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AQB
Rates The Best, Worst NCAA Basketball Previews
By
Randy Williams
The National Basketball Association is still on vacation but the
college game is ready to pick up the slack. With Michael Jordan,
Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing idled, hoops fans will have to
turn toward campus for their roundball fix.
With that in
mind, ArmchairQB.com proudly presents its review of eight NCAA
preview magazines - Street & Smith's, Lindy's, Preview Sports,
The Sporting News, Blue Ribbon, Basketball News, Athlon and Dick
Vitale's. We'll examine predictions, conference previews, scheduling
information, women's coverage and feature articles from each publication.
Tuesday, AQB unveils its choice for the top NCAA basketball preview,
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
1) Blue Ribbon
2) The Sporting News
3) Dick Vitale's
4) Athlon Sports
5) Preview Sports
6) Lindy's
7) Street & Smith's
8) Basketball News
1)
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook
Blue Ribbon is easily the best college basketball preview
publication, with the most extensive looks at the 314 Division
I teams and unbeatable conference wrapups. Unfortunately, it's
priced at $19.95 and is quite difficult to find in stores, as
it's often used by broadcasting professionals. But, the
price seems like a bargain for 384 action-packed pages.
Key Information
Price: $19.95 (call 1-800-828-4667 to order)
Predictions: The top five teams, in order, are Duke, Connecicut,
Stanford, Kentucky and Maryland.
Conference previews: Blue
Ribbon does its homework here and it shows, even giving readers
nearly a full page on new Division I teams like Quinnipiac.
A different writer breaks down each conference and its teams, providing
key data about every starter and key reserves.
Don't miss the Ivy League previews, written by none other than AQB
contributor Bill Avington. Who
knew he could write like that?
Previews for the top 40 teams are separate from other clubs
and cover up to four pages. If readers have any questions about
Duke, UConn, etc., they'll be answered here. Great work.
Women's coverage: Surprisingly sparse. Blue Ribbon lists
its All Americans and provides capsules on the top 25 teams. Not
much insight here.
Scheduling information: Complete scheduling information for
each of the 314 Division I schools, conveniently located with each
team's preview.
Features: None.
Unique: Where do I begin? Fantastic coverage of top high
school players, with profiles of top 44 prospects, and college recruiting.
Blue Ribbon also provides a decent preview of the junior college
season.
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2)
The Sporting News College Basketball
The most comprehensive preseason hoops publication you'll
find on any rack at your nearest newsstand. An outstanding primer
for the upcoming college hoops season.
Key Information
Price: $5.99
Predictions: The top five teams, in order, are Connecticut,
Duke, Kentucky, UCLA and Maryland.
Conference previews: Great
work here, with full-page previews on each team deemed to be tourney-bound
and a nice breakdown of major conference clubs not expected to make
the NCAAs.
The previews for smaller schools aren't bad - listing starters
and key players who aren't returning, returning starters, top newcomers,
team strengths and weaknesses. TSN also lists first- and second-team
all-conference choices, player of the year, newcomer of the year,
and "Best of" picks for each and every league.
Women's coverage: The best of any newsstand publication.
TSN doesn't provide a lot of insight into its top 25 but has a nice
women's potpourri section, lists top high schoolers, college All-Americans
and breaks down the top 10 conferences.
Scheduling information: Complete scheduling information for
each of the 314 Division I schools.
Features: None to speak of but columnist Dave Kindred delivers
a pretty interesting column about a three-point shot he believes
is too short.
Unique: Mike DeCourcy's outstanding "Scouting the
Nation" section, which provides a plethora of college hoops
information.
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3)
Dick Vitale's 98-99 College Basketball
This
is certainly one
of the most entertaining hoops previews with
a plethora of features, position rankings, extensive recruiting
information and some words of wisdom from Dicky V. himself.
Key Information
Price: $5.99
Predictions: Vitale's
top five teams, in order, are Connecticut, Duke, Stanford, Kentucky
and Michigan State.
Conference previews: Pretty
well done, particularly for the major leagues. Each major college
preview breaks down teams by backcourt and frontcourt and gives
an extensive overview.
What I really like, is Vitale's listing of every player on each
team's roster, with year-ago statistics, etc. Most league previews,
even for smaller conferences, include this information.
Hard to quibble with the job the magazine does in this area.
Women's coverage: Seven
pages, including
a Michelle Smith feature about the University of Tennessee's Chamique
Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall. Women's team previews
aren't very extensive - just one paragraph for each club in Vitale's
top-25.
