Does Boston College have a shot this season? Yes. I expect to see them ranked in the Top 25 and they could possibly become one of the top ten teams in the country. There’s plenty of work to do first. Last season the Boston College Eagles finished 28-8 overall. They were 11-5 in the ACC conference. Their coach, Al Skinner, has been there for 8 years now. His record is 147-100.

Let’s get ready for some college hoops. You can’t talk about college basketball in 2006 without mentioning the North Carolina Tar Heels. They are expected to be one of the top teams in the country this season. Last season they were 23-8 and 12-4 in the conference. Could they be even better this season? The short answer is yes. However, looking great on paper and executing at game time are two different things.

The NCAA basketball season is about to get started and excitement is already in the air. Who are the top teams you should be watching this season? Will Florida repeat? I thought it would be great to start off this year’s postings with a preseason look at what some of the top teams should be. Today, I’ll give you 25 teams that could very well be going at it in the big dance in March.

Last season Andrew Bogut make appearances at the Center position in every single game for the Milwaukee Bucks. It was his rookie season and he showed promise. He ended up starting 77 games in 2005-06. Bogut finished the season with averages of 9.4 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. The Bucks had a good center and were excited about what 2006-07 could hold for Bogut’s development.

Basketball Betting – The San Antonio Spurs beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 97-84 in an exhibition game in Paris on Sunday. Tony Parker was the top Spurs scorer with 27 points. Teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili chimed in with 15 and 10 points respectively. It was expected that Tony Parker would try to have a big game, even in exhibition, because he was in front of his home fans in Paris.

Gary Payton may be out but not for long. The latest news coming out of Miami is that they have re-signed guard Gary Payton. The details of the deal were not released however. Payton appeared in 81 games (25 starts) for the HEAT during the 2005-06 season, averaging 7.7 points, 3.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds [...]

It looks like Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs won’t have surgery on his broken right index finger. On Monday, Spurs doctors came to the conclusion that he just needs to wear a splint for the next month or so. The Spurs hope his finger gets better in time for open training camp, which is just 6 weeks away. Everyone seems pretty confident about the one-month timeline.

The USA played China in Guanghzou today, but Yao Ming was not present. He’s still injured and could not play. LeBron James jumped in and scored 23 points. Carmelo Anthony added 18 as well. The USA team had no problems with China. The Chinese players had trouble keeping the ball. In the end, USA won 119-73.

Jiri Welsch, a former first round draft selection, has decided to call it quits with the Milwaukee Bucks. According to his agent, Sam Goldfender, Welsch has signed a deal with a professional basketball team in Spain. The Bucks apparently weren’t interested in resigning him, but Goldfender said that other teams were indeed interested.

The Nets went shopping for size at a discount. Their travels landed them in Seattle, where Mikki Moore was available. Moore is a seven-footer. The Nets and Sonics came to a deal and Moore is now coming to New Jersey. The Nets are giving the Sonics a 2009 second round draft selection.