In the top 20 would have been a reach; outside of the top few ‘others recieving votes’ would have been silly.

SU always seems to do better when they are underrated. I think that’s just the way it goes with young, college players – gives them that extra fire. I think this team can definitely be better than last year’s – hopefully AO doesn’t have any knee problems that limited him for a stretch. Jackson is only going to keep getting better. Johnson is a marked improvement over Harris – both offensively and defensively. He’s 4" taller on that back line of the 2-3. Rautins proved himself to be at least equal with Devo last year and with fewer bonehead turnovers, notably in transition. Triche and Scoop won’t be Flynn (who could be?!) but they’re bigger guards that may fit better at the top of that 2-3 with Rautins. With the other guys, they won’t be called upon to handle the scoring load, they just need to look for the other guys and hold onto the ball.

I really think this team could prove to be better than last year’s team. Devo and Harris aren’t huge losses – they kept things interesting, but their replacements are better, in my opinion. I expect the biggest improvement to be on defense where we’re looking at 6’4" and 6’5" at the top instead of 6’ and 6’3" (and Devo was nothing special on D). And down low, Johnson instead of the much shorter Harris…and sometimes Rautins even found himself down there.

Can’t wait for Nov 9 on ESPNU against Albany.

Last thing – Southerland’s shooting was totally unexpected by me. He could be a great weapon off the bench. I don’t know why, but I expected him to be more of a slasher than a long-range threat.