Scheduling information: Complete
scheduling information in the back of the magazine. Hope my Grandma
doesn't try to read it - the type's a little small. As a bonus,
Vitale's also includes separate schedules for in-season tournaments
and complete TV listings for ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2. Very good
work here.
Features: Besides
the aforementioned article about Tennessee's three stars, the magazine
includes pieces about UConn's Richard Hamilton, Utah coach Rick
Majerus, Stanford's rise to prominence and Duke's Shane Battier.
All are worth reading.
Unique: Dicky
V. is unique so why shouldn't his hoops publication be? Vitale
interviews Kentucky coach Tubby Smith and lists his All-Human
Erasers Team, Top Juco Transfers, All-Name Team, etc.
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4) Athlon Sports College Basketball
As
usual, Athlon's college hoops preview is
one of the most appealing to the eye - the
pictures are sharp and the graphics are interesting, making the
magazine quite easy to read.
Key Information
Price: $4.99
Predictions: Athlon
takes a unique approach in this area, breaking down team
previews into "One & Done," for teams it expects to
be eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament; "Two
& Out," "Sweet 16," "Elite 8," "Final
4," "National Runner-Up," and "National Champs"
- the Stanford Cardinal. The magazine even previews the 32 teams
it expects to reach the NIT.
Conference previews: Team
previews for those squads expected to make the postseason are
very well done, with breakdown of each team's frontcourt and
backcourt possibilities. Rosters with year-ago stats are also included.
Previews
for teams not expected to reach either "dance" are quite
skimpy, though rosters and statistics are included. Iowa State,
Wisconsin, Saint Joseph's and Virginia are among those whose previews
you might miss if you blink.
Women's
coverage: Only
three pages. This section includes top 25 teams, top 25 recruiting
classes, top college freshmen and top high school seniors.
Scheduling information: None.
Features: Best
of the lot is Mark Blaudschun's "Caution: Hard Times After
the Hardwood," revealing that life after basketball can
be tough for many youngsters. Exhibit A in this piece is former
high school All American Leslie Cason, coached by Dick Vitale. He
died of AIDS in 1997, the result of a heroin addiction.
Unique: Malcolm
Moran's glance at the upcoming season., with top 10 players under
6-feet tall, 10 best backcourts, best Canadians, etc.
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5) Preview Sports 1998-1999 College Basketball
This publication isn't a bad piece of work though it
lacks imagination. The league previews are good, particularly those
for the major conferences, breaking down each team offensively and
defensively. Unfortunately, Preview Sports won't teach readors
much about mid-majors and other "lesser" leagues.
Key Information
Price: $5.99
Predictions: Preview
Sports' top five teams, in order, are Duke, Connecticut, Stanford,
Michigan State and Maryland. Defending runner up Utah is ranked
fifteenth.
Conference previews: As
I mentioned, previews for the major conferences are well done but
the smaller leagues need a little work. It shouldn't be hard to
make these previews more comprehensive, just use a writers that
normally cover such leagues.
The major leagues are well done, with each team's top returning
players and key newcomers listed. If you're team is a powerhouse,
you can't go wrong with this section.
Women's coverage: Five
skimpy pages, discussing the top 25 and "Teams to Watch."
The magazine also lists first-, second-, and third-team All-Americans.
Like Lindy's, Preview Sports takes the (very) low road and denigrates
the women's game, offering a four-page cheerleader spread.
Scheduling information: None.
Zero. Zilch.
Features: Ron
Morris delivers a decent article, "The Alaskan Assassin,"
calling Duke guard Trajan Langdon the best shooter in college basketball.
Also, you'll see decent short features on star point guards Andre
Miller, of Utah, and Khalid El-Amin, of Connecticut.
Unique: Bill
Doherty writes an extremely interesting story about the lesson
kids learned from the failure of several high schoolers who entered
the latest NBA Draft. Doherty's short piece focuses on the need
for youngsters to stay in college and grow as players.
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6) Lindy's 1998-99 College Basketball
This
issue is the college basketball premiere for Lindy's, a staple for
NFL and college football coverage. Lindy's doesn't do a bad job
but it's conference previews need work and the cheerleader photos
are unnecessary.
Key Information
Price: $5.99
Predictions: Lindy's
top five teams, in order, are Stanford, Connecticut, Duke, Michigan
State and Maryland.
Conference previews: The
magazine saves lengthy team previews for teams ranked in its top
25. Even major schools, such as Georgetown, St. John's, Iowa, Michigan
and George Washington are relegated to a half page of print.
