Barstool Basketball Mailbag - Why Maryland Will Never Win, Kansas Being Overrated, Illinois Returning To Glory And More

Basketball is a year round sport, so due to that we’re going to do a year round mailbag. We’re still going to run this every Friday like we do during the season, but we’ll be talking about college hoops, transfers, NBA Draft, NBA and recruiting questions. That’s right you get an NBA and college hoops mailbag all rolled into one every Friday. Reminder you can always submit questions on Twitter @barstoolreags

This is one of the more intriguing scheduling storylines for next year. The Champion's Classic has been used as a jumping off point for the season. You typically have 4 of the best teams in the country playing each other in a double header. It's awesome. They moved it to Tuesday so it's not covered by football. However, next year you have the Presidential election. My guess is they just move it a day and start the season on Wednesday. That's what they should do. 

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No. Wait, let me double check. Yep, Turg is still the head coach. Listen, I think Turg is fine, he's not a terrible coach but he's not going to get Maryland to the Final Four. Simply put his teams don't improve as the season goes on. His players don't improve. Hell, take this for example. He said earlier this week that they'd be putting in a full court press after the URI game. Uhh, what? Why the hell don't you have this ready for the season? Why not run it before that game? He's just always behind when it comes to getting guys ready. 

Give me Myles Powell. I like him better as an overall player and the fact I think Seton Hall is a better team than Marquette. That's sort of the tie breaker here. They are both going to put up monster numbers, no doubt about it, but give me Myles Powell. 

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Well, they always have a ton of individual talent. They are typically that 3rd best recruiting class and then Self typically has upperclassmen, which people fall in love with. What people typically don't look at is how the roster fits. Take example this year. He's running two traditional bigs and clogging up the paint. You can't keep running De Sousa and McCormack out there with Azubuike. Maybe that will change when Isaiah Moss is healthy and he can run him at the 4. But, what Self typically wants to do is run that hi-lo with two bigs and shooters on the wings. If he doesn't have a versatile big (the Morris twins, Perry Ellis, etc) that can run either the hi or lo he has to go 4 guards and spread out with 1 true post. The question is when does he decide to do that. 

I wouldn't be surprised if they drop one of the games to Ohio State or Louisville. That Ohio State game could be the sneaky one. It's the second game in a row for Kentucky out in Vegas. They'll be out there for a decent amount of time. I also think Ohio State is the most undervalued and underrated team in the country. 

I'd say exactly after a few days of college hoops I'd say:

1. Cole Anthony (UNC)
2. Tyrese Maxey (UK)
3. Myles Powell (Seton Hall)
   4.Markus Howard (Marquette)
4. James Wiseman (Memphis)
   These are your overreactions
   

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   I mean, do I think they are going to get back to the Deron Williams/Luther Head type team? No. But do I think they'll be a consistent NCAA Tournament team, compete for a few Big 10 titles and get a Final Four type team in there? Yep. That's how much I trust Brad Underwood. He adjusted his defense to fit the Big 10 instead of running that weird jump and trap he did at Oklahoma State with Juwan Evans. That said his defense is still unique and he's recruiting at a high level at Illinois. Shout out Carl for not yelling at me for this. 

   Locks: Louisville, Duke, UNC, Virginia Likely in: Notre Dame, FSU Bubble: Syracuse, NC State, Miami Likely out: Pitt, Virginia Tech, Clemson For sure out: Wake Forest, Boston College Can't make it because of strippers: Georgia Tech

   So I'll set the o/u at 7.5 

   One of my favorite hypothetical bets. Right now the Bengals have chances against the Jets on December 1 and the Dolphins on December 22. There are 353 teams in Division I college hoops. Let's say they catch a win somehow before that December 22 game, which the o/u would be 351.5. I'll set the o/u at like 340.5 still. The Bengals suck.