What’s Trending: Preseason Madness 2018
Posted by Matt Eisenberg on October 25th, 2018What’s Trending is a column examining the week that was in college basketball social media. Matthew Eisenberg (@matteise) is your weekly host.
Six and a half months ago, Villanova was cutting down the nets in San Antonio after defeating Michigan in the National Championship game. Now, in late October, the 2018-19 season is right around the corner. And you know it’s almost time for the season to start when “list-season” begins…
Whether that means Gary Parrish ranking his top 101 players….
The @CBSSports annual list of the Top 100 And 1 College Basketball Players has published.
1. R.J. Barrett (Duke)
2. Carsen Edwards (Purdue)
3. Luke Maye (UNC)
4. Dedric Lawson (Kansas)
5. Caleb Martin (Nevada)The rest …https://t.co/mDX6T1zS1P
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) October 17, 2018
…or Matt Norlander ranking all 353 Division I teams…
There are 353 teams in college basketball. So hold on, because here we go again: my ultimate ranking for @CBSSports of every team in the sport, top to bottom, is live. Let the chaos begin. https://t.co/7KciJxx4Gq
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 24, 2018
…or something as simple as the Preseason AP All-American Team…
https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/1054791463811379201
…and perhaps most of all, when Ken Pomeroy‘s preseason ratings are released!
My preseason ratings are out, subject to tweaks as news warrants in the coming days. Let this be your official thread for the teams you think the computer missed on. I'll RT this on April 3rd so we can see how everyone did.
— Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) October 20, 2018
The FBI’s investigation into the world of college basketball began over a year ago, but the impact continues into this preseason.
There’s Zion Williamson “allegedly” asking to be paid by Kansas…
FBI case reveals Zion Williamson allegedly asked Kansas for cash, per @DanWetzel https://t.co/jSY5fdjnS6 pic.twitter.com/hwXmjp4MZB
— College Basketball (@br_CBB) October 16, 2018
…and there were plenty of coaches whose names were brought up….
District attorney mentioned a ton of names that may be brought up during the trial to potential jurors. Among them: Rick Pitino, Tom Jurich, Bill Self, Billy Preston, Mark Gottfried, Dennis smith, Nassir Little, Jim Larannaga, Will Wade, Andy Miller, Sean Miller.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 1, 2018
…and now, with the season fast approaching, we have players being held out with eligibility questions in play…
A statement from Coach Bill Self on Silvio de Sousa: pic.twitter.com/KVExNfX15N
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) October 24, 2018
While there was been plenty of drama, intrigue and discussions off the floor, we are also beginning to get some excitement on the floor…
We had players doing their best Zion Williamson impressions…
Marshall's Taevion Kinsey Just Dunked All Over Zion Williamson's Dunk Highlights https://t.co/nQheK41h0K
— Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) October 20, 2018
We had Kentucky’s Keldon Johnson jumping over his teammates in a dunk contest at Big Blue Madness…
And then we had Zion Williamson himself doing things in an exhibition game that led to over 70,000 YouTube views within 24 hours of the game…
On the floor, not-so-secret “Secret Scrimmages” pop-up frequently at this time of the year, and while former coaches suggest not overreacting, what fun would these “games’ be if we didn’t react to them?
Let’s not overreact or put much into the “Secret Scrimmage “ results. The parameters of each scrimmage is different. The coaches are looking at combinations. They are judging how much slippage players have when the light goes on. There will scripted zone segment. Starting point
— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) October 21, 2018
We had a preseason top-10 team unable to slow down a Pac-12 group hoping to get back to the top of their conference…
Tonight's box score from Washington's 91-73 win over Nevada. 26 on 15 shots for Jaylen Nowell. pic.twitter.com/iA759zyEMc
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 21, 2018
A little birdie told me that Mississippi State beat TCU in a not-so-secret scrimmage played earlier today. Quinndary Weatherspoon and Lamar Peters were standouts for Mississippi State while freshman Kevin Samuels was really good for TCU.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 13, 2018
We also saw a Lumberjack topple a power-conference foe….
Stephen F. Austin beat Texas A&M in a closed scrimmage, 76-72. Could be a long long year for the Aggies. pic.twitter.com/hedxcLj9Tw
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 23, 2018
In match-ups that took place off of the floor, we had Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim vs. LeBron James…
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1055140777154641920
Chris Mack‘s daughter vs. Chris Mack’s hairline during a Twitter takeover on ACC Media Day…
https://twitter.com/CoachChrisMack/status/1055112496229552128
And a Woj-bomb on the soon to be battle of college basketball vs. the NBA’s G-League…
I have doubts about how many top players will go this route. Some, yes. But G-League is full of early connecting flights, long bus rides, small gyms. It isn't glamorous. Big-time NCAA ball still has the trappings of exposure, packed houses, private jets. You'll get paid there too
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 18, 2018
All things considered, I think everyone is ready for college basketball begin.
And finally… #CBBtwitter
Given the popularity of #NBAtwitter and the impending CBB season, we propose starting the #CBBtwitter hashtag, effective immediately.
Looks like it got some play last year but never took off. Let's change that this season. @MattNorlander @RobDauster @jeffborzello @GoodmanHoops
— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) October 23, 2018
