2008-2009 College Basketball Preview: Non-BCS Teams

Memphis and Gonzaga are routinely part of the Top 25 year in and year out. What people forget is that they play in non-major conferences like Conference USA and the West Coast Conference, respectively. Here are the mid-major teams to watch this season.

Davidson:

Where they play: Southern Conference
Why we like them: Stephen Curry (25.9 ppg) is unreal and singlehandedly took Davidson to the brink of the Final Four.
Caution: Curry lost heady PG Jason Richards to graduation. Now he needs to find his teammates and his own shot.
Tests: North Carolina St, at West Virginia, at Purdue, and at Duke.
Prediction: NCAA Second Round

Gonzaga:

Where they play: West Coast Conference
Why we like them: Jeremy Pargo, Austin Daye, Matt Bouldin, and Josh Heytvelt
Caution: Daye is coming back from a knee injury over the summer. With all the talent, expectations will be high
Tests: vs Oklahoma St, vs Maryland or Michigan State, vs Indiana, at Washington State, vs UCONN, at Tennessee
Prediction: Sweet 16

Memphis:

Where they play: Conference USA
Why we like them: A mix of veterans (Antonio Anderson, Robert Dozier) and freshman (Tyreke Evans, Wesley Witherspoon)
Caution: They lost Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Joey Dorsey. Replacing experience is always tough.
Tests: vs Seton Hall or USC, at Georgetown, Syracuse, at Tennessee
Prediction: NCAA Second Round

Nevada:

Where they play: Western Athletic Conference
Why we like them: Solid veterans with Joey Shaw and Brandon Fields. Freshman big Luke Babbit was a McDonald's All American.
Caution: A relatively young team (7 sophomores and freshman) that needs to grow up or be eaten up.
Tests: vs Oregon State, vs UNLV, vs North Carolina.
Prediction: NCAA First Round

Siena
Where they play: Metro Atlantic Athletic Association
Why we like them: They return their top three scorers in Kenny Hasbrouck, Edwin Ubiles, and Alex Franklin
Caution: They were the Cinderella darlings last season and anything less will be a disappointment.
Tests: vs Tennessee, at Pittsburgh, at Kansas
Prediction: NCAA First Round

St. Mary's (CA)
Where they play: West Coast Conference
Why we like them: They have four of their top six scorers back including Australian Olympic player Patrick Mills.
Caution: They play in the same conference as Gonzaga so anything less than a league title may not be good enough.
Tests: at Oregon, vs Wake Forest, Southern Illinois
Prediction: NCAA Bubble

UNLV
Where they play: Mountain West Conference
Why we like them: Return four of five top scorers and also welcome redshirt freshman center Beas Hamga.
Caution: Wink Adams is the team's best player, the rest of the squad must learn to play off him consistently.
Tests: California, Arizona, at Louisville
Prediction: NCAA Second Round

Xavier:
Where they play: Atlantic Ten
Why we like them: Four upperclassmen (C.J. Anderson, Derrick Brown, Jason Love, and B.J. Raymond) have tournament minutes.
Caution: Thin backcourt that will rely on many inexperienced players.
Tests: vs Missouri, vs Duke, Butler
Prediction: NCAA Second Round