I Dislike Your Favorite Team

For the most part, there are few sports that we here at I Dislike Your Favorite Team agree upon. Some of us are passionate about the MLB, while others of us think that baseball was at its peak in the radio era. Some of us love the Premiership of England, and some of us can't seem to even type "soccer" without following it up with some derogatory term for homosexuals. We are rather heavy on Minnesotans, native or transplanted, so hockey is a secret burning passion. If Garwood B. Jones wasn't such a slacker, there would be posts a plenty describing exactly why the Wild are successful, despite their rather crappy name, and boring coach. I personally find the NBA frightfully boring up until the playoffs. I think I actually enjoyed the Timberwolves more when they were horrible, horrible, horrible. Back when Kevin Harlan and Kevin McHale were the radio guys, and Andres Guibert was the Center of the Future. So we'll leave NBA previews to Deadspin, and we'll leave Timberwolves and Wizards news to I Heart KG (I knew I wasn't the only transplanted DC sports fan living in The Very Nice Thanks White North (see, that's a play on Great White North of Canada? Get it? Pretty clever, yeah?)

Because I love, and I know barnyard, and miwacar, and Garwood, and Mr. Norwood, et al love College Basketball.

So why not kick it off with a Q&A with Seth Davis from CBS and SI, one of the few commentators we like (Clark Kellogg, too). So we'll take Seth's column from 10/13/06, available here, and just take his 20 self-chosen questions, and answer them in shorter form. See, Seth likes to "analyze" things and "know what he is talking about". We prefer knee-jerk reactions.

#20: Alabama: Can anyone turn this Tide into a three-point machine?
Nope. Alabama will once again start the season on fire, and will crash out of the NCAA Tournie early.

#19: Arizona: Can the Wildcats find the chemistry to match their talent?
Yes--they are crazy deep, and have the benefit of playing in a weak conference. They will have much more time to find their form than a young ACC team would. Zona's got Elite 8 stank all over them.

#18: Boston College: Are the Eagles ready to take wing?
I tend to doubt it. The ACC isn't a place where you just change your style and do well.

#17: Connecticut: Is there any magic in these young beans?
Huh? Umm--let's assume young magic beans take more than one year to mature.

#16: Duke: Is McRoberts ready to get McNasty?
No. The Handjobbery of Duke and McRoberts continues, but I think it is safe to say that if Duke has another great year, it won't be McRoberts, it will be the recruits that Coach Unspellablename brought it. Incredibly young team--this may be a year for us all to remember and love--a (relatively) bad year for Duke.

#15: Florida: Just how heavy is that crown?
Pretty heavy. They won't repeat. But Elite 8 is as locked down as it could be, for a team this talented.

#14: Georgetown: Will the littles be as good as the bigs?
Yes. Green plays smaller than his size, in terms of quicks and shots. Great team. Watch out.

#13: Kansas: Is it possible to have too much talent?
Here I thought that the last 20 years of Jayhawk basketball made that question rather easily answerable. Yes, it is. Also, it is possible to overrate Jayhawk talent on a perennial basis.

#12: Kentucky: How bad will things get for Tubby Smith?
Pretty bad, but Tubby can coach. Kentucky will probably cost some team a #1 seed.

#11: LSU: Will the return of point guard Tack Minor be subtraction by addition?
Hard to say--but I imagine Minor can grasp the whole "pass it to the big fat guys in the paint" concept of LSU ball.

#10: Michigan State: Who are these guys?
Don't you dare doubt Tom Izzo. Michigan State by the end of every year has one of the most athletic backcourts in the country. That's been true for like a decade.

#9: North Carolina: Can the Tar Heels win a national championship with a freshman point guard?
The real question should be, Can the Tar Heels win a national championship with Roy Williams running the show? Either way, the answer is "Nope."

#8: Ohio State: How good is Greg Oden?
Nowhere near good enough to step in and carry this team to anything meaningful.

#7: Pittsburgh: Who will emerge as the committee of one?
Krauser was far too lauded--he lost as many games as he won for Pitt. Whoever their point guard is, they'll be fine.

#6: Syracuse: Is losing Gerry McNamara addition by subtraction?
Hell yes. That's the nice thing about the NCAA--gritty white guys only get 4-6 years to be gritty white guys. In the MLB, we have to put up with David Eckstein forever.

#5 Tennessee: Will the Volunteers understand that defense is mandatory?
Nice, Seth. Put it on the players. The Volunteers will get defense when defense is coached. Same coaches as last year? No, they won't understand that defense is mandatory.

#4: Texas: Who will Kevin Durant play like -- Carmelo or LeBron?
I imagine Texas will be happy with either.

#3: UCLA: Can the Bruins rediscover their defensive mojo?
probably not. playing in the Pac-10 tends to make good teams not challenge their shortcomings.

#2: Washington: How slow can these Huskies go?
we won't be talking about the Huskies in February, so why talk about them now?

#1: Wisconsin: When Bo Ryan turns to his bench, will he like what he sees?
According to IDYFT contributer Barnyard, yes he will. Barnyard likes the talent deep into the bench. So, there you go.