities beyond the conference landscape. The following 'Canes are organized by position, not by a subjective interpretation of the respective performances each player is capable of this season.Begin Slideshow

The Greatest Strength of Top College Basketball Teams in 2014-15

Posted by Kerry Miller on July 29 2014 Add Comments
The top college basketball teams for the 2014-15 season will each do one thing well enough contend for a national championship. For some of them, it's three-point shooting. For others, it's interior defense. Others still will simply be taller, better, faster and stronger than the competition. Whatever it is, there's something that clearly sets them apart from the crowd. After all, we wouldn't be expecting them to open the season ranked in the top 20 if they ...

Georgia Football: 3 Games That Could Ruin the Bulldogs’ 2014 Season

Posted by Brian Jones on July 29 2014 Add Comments
The Georgia Bulldogs could do a lot of special things this season. If they can stay healthy and the defense improves from what it was last season, they could have a chance to not only win the SEC, but also be one of the four teams that reach the first annual College Football Playoff. But the Bulldogs have been in position before to have a chance to be a national champion and came up short because they ...

Biggest Storylines Heading into Clemson’s Fall Camp

Posted by Bryan Manning on July 29 2014 Add Comments
The Clemson Tigers are just days away from the unofficial beginning of the 2014 college football season. Fall camp opens, and the countdown is on for the Tigers' trip to Georgia on August 30 to open the new season.  Much of the offseason talk has centered on Clemson's quarterback situation—and rightfully so. It's the most important position on the field, and the Tigers just graduated the top passer in the school's rich history.  But even with the ...

Kentucky Basketball: Who Will Be Wildcats’ Most Improved Returning Player?

Posted by Thad Novak on July 29 2014 Add Comments
Kentucky basketball has the unaccustomed luxury of getting to develop its young talent this offseason. With three starters and the entire bench returning, John Calipari will get to do more teaching than usual as the veterans look to build on last year’s near miss in the national title game. Some of those returnees, though, are likely to grow up a lot more than others in the time before the 2014-15 season tips off. The least likely ...

Nebraska Football: 5 Cornhuskers Primed for Breakout Seasons

Posted by Patrick Runge on July 29 2014 Add Comments
Nebraska football fans will be anxiously watching the 2014 season to see which players will become breakout stars. It’s the breakout stars, not the proven commodities, who can help propel a team like Nebraska from almost-there to contending for conference and national titles. So which Cornhuskers are primed for breakout seasons? Here are five candidates.Begin Slideshow