Whoppers of the Week

Gregg Doyel of CBS/Sportsline has gone up with next season's Top 25 -- idiot style.

Michigan State at Number 5? Drew Neitzel is for real, but the Spartans were several players away from the Top 20. Izzo's a great coach, but will only be able to do so much with next year's squad.

Michigan at Number 9? Is Doyel from Michigan? What gives? Yes, the Wolverines impressed at the end of the season. Yes, Amaker's club played with gutsy determination in winning the NIT. Yes, the folks from Ann Arbor are NCAA-bound and should hover between 15 and 25 most of the season. But no, reasonable people don't rank Michigan as next year's ninth best team.

Arizona at Number 10? I'm a huge 'Cats fan, but this year's version was the most selfish bunch of Arizona ballplayers I have seen in years. With Salim's "leadership" and this year's "defense," the Wildcats are looking at another disappointing finish in the NCAA Tournament. Losing Iguodala drops them out of the Top 15.

Kansas at Number 12? ESPN's Andy Katz has the Jayhawks at Number 1. A pretty significant difference of opinion. Given that I pay attention to Andy year-round and read Gregg's pieced from roughly March to May (until I get bored with CBS/Sportsline's lack of content), I'm inclined to believe Bill Self's club is Top 10 worthy.

Memphis at Number 13? I expected Memphis to win their first round game. I acknowledge Sean Banks had a great year and that Darius Washington will be a sensational college point guard. But Calipari hasn't won big since leaving the University of Massachusetts. Count me as a skeptic.

UCLA at Number 24? I'm sure the Pac-10 appreciates the respect, but UCLA? Jamie Dixon was the best thing that ever happened to Ben Howland. Before Dixon, nobody had ever heard of the guy. Again, I'm skeptical. A better choice - if you want to stick with the West Coast theme - is Washington. Lorenzo Romar is building a program.