IU has something that most other big time men's basketball programs can't boast about -- a coach who is returning this season.\nNorth Carolina, Kansas, Illinois and UCLA were the most notable schools to participate in this off-season's Wheel of Coaches. With Roy Williams at Chapel Hill and Bill Self at Lawrence (Self's name is pretty much tossed around as an expletive in Champaign these days), it should be an interesting year to say the very least.\nRight now, the fashionable pick to win the national championship is Connecticut. Shooting guard Ben Gordon and center Emeka Okafor might be the best players in their positions in college. Add the possibility of blue chip freshman forward Charlie Villanueva, (no relation to former Cubs catcher Hector) who is still waiting to hear if he will be eligible this year, the Huskies are easily the top team on paper. (Villanueva was poised to go to Illinois, but backed out when Self left).\nOf course, the preseason No. 1 is rarely cutting down the nets when the season comes to an end. Ask the 2002 Duke Blue Devils.\nSo who else might give the Huskies a run for their money? (I say money in the figurative sense, since the players don't get paid. Unless they play for Michigan).\nDuke: What else is new? Once again, coach K has assembled a lineup capable of mass destruction. Chris Duhon, J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing (no relation to Pat) all return. They also add forward Luol Deng, who is considered to be equal to Villanueva in terms of potential.\nMichigan State: Let it be known that I hate praising the Spartans, because every year people are bending over backwards to give praise to Tom Izzo and his squad. But let's face it; they are poised to be the class of the Big Ten this year. So IU's Breslin Center's woes look like they aren't going away anytime soon. They lost Aloysious Anagonye, but for the first time in a number of years, their key underclassmen decided it would be a good idea to stay in school.\nMissouri: Circle Dec. 6 on your calendar, because that's when the Tigers come to town in what should be the best game of the year. Ricky Paulding and Arthur Johnson are a rarity in college basketball senior stars. Jason Conley, a transfer from VMI, led the NCAA in scoring.\nFlorida: Never mind, they'll choke in the tournament.
WOMEN\nThis year, the women's polls should look a lot like the men's at the top. As in a carbon copy. UConn, which lost one game last year, and Duke, which lost two, are the class of the NCAA.\nUConn is led by Diana Taurasi, who is the best women's player that many have seen (LeBron, female version?). The Huskies are the same as last year, but more experienced, so you figure a three-peat is in the works.\nDuke also has a superstar in Alana Beard. The Blue Devils have made the Final Four two consecutive years, but UConn is a pretty large monkey to throw off your back. If anyone is likely to do it, though, it's Duke.\nTexas, which made the Final Four last year in both the men's and women's ranks, has a better chance of getting back in on the women's side. \nAnd obviously Tennessee will be a favorite to make the Final Four this year. I know I'd be scared of making Pat Summit mad.\nUnfortunately for IU, the Big Ten is a pretty stacked conference this season. Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois are all highly-rated going into the season. But IU is only two years separated from an improbable run to the Big Ten title, and their talent is reaching the point where NCAA Tournament appearances will no longer be improbable.\nSophomore Cyndi Valentin can shoot the three (she has won at Midnight Madness two years running), and key players LeeAnn Stephenson and Kali Kullberg will be back from ACL injuries this year. Plus, they have the tallest player in the Big Ten, 6-foot-7-inch Sarah McKay.\nLike the men's team, they may have to wait until next year for the big payoff, but IU is headed up on both counts.
