Sports InsideOut

Three of the four Final Four teams from last year played in a two game showcase in Chicago last night. AP Top 5 teams Duke and Kentucky (#6 and #2 in my preseason ranking, respectively) faced off and a defending Final Four team in Michigan State faced AP top 5 Kansas (#13 and #5 in my poll, respectively) faced off in Chicago in the Champions Classic.  Kentucky beat Duke fairly handily, winning 74-63, and Michigan State surprisingly pulled it out against Kansas 79-73. On the UK-Duke Game This was supposed to be a matchup between star players #2 recruit Skal Labissiere from Kentucky, star recruit Brandon Ingram from Duke, and Grayson Allen, who came in averaging 27 PPG for Duke.  Instead, all three players played pretty terrible, as Ingram and Labissiere barely played due to foul trouble, poor defense and rebounding, and lack of effectiveness on offense.  Grayson Allen played major minutes, but had an off night, missing his first 9 shots.  Despite these things, it w...

25. Purdue The Boilermakers just slide in to the top 25.  Many people have them ranked higher, but I think their guards are too weak, especially at point guard.  Caleb Swanigan was a big recruit for them, but doesn't fill a need at all, as AJ Hammons is fantastic, Isaac Haas is very good behind him, Vince Edwards is a stud and will only improve, and Basil Smotherman is solid behind them.  The big need was a point guard, with Jon Octeus gone.  However, Purdue did almost nothing to fill this need, adding only Texas-Arlington guard Johnny Hill.  Dakota Mathias, and P.J. Thompson and Kendall Stephens are three decent returning guards at first glance, but none of them shot better than 35.1 percent from the field. 24. LSU Meet Ben Simmons, a combination of elite rebounding, elite passing, elite shooting, elite defending, elite scoring, etc.  He has drawn comparisons to LeBron, though taller, arguably more polished and a better rebounder and passer than LeBron...

Honorable Mention: Mississippi St (Malik Newman!!), Davidson and BYU 50. South Carolina The Gamecocks take the final spot in the top 50, led by Sindarius Thornwell, a former top recruit, and highly rated Perry Dozier, South Carolina could be a sleeper this year. 49. Boise State One high scoring guard gone (Derrick Marks), and another one back from injury.  The Broncos return Anthony Drmic, one of the best shooters in the country and a fifth year senior, from injury, and also return big men James Webb and Nick Duncan.  They should improve on their First Four appearance from last year. 48. Ohio State This is the worst Buckeyes team in years.  They lose their top three players as well as their two biggest guys from only a decent team.  However, they may be underrated, as they return shooter Cam Williams, 6-4 big man Jae'Sean Tate, as well as Marc Loving, who shot 46.1 % from three last year.  Sophomore Keita Bates-Diop has to take the next step, but they d...