WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

So UNC won the National Championship. Champagne has been poured, celebrations have been celebrated, and future NBA stars (Blake Griffen) / busts (insert name here from Duke's roster) have entered their name into the draft pool. What's left? Well, the following is my top 5 for next year, based on who hasn't declared as of today, and some assumptions on who will declare: 1. Michigan State: almost the entire team comes back, minus Vladimir Slobodek (isn't that the big white dude's name that graduates this year? No? Suton? Oh, shit; well, they're all crazy names to me), and everybody is a year wiser. The latest trend in college basketball is for true championship teams to dominate when they have a few real good Freshman in their top 8, but legitimately rely on Juniors and Seniors to carry the load. MSU's top player will be a Sophomore, but they've got that championship game experience to fall back on. 2. Kentucky: with Calipari taking over the reigns there, and presumably bringing a few top-notch recruits with him, expect the Wildcats to quickly regain a top-5 presence. In fact, the Kentucky faithful may seem a run of dominance through the SEC that has never been seen before. Bruce Pearl can recruit, but Kentucky is the true basketball school in that conference. Watch out, SEC fans. 3. Villanova: for this pick, I'm assuming that no underclassmen on that team jet. It won't happen, sure, but I didn't see any standout performances to really justify an early departure. If half the starting backcourt jets, well, then, go ahead and assume they drop a few spots. They've got some incoming young kids that can pick up the reigns, but I don't see them being an all-out force with 2 freshman guards starting. 4. Syracuse: again, I'm assuming some guys from the 'Cuse stick around. I don't see the "ugliest-white-guy-in-America" (Devendorf) leaving, and I assume Flynn sticks around too. Quietly, Jim Boeheim has built another strong squad, and they're getting old enough to make a serious run. 5. Purdue: for this, I'm assuming that Hummel stays healthy. He's the key cog to that machine, because he can run, shoot, rebound, pass, and is a real smart basketball player. If he stays healthy, he can neutralize a lot by simply being the smartest player on the court at all times. Now, a few caveats. The teams I left off for a reason: 1. Kansas. KU has the talent to be sick, again, next season. But I see both Collins and Aldrich taking off. Aldrich is sick inside, something that infuriates me to have to admit, but you just don't see truly dominant big men stick around in college longer than they have to. The last to do that was Tim Duncan, and Aldrich is no Duncan. I think he's gone, and without him, Kansas has to rebuild on the inside a bit. 2. UCONN. UCONN is another team that, to me, will lose quite a bit. Thabeet is gone, Price will leave, Adrien was a senior...and that's 3/5 of a team that lost to MSU already. They have pieces to rebuild, sure, but not a top 5 team to start the year. 3. Duke. I hate Duke, plain and simple. And while they may hit #1 in the season, it's because they are a great regular season program. Won't do shit in the postseason, because Coach K recruits smart players and not enough athletes, but I refuse to acknowledge a team that will always choke. Always. 4. UNC. North Carolina is another team that can and will reload. Ultimately, I see them being a top 10 team. But when you lose Lawson, Ellington, Green, Hansborough...and the fucking mascot, because he was a senior too, you're bound to start off slow. It just happens. 5. West Virginia. WVU will be a top 10 team, and I see them being scary-good by the end of next season. But Huggins is another guy I just can't trust all that much, until he proves it to me again. Wait for WVU to be successful in a tournament, then I'll sing his praise. Finally, I didn't have two B10 teams in there because I'm a B10 homer. I feel most comfortable with those two squads being in there, while the next 5 have (to me) obvious shortcomings. Purdue will likely be a 3 seed, or so, and MSU will probably end up being a 2 seed and ranked 6th or 7th. But I trust them to advance in next year's Dance over the teams I didn't rank, so that's why I put them in that order. If you don't like it, tell me your thoughts.