That little countdown clock in the uppper left of this site says it’s about 24 hours from the return of the college hoops. We’ve got you covered. Throughout this preseason, the RTC Podcast has been putting in some serious recording work. Led by hosting and producing stalwart Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114), we have now dropped a total of two preseason podcasts (Part I, recorded in mid-October and featuring guest Mike DeCourcy, can be found here) and seven conference-specific podblasts (listed below).

• AAC Preview Podblast
• ACC Preview Podblast
• Big East Preview Podblast
• Big Ten Preview Podblast
• Big 12 Preview Podblast
• Pac-12 Preview Podblast
• SEC Preview Podblast

Today’s Part II of the national preseason podcast is a festive one. Anything is possible! Perhaps an All-America team that will look nothing like the postseason version. Perhaps a trip to the Final Four from a school that was last seen running Steve Alford out of town (no, not that one, keep thinking). Maybe even a new bandwagon to replace the Maize and Blue (alright, not really to replace… more like supplement). There might even be a t-shirt contest in this week’s edition. The point is that we’re all in a great mood with real, live games starting very soon, and we hope you’ll join us for a listen.

Keep in mind that from now until the second week in April, the podcast will publish once early in the week with a review of all the big weekend action, and the RTC Podblast, a much shorter 15-20 minute quick hits version, will publish late in the week reflecting on all that week’s action. As usual, the rundown is below if you’d like to skip around to the most interesting parts. Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-1:45 – Open
• 1:45-3:40 – ACC Preview Takeaway
  
• 3:40-5:00 – AAC Preview Takeaway
• 5:00-6:25 – Big East Preview Takeaway
• 6:25-7:28 – Big 12 Preview Takeaway
• 7:28-8:21 – Big Ten Preview Takeaway
• 8:21-9:15 – Pac-12 Preview Takeaway
• 9:15-10:40 – SEC Preview Takeaway
• 10:40-16:47 – Randy Officially Picks a New Bandwagon
• 16:47-27:18 – Rush the Take with Chris Johnson
  
• 27:18-33:14 – All-America Discussion
• 33:14-45:16 – You, Me and the AP: Top 25 Talk
• 45:16-50:43 – Opening Weekend Preview
• 50:43-57:11 – Final Four Picks/Wrap

Jimmy Kelley is an ACC correspondent for Rush the Court. Follow him on Twitter @DevilsinDurham.

The Associated Press has released two editions of their Top 25 since Miami dismantled Duke back on January 23. and all they’ve done since is continue rolling over ACC competition including a huge road win in Raleigh over N.C. State on Sunday. Yet for some reason the Hurricanes can’t seem to leapfrog the Blue Devils in the poll. Are the voters still holding early-season losses against them? Are Duke’s three top-five wins from the first month of the season still holding up? Both are legitimate questions, but what shouldn’t be up for debate is that Miami is the best team in the ACC right now and are probably going to take the regular season conference title.

Miami crushed Duke, 90-63, earlier in ACC play but still find themselves ranked below the Blue Devils. (AP Photo)

This is the part where all of the “the polls don’t matter” comments come in to play and, while that may be true, Miami has done everything in its power to prove it has a better team than Duke. Has that been true all season? Absolutely not. But it has been true over the past couple of weeks. While Miami has beaten Florida State (71-47), Virginia Tech (73-64) and N.C. State (79-78); Duke has beaten Maryland convincingly (84-64), Wake Forest in a close win (75-70), and Florida State with a perfectly played game (79-60). With one common opponent in Florida State, the comparison can be easily made with the Hurricanes getting the slight edge.

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