As for smaller conferences, Lindy's offers little. For example,
the publication manages to fit Ohio Valley Conference predictions
and 10 team previews into just six skinny columns. Strictly a barebones
effort.
Women's coverage: Not
a bad nine-page preview but this is trumped by Lindy's decision
to include one of its trademarks - cheerleader pictures. And, as
in its NFL preview, Lindy's contradicts itself with a reprinted
article from Sharing the Victory, the publication of the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes. This piece features Oklahoma coach Kelvin
Sampson.
Scheduling information: Arranged
by conference for easy access. Good work here.
Features: Interesting
pieces by Randy Holtz, about Utah head coach Rick Majerus; and Steve
Richardson, about new University of Houston coach Clyde Drexler.
Unique: In
"March Madness Revisited," Mike Douchant look over 60
years of NCAA tournaments and ranks the top 60 games in its history.
Number one? Duke's thrilling 104-103 East Regional Final victory
over Connecticut in 1992. Also, don't miss Douchant's "Scoping
the Nation" section.
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7) Street & Smith's College Basketball
Street & Smith's is the grandfather of sports preview
magazines but the old guy is definitely past his prime. For a long
while, S&S was the preeminent college hoops publication but
now, with the market flooded, it can't even crack the top five.
Actually, the content isn't bad but the publication just
isn't appealing to the eye. This sounds like nitpicking, but
it definitely affected my perception of the magazine. I'd suggest
highlighting players' names and breaking each club's preview into
a few parts, such as offense, defense and coaching.
Key Information
Price: $5.95
Predictions: Street & Smith's picks the NCAA tournament
field and narrows the big dance from 64 teams until, it predicts,
Stanford is crowned national champ in Saint Petersburg, Fla. Good
work here.
Conference previews: If your favorite team doesn't play in one
of the so-called "premier" leagues - the ACC, A-10, Big
East, Big 10, Big 12, Conference USA, Pac-10, SEC or WAC - you're
out of luck here. Every other conference gets two slipshod pages.
As for the major conference previews, the magazine does a pretty
good job but, as I mentioned, the presentation isn't pleasing to
the eye. Glad to see Street & Smith's narrow the major all-league
teams to just five players, though.
Women's coverage: Pretty decent with top-25 rankings, the
Best of the Rest and All-America picks. Street & Smith's even
scores with a one-page women's junior college report.
Scheduling information: Complete schedules plus head coach's
name, '97-98 record and team nickname. Very good.
Features: Nonexistent.
Unique: Street & Smith's ranks the top players by position,
lists Player of the Year candidates and rates the best places to
watch college hoops in a pretty solid potpourri section.
Back to top
8) Basketball News '98-'99
NBA & NCAA Preview
This is the first annual from the publishers of Basketball News
and it isn't very good. The people who bring us this preview
are the same who run Pro Football Weekly, which provides the best
gridiron coverage available. They should stick with the pigskin.
Citing the NBA lockout and the uncertain future of Michael
Jordan, the magazine limits its pro basketball outlook to a couple
of features and a recap of last year's statistics. This is a pretty
good move but the college section needs serious work.
Key Information
Price: $4.99
Predictions: I like how this magazine ranks teams - listing
the top 64 squads in the country. The fab five, in order, are Duke,
Connecticut, Stanford, Kentucky and Michigan State.
Conference previews: This is where Basketball News really
struggles, issuing two-page previews for most conferences (ACC,
WAC, etc.) and just one page for others (SWAC, Sun Belt, etc.).
How is it possible to tell us all we need to know about the Big
East in just two pages, squeezing 12 teams into six columns? I can
accept one-page previews for some small conferences but to deliver
a two-page story about a league like the Big 10 is inexcusable.
Women's coverage: A good job here, with a list of the best
teams, from the best (Tennessee) to number 64 (Saint Mary's). Conference
previews for ladies would be a welcome addition next year.
Scheduling information: I counted at least 58 schools
that Basketball News says schedules weren't available for "at
presstime." When was presstime, July? Get on the ball,
boys. How hard would it be to piece together a schedule for powers
such as Connecticut and Georgetown?
Features: Best of a weak crop is Jason Langendorf's story
about which NBA rookies will make an impact.
Unique: Writer Joe Henricksen ranks the top 100 college players
in a good piece. We agree with UConn's Richard Hamilton as #1 but
UCLA point guard Baron Davis as the fourth-best player after a season-ending
knee injury in last year's NCAA tourney?
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