On the eve of Midnight Madness:
First off I must say that I saw the most incredible thing that I've ever seen yesterday. At Brother's yesterday a guy was wearing a Frankie Williams New York Knicks jersey! I went up to shake his hand and this guy told me that "Frank was gonna have a big year". Well maybe he had a few too many drinks when he said that.

Big Recruiting Commitment:
Sebastian Telfair committed to Ricky Pitino's Louisville Cardinals today. Telfair is a 6 foot New York city point guard (he is also Starbury's cousin). I haven't seen him play but to me he is an example of what is wrong with American basketball today. I first remember seeing this dude on the cover of Slam magazine when he was a sophomore in high school! Think about what you were doing when you were that age (I was annoying the Scully's with WGCI in the driver's ed car). This guy was flirting with going to the Association despite the fact that no 6-0 guard could ever possibly be ready to make the jump from high school to the pros. Basically, this is an example of AAU, all-star games and media hype building this guy up. I'm not saying he is not good (like I said I've never seen him play) but I can tell you this much, if he was in Serbia right now he would be running the 3 man weave, and practicing bank shots for 7 hours a day.

Ok, now that I got that out of my system, I will say that this is a bigtime recruit for Louisville. It solidifies the fact that as long as Pitino is around Louisville is gonna be a recruiting force, a Top 25 team (or better) with the potential to reach the final four every year.

The Sierack-Attack Power Index:
20. Louisville: (25-7) I guess since I was just talking about them I should include them in the rankings. Last year a skinny freshmen named Francisco Garcia exploded onto the C-USA scene. This guy is gonna blow up this year so keep an eye out for him.

19. Cincinnati: (17-12) Bobby Huggins, one of my most hated coaches in the NCAA, usually has a strong collection of student* athletes (* student said sarcastically of course). Jason Maxiell is a big time low post force. Circle Feb 21st on your calendar. That is the only regular season meeting between Cinci and Louisville.

18. Colorado: (20-12) You're not gonna see the Buffalos this high on many lists. But I am banking on 7-0 senior center David Harrison finally living up to expectations.

17. Michigan: (17-13) Michigan is now eligible for the postseason. That motivation will have them competing for the Big 10 Championship. Daniel Horton is the best player in the conference. The loss of Lavell Blanchard hurts, but Bernard Robinson and Lester Abram return for the Wolverines. They will surprise people this year.

16. Illinois: (25-7) I will have a detailed Illinois preview later on.

That's all for today, I'll be back tomorrow with a report on Illinois' Midnight Madness, and the next 5 in the Power Index  ¶ 12:34 PM

  So the Cubs lost. That means it is now officially basketball season (skipping right past football after Illinois' horrible start).

First off I must give props to Matt for mentioning me on his site http://bulls.blogspot.com/ Ifyou are a Bulls fan or just a Kirk Heinrick fan, this site will provide you with all the information that you could ever ask for. And when the Bulls make the playoffs this year (which I also believe they will) Matt will be there to say I told you so.

Sierack-Attack Power Index:
For those of you that don't know this is my top 25 list complete with stupid name. I'm gonna be revealing five teams each day until we get to the top spot. As we all know about preseason top 25 lists, this thing means absolutly nothing. But it is still fun to speculate. Here goes:
25. Illinois-Chicago (Last years record: 21-9) The great thing about running your own website is that you can be as bias as you want. Hence the inclusion of local favorite Jimmy Collins and his UIC Flames. UIC is coming off an NCAA bid and they return almost everyone including all 5 returning starters. So although they are a sentimental favorite, (it seems like only yesterday that Cedrick Banks was leading the 'House to a public league championship) they are the real deal.
24. Oklahoma St. (22-10) The Big 12 is the real deal every year and Oklahoma St. has built up a strong, competative program. Apperently there are some hotshot twins, the Graham brothers, transfering over from Central Florida who will be eligable this season. I would lying to you if I said I had heard of them before, but Eddie Sutton always fields a talented squad so why should this year be any different?
23. BYU (23-9) The Mountain West conference is getting stronger every year (not that anyone notices). BYU, Utah, UNLV, Hawaii, and Wyoming are all competative teams, but BYU is the favorite out west. BYU has a ton of giant white Mormons coming back from various missions but it will be the low-post presence of Rafeal Arujo that makes the biggest impact on the "mission" to the final four (god, that was lame).
22. Oregon (23-10) I bet money on Oregon to win it all in Vegas at the start of last season. They let me down. They lost to a Utah team in the tournament that was average, at best. And now there best player, Luke Ridnour is gone to the NBA, due for a life of sitting on the Sonics bench. So why are they still ranked? The return of the other Luke, Luke Jackson. Call me an idiot (especially after Carmelo) but I still put stock in senior leadership. Also I look for Australian stiff Ian Crosswhite to play much better in his second year.
21. North Carolina (19-16) Matt Doherty, who truly is a jackass, has left Chapel Hill. Roy Williams is on the scene. This should make for an immediate impact. The fact that they return Raymond Felton, one of the best sophomores in the county, won't hurt either.

That's all for today. See you tommorow for 20-16  ¶ 6:54 PM

    ¶ 12:59 PM

  Not much of an update today cause lets get real here, today is all about baseball. Game 6 Red-Sox Yankees this afternoon and Game 7 Cubs later tonight. I read an article in that great bastion of journalism the News-Gazette about Deron Williams. Apperently he has a kid and a baby's momma now. But he seems focused and ready to go for this year. I believe Deron Williams is gonna have a breakout year. His size makes him a better pro prospect then Dee Brown. You can debate that one during the Cubs game, after you mute the TV cause Steve "Psycho" Lyons just said something stupid.

Go Cubs!  ¶ 12:53 PM

  The March Madness Report is back (and it's only October). I can't really say it is improved, it is still going to be me rambling on about whatever college basketball thoughts pop up in my mind as I'm writing. Midnight Madness is this Friday at colleges throughout the country. At U of I we will get to see what Coach Weber (my jury is still out on him) and company have in store for us this year.

Here is what you can expect from the March Madness Report in the upcoming days 1) my preseason top 25 2) previews and predictions from the major conferences 3) all american teams 3) detailed Big 10 preview 4) detailed Illinois preview. Basically there will be a lot of preseason lists because lists are easy to write and they take almost no time.

I will also try and provide you with insider information that you can (but probably will be too lasy) to get anywhere else. For example, Alando Tucker, he of SICA West and Wisconsin fame will be sidelined for much of the nonconference schedule with a broken foot.

Allright, thats it for today. Glad to have you back on board.   ¶ 1:55 PM