Driving the Lane: Boring Top 25

The AP Top 25 Preseason Rankings for the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball season are out, and things could not be more boring. Think of the top five most dominant programs over the past 10 years. You’re probably thinking of the University of Kentucky, Michigan State University, the University of Louisville, Duke University and the University of Kansas, right? Well, that is exactly the top five in this year’s rankings.

There are no cool underdogs waiting to make a run. Nope, there’s just more of the same. It’s a bunch of perennial powerhouses ready to do it again. Maybe you had the University of North Carolina in your top-five list. Well, don’t worry — they haven’t fallen too far down. Roy Williams’s team currently sits at No. 12. What about the University of Florida? They sit at No. 10. Thinking about Syracuse University or the University of Connecticut? They sit at No. 8 and No. 18, respectively. All of the top programs are there, making this year look like it’s going to be pretty lame.

That obviously doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be excited for the upcoming season. We can’t really know which teams are going to be good until they actually start playing. These polls really mean absolutely nothing. Or do they? The last two national champions were second in the preseason polls. Good news for Michigan State?

Over the past decade and a half, we haven’t really seen a lot of surprises in the eventual champions. In fact, the nine teams I previously mentioned have won the national championship in 15 of the past 16 years. Sure, we’ve seen a ton of upsets in the tournament, but none of them have gone on to actually win the whole thing.

Butler University has come very close a couple times (ask the rim that wouldn’t hold Gordon Hayward’s half-court heave), but they couldn’t get it done. Now that Brad Stevens has left to take the helm of my horrendous Boston Celtics (bring on Andrew Wiggins!), Butler has fallen off from relevancy in the college basketball landscape.

Now in a year where the elite teams are as bunched up as near the top as ever, I can’t see any lesser programs having a chance. Virginia Commonwealth University, tournament darlings from a couple of years ago, currently sits at No. 14 in the rankings. Wichita State University, the surprise Final Four team from last year, sits at No. 16. Maybe either the Shockers or the team headed by Shaka Smart can shock some people again this year (sorry, I had to).

But I just don’t see it happening. I’d be willing to guarantee that one of the top five in the preseason rankings is going to go on to be your national champion. And how awful is that? We might get to see the walking arrogance that is John Calipari cut down the nets again. Just when you might have thought you’d seen the last of him after the complete debacle that was last season, he comes back with the best recruiting class ever. So yeah, I guess he’s not going away any time soon.

Or maybe we’ll see Tom Izzo end up on top. He actually hasn’t won it all since 2000. But Michigan State makes the Final Four seemingly every single year, and at this point, I’m sick of it. Just stop, it’s getting wicked annoying.

But even worse would be to see Louisville repeat. If I have to see Rick Pitino and his gross slicked-back hair and condescending smile cut down the nets again, I’m going to lose it. Is there anything worse than a guy who sucked as a coach in the NBA and then goes crawling back to where things are easier in the college game? He’s basketball’s equivalent to Nick Saban. It’s like dropping out of a hard class and taking a PE course to fill your schedule. Have some pride.

If there is a top five team to root for, it has to be Kansas. Words can’t properly express the hatred I have for the age limit rule for the NBA draft. But the one benefit of it is that we get a year to watch the best young players in the country compete against lesser competition. In 2007, we got Kevin Durant. In 2010, we got John Wall. This year, get ready for the ultimate sensation that is Kansas’s Andrew Wiggins. As NBA teams compete for ping-pong balls to get him, this guy is absolutely going to light it up for the Jayhawks. So even though Kansas is just another boring powerhouse program, at least we have Wiggins to look forward to.

Now to be honest, I’m personally very excited for this season. And that’s only becomes I am a huge Duke Blue Devils fan. I have no idea why, but I just love them. But that’s just me. Unfortunately, if you don’t have any personal investments in the top programs, then this year might be kind of a snoozer.