March Madness is just a month-and-a-half away and freshmen phenoms, like Derrick Rose and Kevin Love, have their teams jockeying for a high tournament ranking.
Is it just me, or is anyone else itching for college basketball's March Madness? It's a month or two away, but we're entering the downslope of the season, especially with the numerous conference playoffs in February.
In addition, is anyone else as excited as I am about the freshman class this season? As great as the Kevin Durant/Greg Oden class was a year ago, I think this class might be even better. Here's how I'd rank the top freshmen as of January 15th, 2008.
- Michael Beasley, F Kansas St, 23.8 ppg, 13.1 rbpg - Though he plays for a weak division, he's a beast to reckon with.
- Derrick Rose, PG Memphis, 14.7 ppg, 4.3 apg, 4.0 rbpg - His stats are misleading. He's an unselfish player on one of the best team's in the country.
- Kevin Love, UCLA C, 16.8 ppg, 10.2 rbpg, 60% FG - The Bruins finally got a power game in the middle.
- Donte Greene, Syracuse F, 18.9 ppg, 8.2 rbpg - Versatility and scoring. This kid reminds some of Rashard Lewis.
- James Harden, Az St G, 18.2 ppg, 5.6 rbpg - Harden's scoring prowess has provided the Sun Devils with a big boost.
- Jerryd Bayless, Az G, 19.7 ppg, 4.6 apg - Bayless is a scorer through and through.
- Patrick Patterson, Kentucky F, 17.2 ppg, 8.4 rbpg - A tough competitor with a lot of talent.
- OJ Mayo, G USC, 19.9 ppg, 4.8 rbpg, 3.0 apg, 3.9 topg - Many might disagree with this low rank, but I think he's overrated.
- DeAndre Jordan, Tx A&M C, 10.5 ppg, 7.2 rbpg - Doing a great job in the middle for A&M.
- Kosta Koufos, Ohio St C, 14.4 ppg, 7.1 rbpg - He would have been a great compliment to Greg Oden a year ago.
