The Greatest Unpaid Sport in America

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, coaches and men who sneak money under the table. The greatest free sport in America is back, and the hardwood is back and better than ever. For the first time in years, it seems that there is not a clear immediate front-runner for a national champion. But this year is different than before. For the blog contributors, this is our first year in college. I am currently attending the University of Michigan, preseason ranked #4 in the country. And for someone with season tickets who plans on going to every game, I would say I'm pretty excited. But enough about me, let's get into the top 10 and the teams that I believe have a chance to make a serious run.

The Big Boys- Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville- Starting off with Big Blue, as long as Calipari is leading the Wildcats, they should be in the preseason top 10 until he retires. I watched a little of the Kentucky All-Access, and in terms of his approach to both recruiting and coaching, he is truly one of the best. Critics can say all they want about the possibility of him cheating or recruiting players illegally, but Coach Cal knows what he's doing. This year should be no different. The Cats welcome shot-swatter Nerlens Noel, a top recruit, as well as super scorer Archie Goodwin and 7 footer Willie Cauley-Stein. Add in transfer Ryan Harrow and returner Kyle Wiltjer, and these 5 are as good as anyone in the country. For Indiana, the preseason consensus #1, they return a huge majority of the team that was able to beat National Champion Kentucky last season. Expect Cody Zeller to have a monster year, and Yoggie Ferrell along with seniors Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford and Derek Elston should be able to propel the Hoosiers to an unbelievable campaign. The third main contender is Louisville. They return a fully healthy Wayne Blackshear, Chane Behanan, Gorgui Dieng, Russ Smith and Peyton Siva. With the Big East not as competitive as usual, this should be Louisville's year to take advantage and win the league. They have the talent, size and shooting, but Rick Pitino's squad must not be as careless with the ball as they were last season, which cost them games in which they should have won.

B1G- Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan are all preseason top 5. This should make this without a doubt the top league of the year, and could produce up to 3 #1 seeds. For the Buckeyes, they return super scorer Deshaun Thomas and savvy playmaker Aaron Craft. If these two can play up to their potential, they should be able to really compete in the Big Ten. And lastly, my group of guys for this year, the Michigan Wolverines. After attending the first two exhibition games, I can say for a fact that if Michigan can knock down their shots, they can beat absolutely anyone in the country. With a front court of Jordan Morgan and Mitch McGary and a backcourt of stud freshman Glenn Robinson III, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke, the Wolverines boast a starting five that could rival any. The bench play will ultimately be the decider of whether this team has the skills to make it to Atlanta in April. If the Wolverines can do it, it has to be Nik Stauskas. Stauskas is a Canadian three-point specialist who can absolutely shoot the lights out, and has size at 6'6 to be able to guard the larger guards in the league. If Stauskas and backup point guard Spike Albrecht, along with backup shooting guard and senior leader Matt Vogrich can play well enough to give the starters some rest, I might be making a trip to Atlanta to watch my Wolverines in the Final Four.