Preseason College Basketball Rankings Released

For many sports sports fans, it's football season. For many college basketball fans, the time has finally come.

Although the season doesn't tip off until Monday November 9, the coaches have provided us with a glimpse of what should be another exciting college basketball season, with the releasing of their 2009 preseason poll on Thursday. As always, there are some teams that may be "overrated," but that's the beauty of these polls: we can look back at them and see what went wrong. Listed below is the poll. Enjoy.

1. Kansas (27) 0-0 770

2. Michigan State (3) 0-0 732

3. Texas 0-0 676

4. North Carolina (1) 0-0 653

5. Kentucky 0-0 635

6. Villanova 0-0 620

7. Purdue 0-0 586

8. Duke 0-0 528

9. West Virginia 0-0 501

10. Butler 0-0 408

11. Tennessee 0-0 406

12. California 0-0 370

13. Washington 0-0 364

14. Connecticut 0-0 361

15. Michigan 0-0 279

16. Oklahoma 0-0 244

17. Ohio State 0-0 241

18. Minnesota 0-0 151

19. Mississippi State 0-0 149

20. Georgia Tech 0-0 136

21. Georgetown 0-0 134

22. Dayton 0-0 130

23. Louisville 0-0 123

24. Clemson 0-0 114

25. Syracuse 0-0 111

Bob Knight Will Not Attend IU Hall of Fame Induction

Bob Knight says no thanks.

According to ESPN analyst and friend Dick Vitale via twitter, former Indiana head men's basketball coach Bob Knight will not attend the school's first ever athletic Hall of Fame introduction. The university and athletic department had planned to induct Knight, along with many other Hoosier greats, on November 7, 2009, during halftime of the Indiana vs. Wisconsin football game.

Despite the latest news, IU will still welcome back the likes of former men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley (1973-2004), Steve Downing (men's basketball, 1971-73), Katrin Koch (women's track and field, 1989-92), Joe Norman (football, 1975-78), the family of late Mike Rabold (football, 1956-58), and Alan Somers (swimming, 1961-63).

Purdue Gets Another 2012 Commit

Matt Painter isn't wasting anytime putting together his future roster. He will even go out of state to do so.

The Boilermakers received a verbal commitment last week from current Dublin (OH) Coffman sophomore Kyle Molock. Listed as a 6-3, 180 pound shooting guard, Molock picked Purdue over offers from Akron, Florida International, Ohio, and St. Joseph's.
Reportedly, he was drawing interest from Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Molock joins Fort Wayne standout Rapheal Davis in the 2012 class for Purdue.

Weekly Tidbits: October 14

Welcome back tidbit fans. After a week off, we'll attempt to catch up to the past week's events , and also take a look to this weekend ahead.
We won't cover everything, but the stories I felt were most important.

Notre Dame's Big Weekend
-For Notre Dame football fans, this Saturday is a big day.

The second biggest game this weekend (behind Texas vs. Oklahoma) will feature the #25 Fighting Irish against the #7 USC Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Saying this is a big game may even be an understatement, as Charlie Weis and the Irish are still looking for a signature win in the 2009 season. With a win Saturday over USC, Notre Dame won't only improve to 5-1 and springboard deeper into the top-25, they may also leave a good impression on 25 or more recruits that will be visiting for the game. These aren't just any recruits coming to South Bend on Saturday, these are many of the nation's top players, most of whom also hold USC offers. An electrifying atmosphere and exciting win this weekend could do wonders for the future of the program.

However, this statement has been made many times in the past (vs. USC, 2005), and a victory on Saturday is less likely than a possibility. As of today, Vegas has the odds set for a USC victory (-10).

Here is the list of the players visiting on Saturday from the 2010 class. As you will see, Charlie Weis and staff have put all their eggs into one basket. For their sake, hopefully they don't crack.

Seantrel Henderson OL

Lamarcus Joyner DB

Chris Martin DE

Giovanni Bernard RB

Corey Cooper DB

Jordon James RB

Tai-ler Jones WR

Brandon Linder OL

Blake Lueders DE

Kendall Moore LB

Cody Riggs DB

Dietrich Riley DB

Joshua Shaw DB

Prince Shembo LB

James Stone OL

Lo Wood DB

Chris Badger DB

Spencer Boyd DB

IU Hosts Top Prospect
Just a hunch, but I have a feeling Tom Crean loves recruiting just as much as coaching.

