Some of you may have noticed that we at RTC have been pretty busy getting lately. For those of you who have been keeping up to date on everything happening at RTC we would like to thank you. For those slackers who like to procrastinate in getting ready for the season (and you know who you are), we have put together this not-so-brief but comprehensive guide to get you ready for the season.

The RTC Top 25: Hard to pick against Duke this year, as all five of our voters were in agreement that Coach K’s Blue Devils are the team to beat.

• RTC Top 25: Preseason Edition

Tweeting the Preview: Those of you who follow us on Twitter (@rushthecourt) are familiar with this feature, but for the past two weeks we have been Tweeting our rankings counting down every single Division I team in reverse order.

• Tweeting the Preview: #20-1
• Tweeting the Preview: #44-21
• Tweeting the Preview: #68-45
• Tweeting the Preview: #92-69
• Tweeting the Preview: #116-93
• Tweeting the Preview: #140-117
• Tweeting the Preview: #164-141
• Tweeting the Preview: #188-165
• Tweeting the Preview: #212-189
• Tweeting the Preview: #236-213
• Tweeting the Preview: #260-237
• Tweeting the Preview: #284-261
• Tweeting the Preview: #308-285
• Tweeting the Preview: #332-309
• Tweeting the Preview: #345-333

Preseason Bracketology: In conjunction with our run-down of the top 345 teams in Division 1 we also bring you the first of many installments of RTC Bracketology. [Ed. Note: If the seed doesn’t correlate with rankings just remember that just because a team has a higher seed doesn’t mean that they are better just that they have a better resume.]

• Preseason Bracketology: 11.02.10

RTC Conference Primers: Our countdown of every conference in Division I basketball with a breakdown of each (top players, teams, and what to watch for).

1. Big 10
2. Big East
3. Big 12
4. ACC
5. SEC
6. Pac-10
7. Atlantic 10
8. Mountain West
9. Conference USA
10. Missouri Valley
11. Colonial
12. WCC
13. Horizon
14. WAC
15. MAAC
16. Southern
17. Big West
18. Big Sky
19. MAC
20. OVC
21. Sun Belt
22. Atlantic Sun
23. Southland
24. Ivy
25. America East
26. Summit
27. Northeast
28. Patriot
29. Big South
30. MEAC
31. SWAC

Where 2010-11 Happens: Our countdown of 30 things (via YouTube) to get us even more pumped up for the upcoming season.

• It’s easiest to view all thirty clips in one place here.  And if you’re not excited about the season after watching that, well, you probably need to stick with arguing about the BCS.

Big Names: Here are the players that you should definitely know about before the season starts unless you want to seem clueless when March Madness rolls around.

• Your 2010-11 RTC All-American Teams: We dish out the big preseason honors and let you know who to watch for this season.
• RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – National Wrap-Up: The 60 players we feel will most impact the college basketball landscape in 2010-11, each broken down by region below.
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Northwest Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Southwest Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Plains/Mountains Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Upper Midwest Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Lower Midwest Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Mid-South Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Deep South Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – South Atlantic Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Mid-Atlantic Region
  • RTC 2010-11 Impact Players – Northeast Region
• RTC’s Top Ten Recruiting Classes of 2010: A look at which teams landed the best incoming classes this year.
• Frosh Watch: Preseason Edition: Along those same lines, here are some of the best freshman to watch as the season begins.

Big Games: Our resident bracketologist and analyst, Zach Hayes, has taken a look at the schedule of every single team across the country and highlighted the games you should definitely make time for this year.

• The 68 Can’t Miss Games of 2010-11 (#13-1)
• The 68 Can’t-Miss Games of 2010-11 (#26-14)
• The 68 Can’t-Miss Games of 2010-11 (#40-27)
• The 68 Can’t-Miss Games of 2010-11 (#54-41)
• The 68 Can’t-Miss Games of 2010-11 (#68-55)
• Dissecting the Premier November Tournaments: These are the games that would probably fall in the top 68 if we knew for sure that they were going to happen.

20 At The Top: Zach also breaks down the top 20 players in each of the major conferences.

Class Schedules: And here is an analysis of the schedules for some of the top teams in the nation.

• Baylor
• Duke
• Florida
• Kansas [Ed. Note: This was written before the Selby suspension.]
• Kentucky [Ed. Note: This was written before the Kanter suspension.]
• Michigan State
• North Carolina
• Purdue [Ed. Note: This was written before the Hummel injury.]
• Texas

RTC Interview Series: Adding to our ongoing coverage of all things college basketball, we went directly to the source to talk to some of the most interesting and topical people we could find. This will be one of our ongoing features so be on the look out for more of these in the near future.

