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2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Team Previews—Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines were a regular season contender last season who couldn’t get it done when tournament time came around. They enter the 2012-13 season once again with buildup surrounding the program, but this time they hope to finish what they start when March finally rolls around.
The North Carolina Wolfpack are coming off an incredible 2012 NCAA tournament run, and they’re bringing all that momentum with them into the 2012-13 season. The team from Raleigh, N.C. is ranked sixth in both the preseason AP and USA Today polls, and they look to be the favorite in the ACC to begin the year.
The UCLA Bruins are coming off a disappointing 2011-12 college basketball season, but a top-quality recruiting class has helped propel them into the top 25 to begin the season.
The Ohio State Buckeyes will be without standout star Jarred Sullinger for the 2012-13 season, but that hasn’t prevented them from coming into the year with a lot of promise and potential. The team has been ranked the fourth-best team in the country by both the AP and USA Today Polls.
The Indiana Hoosiers basketball team has taken another giant leap toward greatness this year, as they’ve been named the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason AP and USA Today Polls. The team hasn’t been ranked first overall since 1979, but fifth-year head coach Tom Crean has been remarkable for the recovery of a program struggling to match up to its renowned tradition.
The No. 13 Clemson Tigers are set to travel to Durham, N.C. to take on the Duke Blue Devils in a nationally televised contest this weekend. Clemson is looking to win their fifth straight game in a row, while Duke is looking to bounce back from a disappointing showing against the No. 12 Florida State Seminoles.
The Oregon State Beavers’ magical run came to an end last weekend, but despite a three-point loss to the Washington Huskies, they remain the No. 11 team in the country this week. The team from Corvallis plays host Saturday to the Arizona State Sun Devils, who are also coming off of a tightly contested loss.
The UCLA Bruins may be unranked in the BCS, but they are earning national attention in the media as the 25th-best team in the AP Poll. The Arizona Wildcats travel down to Los Angeles as the No. 22 team in the country as they look to Spoil the Bruins’ homecoming. Both teams have been good this year, and both teams are looking for a statement win this weekend.
The Los Angeles Lakers have started their season in underwhelming fashion following the incredible offseason that brought Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to town. Winless through two games, the Lakers are now set to host the team that shares the same building, the Los Angeles Clippers. This rivalry hasn’t always been headline-worthy on the national stage, but with both teams fighting for contention this year, their contest Friday night will be the primetime matchup on ESPN.
In what might be the most highly anticipated matchup of the entire 2012 season, the LSU Tigers are set to host the Alabama Crimson Tide in a rematch of last year’s BCS National Championship game. The No. 1 Tide and the No. 5 Tigers will have played three times in the last 365 days by the time this one is done.
The Washington Huskies and the California Golden Bears are playing for pride at this point in the year, as neither team has played as well as they’d hoped they would when the season began nearly two and a half months ago.
The No. 17 Stanford Cardinal have been up and down throughout the 2012 college football season, but luckily for them, their week 10 opponent is the Colorado Buffaloes who have been all down and no up this year. At just 1-7, the team from Boulder is arguably one of the worst teams in the country, and the Cardinal are looking for a good solid victory.
In what will be one of the marquee matchups in all of college football this weekend, the USC Trojans are set to host the No. 4 Oregon Ducks. The game doesn’t have the same flare that it had when the year started, as the Trojans are no longer BCS title contenders, but that doesn’t mean they’re not looking to spoil the Ducks’ season. Despite both teams being top-25 defensive squads, this game could feature a lot of points.
The Washington State Cougars will travel to Rice-Eccles Stadium this weekend to take on the Utah Utes, and while neither team has excelled this season, both squads are coming off promising performances, even though only one of them got the win. This matchup wasn’t made for prime time television, but those who like to see the ball fly through the air should tune in.
In what will be the first nationally televised broadcast of the 2012-13 season, the NBA is starting things off right with an Eastern Conference matchup between the rival Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks have established a rich history over the past decade, but these two rivals are both bringing in new-look rosters into the 2012-13 season. The season opener in Los Angeles is going to be a showcase of the two new rotations, and it will be broadcast for the national audience to see on the first night of the new season.