Crean and the IU coaching staff hosted a familiar face a few weekends ago on an unofficial visit to campus. According to Mike Pegram of Peegs.com, Washington High School junior Cody Zeller, who holds an IU offer, was in Bloomington on the weekend of October 3, and most recently, this past weekend. On October 3, Zeller took a tour of campus, participated in a pickup game with the current Hoosier team, and watched the Indiana football team take on Ohio State. This past weekend, he participated in another pick up game, this time with Indiana commits Austin Etherington and Matt Carlino.

As Zeller's recruiting stock grows nationally, he continues to bring in big-time offers from top name programs, such as Purdue, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio State and North Dame. Along with IU, the 6-10 prospect has made visits to Notre Dame, Purdue, and Ohio State.

While it's way too early in the recruiting process to pick a clear-cut favorite, it appears North Carolina is the leader, followed by Purdue and Indiana.

Although, it's likely a college decision from Zeller won't come until 2010, Crean will continue to sell Zeller on the importance of staying in-state and rebuilding a once prominent program.



(Cody Zeller (far left) taking in football game with Tom Crean, staff and fellow recruits. Click photo to enlarge.)
**Photo and Video below courtesy of Mike Pegram of Peegs.com

Billion Dollar Man
A year ago, LeBron James said he wanted to become the first athlete to ever earn billion dollars. Unfortunately for the 'King,' he is a decade short and millions of dollars behind the first true billion athlete, Mr. Tiger Woods.

According to Forbes magazine, Woods topped the billion mark after winning the PGA Tour's season-long FexEx Cup, and its $10 million dollars winner's check two weekends ago. Add this prize money to his 2009 season winnings ($10.5 million dollars) to $980 million dollars in career earnings from endorsements and tour winnings, and you come to a billion dollars. Yes, with a 'B.'

While Tiger donates a lot of his fortune to charities, he can at least feel comfortable knowing his daughter's great-great grand kids are set for life.

John's Top-5 NFL Power Rankings
1. Colts: With a perfect 5-0 record, the baby horses are playing the best football of any team right now. Peyton Manning has to be the current MVP favorite.
2. Giants: Like the Colts, the Giants are on a roll, thanks to a top-3 defense and a MVP-caliber season so far from Eli Manning.
3. Saints: The best show on Turf-II? The offense receives all the credit, but it's the defense that's keeping the Saints in games.
4. Minnesota: Love him or hate him, Brett Favre has taken this team to the next level.
5. Falcons: Balance, Balance, Balance. On offense, the Falcons can beat you so many ways, while the defense doesn't give up the big play.

SAC Power Rankings
Since I have been unable to attend many high school games this year, I asked Bishop Luers defensive coach Brent Egts to provide me with his power rankings.

1. Dwenger
2. South Side
3. Snider
4. Wayne
5. Luers
6. Harding
7. Concordia
8. North Side
9. Elmhurst
10. Northrop

Ramblings:
-Attention Indiana basketball fans, Hoosier Hysteria aka "Midnight Madness" is this Friday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m. Assembly Hall should be rocking.

-Who Dey. How about the Cincinnati Bengals? Like millions, or even billions of others, I wrote this 4-1 team off before the season began. At the time, I believed they had a solid group of young, talented players, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Many of those young players, though, were inexperienced and the franchise wasn't coming off the best of seasons. I did, however, think Cedric Benson still had gas left in the tank, but not enough to lead the NFL in rushing after five weeks. The Bengals currently sit alone atop the NFC North, with three wins over division opponents. Time will tell if they are the real deal.

-The Oakland Raiders are horrible. There is no other way to say it.... They can't run. They can't pass. They can't stop the run. And, you guess it, they can't stop the pass. ESPN thinks St. Louis is the worst team heading into Week 6.

-According to ESPN, Brady Quinn has put his house up for sale in Cleveland. This could mean two things.... The Browns are going to trade him, or he is fed up with his neighbor. I'll take the former.

- Funny Clip: Indiana vs Virginia video. I received this from a good friend, who seems to have a good sense of humor.

-Last clip of the day... This has to be a horrible way to lose a football game. Remember kids, play until the whistle.

Vacation

Hello, Tidbit family. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that the tidbits are going strong and I can't wait to produce the next edition. This week, however, I have decided to take a week off to catch up on office work, homework, and life itself. I enjoy doing these tidbits very much, but they take many hours of planning and producing. You will receive an email on October 12, 2009, with a new edition of tidbits.

Enjoy the week off!