• Dave Telep: An inside look at the scout extraordinaire who has taken his talents to ESPN. He offers some interesting insights into the recruiting process.
• Lefty Driesell: A wide-ranging discussion with one of college basketball’s most colorful characters on the eve of Midnight Madness, which he created. Lefty discusses the origin of Midnight Madness, Len Elmore cheating, the problems of being a mid-major, and his thoughts on the death of Len Bias.
• Brad Stevens: The head coach at Butler discusses the state of his program, his troubles getting over the heart-breaking loss to Duke in the national championship game, and what the future holds for him and the Bulldogs.
• Arthur Agee: The star of Hoop Dreams, for our money one of the top 10 movies of all-time and the definite top sports movie of all-time, discusses the movie, its impact, how others from the movie are doing, and a foundation he has set up for helping kids to follow their dreams.
• Abdul Gaddy: The Washington sophomore guard discusses dealing with the hype coming out of high school, struggling with failing to meet expectations, and his thoughts about the future.

Vegas Odds: An interesting academic look at what the odds-makers think about the upcoming season from both a conference and national perspective. As always, this is an academic discussion. Sports gambling is illegal in most states so we highly discourage it in those states.

• Vegas Odds to Win It All: Preseason Check-In: Duke is the clear favorite, but you may be surprised to see some of the teams who aren’t too far behind and others that we think the people in Las Vegas may be sleeping on.
• Vegas Odds to Win the Super Six Conferences: An interesting breakdown by conference. Some of the longshots may surprise you.

Four/Five Teams: Our astute writers have looked through every Division I team and found a few that they think are particularly notable as the season gets underway.

• Four Teams Up. . .: A look at four teams that may surprise you in a good way this season.
• . . . and Four Teams Down: A look at four teams that may disappoint you this season.
• Five Teams That Nobody Can Quite Get A Handle On: The teams that nobody can make up their mind on. Are they going to be excellent, horrible, or something in between?

Midnight Madness: It’s already gone, but if you missed it here is our recap.

• Starting Tomorrow, We’re Talkin’ About Practices: A run-down of all the activities that were planned for Midnight Madness.
• Midnight Madness Has Lost Its Way: How to Fix It: An argument from a college basketball fan about how to fix this important event.
• Boom Goes The Dynamite: Midnight Madness 2010 Edition: The RTC original feature (often imitated, but never duplicated) breaking down all the action in real-time.
• Midnight Madness Postmortem Across the Nation: A look back at the night’s events across the nation.

Missing: These are the players that you won’t be seeing for part or all of this season.

• Hummel Out For The Season With Torn ACL: Purdue star Robbie Hummel felled by his ACL again.
• Wake Forest Releases Tony Woods: The two sides separated after an ugly domestic altercation involving Woods.
• Bost Isn’t Lost, Will Play Partial Season: Mississippi State got Dee Bost back for part of the season after his bizarre NBA Draft experience.
• UNLV Announces Its Punishment for Tre’Von Willis: Expect to see him back in time for Wisconsin.
• Latest Kanter Report: A Blow To Kentucky: Part of the on-going dispute between Enes Kanter and Turkish team.

Big Four State Tournament: Our look at what would happen if teams from the same state combined to form super-teams and played against other states.

• The RTC Big Four State Tournament: First Round (Day 1)
• The RTC Big Four State Tournament: First Round (Day 2)
• The RTC Big Four State Tournament: Quarterfinals
• The RTC Big Four State Tournament: Final Four
• The RTC Big Four State Tournament: Championship Game

Miscellaneous: For all the other important stuff that you should know about, but doesn’t fit into a nice little category.

• Ten Burning Questions for the 2010-11 Season: Pretty self-explanatory, but we hope these questions get your mind working. If you agree or disagree, feel free to leave a comment to our thoughts and we will respond to you.
• RTC’s Halloween Tricks and Treats: A run down of things that we are happy and unhappy to see occur leading up to this season.
• RTC’s Five Biggest Coaching Moves This Offseason: This year you might be seeing some familiar faces in unfamiliar places on the sidelines. This should help you get your bearings straight.
• Five Coaches In Need of a Good Season: The title says it all. These are the coaches on the hot seat at the start of the season.
• Fool Me Once, Shame On You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Pearl…: We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Bruce Pearl‘s off-season ordeal.
• ESPN’s Full Court Package Broken Down: Take a look at the fully sortable list of 480 games offered on the package this year.

nvr1983 (1398 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 at 9:31 am by nvr1983 and is filed under 2010-11 Season Preview. Tagged: 20 at the top, 68 games, abdul gaddy, all-americans, arthur agee, bracketology, brad stevens, bruce pearl, butler, class schedules, conference primers, dave telep, dee bost, enes kanter, impact players, kentucky, lefty driesell, midnight madness, overview, purdue, robbie hummel, tony woods, top 25, tre'von willis, tweeting the preview, unlv, vegas odds, wake forest, washington, wisconsin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.