The college hoops season is almost upon us so it's time to take a look at who the top 10 teams are in my mind and who is going to be playing in the Final Four.  I will also take my best stab at the season end awards.

1. Louisville - Louisville returns the core of their Final Four team from last year and are ready to make another run at a championship.  Peyton Siva came to the Cardinals as a McDonalds All American and is finally living up to the hype.  He will be instrumental in their journy in March. I really like Gorgui Dieng and thinks he will show improvement in this his second season. They have a talented group and are well coaches. This team is very dangerous.

2. Indiana - Indiana is a lot of experts pick to win it all and they will be in the discussion come March.  They arguably have the best player in the country in Cody Zeller who had a monster freshman campaign.  Christian Wafford and Victor Oladipo are some other key contributers and they welcome highly regarded freshman point guard Kevin Farrell. 

3. Michigan - Michigan will give Indians all they can handle as well as a handful of Big 10 teams that are in my top 10.  Trey Burke returns after a great season and Tim Hardaway Jr who was very good averaging 14.6 points last year.  A very good recruiting class brings in Mitch McGary who at one time was a top 5 recruit and Glenn Robinson III.  If all of these talents mesh well they are a serious Final Four contender.

4. Kansas - The Jayhawks came up just short last season losing to Kentucky in the national championship. Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor are no longer suiting up. Senior Elijah Johnson will be relied on to mold this young team together. Jeff Withey is long and a shot blocking machine. I think the freshman Ben McLemore and how well he plays will be the key in Kansas season.

5. Kentucky - The defending national champions lost their entire starting lineup and top reserve man and yet still sit in the top 5. How do they do it? They recruit elite talent. John Calipari once again has the nations top ranked recruiting class with the likes or Norleans Noel, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein.  They also have Ryan Harrow who sat out last year because he transfered from NC State.  I don't see this group of Freshman being as good as last years but they will be scary good come March.

6. North Carolina State - NC State looks to be the class of the ACC this year which is odd because we are so used to North Carolina and Duke dominating.  Both teams will be right behind NC State but the return of CJ Leslie and Lorenzo Brown gave NC State fans hope. Rodney Purvis is a McDonalds All American who should give State some more firepower on offense.

7. Michigan State - Michigan State seems to always be in the discussion when you are talking Final Four.  Keith Appling must leap in the next level of stardom for State to be elite and the freshman stud recruit Gary Harris must live up to high expectations.  They have solid role players returning and will contend for the Big 10 title and a trip to the Final Four.

8. Florida - The Gators lose Bradley Beal and Erwin Walker but Kenny Boynton and Patric Young return to anchor a team that was a win short of the Final Four last year.  Mike Rosario should also see more minutes with the departures in the backcourt and the Gators are a favorite to unseat Kentucky in the SEC.

9. UCLA - UCLA has been average for a little while now and if they don't step into the spotlight this year we might be looking at a coaching change.  A lot relies on th eligibilty of star recruit Shabazz Muhomed.  If he is not eligible I dont think they are a top 15 team, thats how good he is. Justin Anderson is another elite recruit who joins the UCLA roster which features the likes of Joshua Smith, Tyler Lamb, Larry Drew II and the Wear twins.  Don't sleep on Freshman big man Tony Parker.

10. Ohio State - Ohio State might have the nations best overall point guard in Aaron Craft.  Craft is a brilliant distributer, can hit the open shot and is a pesk on the defensive end. DeShaun Thomas needs to take a big leap if they are truely going to contend in the Big 10 and Amir Williams needs to live up to the hype when he came to Ohio State.

5 teams lurking:

Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke, UNLV and Arizona

Preseasn All American Team:

Cody Zeller (Indiana), Dough McDermott (Creighton), Peyton Siva (Louisville), CJ Leslie (NC State), Trey Burke (Michigan)

Player of the Year - Cody Zeller

Freshman of the Year - Shabazz Muhammed (if eligible), if not - Rodney Purvis (NC St)

Final Four - Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State and Florida

National Championship - Louisville defeats Michigan State