It’s under two weeks until the college basketball season kicks off which means we need to talk some hoops. I’m not sure about you, but I can’t wait for Memphis vs Tennessee-Martin (I wonder what the line will be in this gam?) and Maine vs Richmond on November 5th. Here is our preseason Top 5 college basketball poll and if you have feedback don’t forget to register and tell us what you think!

1 – UCLA – The Bruins have made the Final Four the last two years and this year should be no different with all the fire power they bring back. UCLA returns Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Josh Shipp, Michael Roll, Alfred Aboya and Lorenzo Mata-Real. They also welcome Parade, Gatorade, McDonald’s, you f##in name it high school player of the year Kevin Love. Look for Ben Howland to lead this extremely talented team to the promise land even without the leading scorer from the last two years Aaron Afflalo.

2 – UNC – Roy Williams lost Brandan Wright to the NBA lottery last year, but this team has boat loads of talent coming back. Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are the three main guns with Hansbrough up for a national player of the year award. The Heels will win the ACC this year if role players like Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green step up their games up in conjunction with a solid contribution from freshman star William Graves. ACC should be in the bag and a Final Four is very possible for the boys in baby blue.

3 – Kansas – Rock Chalk Jayhawk will be ring loud and clear this year in Lawrence, Kansas with all-everything Brandon Rush leading the way. Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson and Sasha Kaun are the other returning starters from last year with only Julius Wright jumping to the big pond from an Elite Eight team just last year. Bill Self also has new addition 6-11 center Cole Adrich who should provide some help down low. If Rush stays focused the ceiling is the limit for this team.

4 – Memphis – John Calipari has decided for now Memphis is home and he has turned this University into a national college basketball powerhouse. They return 5 of their top 6 players from last year’s squad and the Tigers have made the Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons. Don’t forget Memphis has the best point guard recruit in the nation Derrick Rose along with another star freshman in Justin Robinson. The schedule is in their favor due to home or neutral court games against Tennessee, Georgetown, Arizona, Gonzaga and Southern California with no road games harder than UAB. Look out!

5 – Louisville – We are leaving Georgetown out of our top five simply for the fact Jeff Green is gone and that means Lousiville will win the Big East. The Cardinals return 7 of their top 8 and are lead by one of the best coaches in the land in Rick Pitino. Terrence Williams, Edgar Sosa, David Padgett, Juan Palacios, and Derrick Caracter are the big guns and I’m sure they want to avenge their 1 point loss in the round of 32 last year against Texas A&M.

Psyche! Ben Howland is however making himself quite a name in Los Angeles these days. Howland signed a seven-year deal today that will be worth well over $16 million when it’s all said and done. Howland received this extension because he has guided the Bruins to back-to-back Final Four’s for the first time since 1976 during the glory days of UCLA. If I was UCLA I would have locked this man into a 20 year deal because he is the REAL DEAL. I fully expect UCLA will have a National Championship before 2010 and they might end up with two by then.