2011 College Basketball Preview: Championship or bust for the Tar Heels
Posted: November 9, 2011 | Author: sigroup | Filed under: College Basketball, Sports Illustrated Cover, Weekly Issue | Tags: college basketball preview, harrison barnes, jeremy lamb, kansas basketball, kentucky basketball, north carolina basketball, reeves nelson, terrance jones, thomas robinson, ucla basketball, uconn basketball |Comments OffThis slideshow requires JavaScript.
Stocked with NBA-caliber talent at every position, it’s national championship or bust for North Carolina, which tops the Top 20 of Sports Illustrated’s 2011 College Basketball Preview, dated Nov. 14, 2011, and on newsstands now.
| 1. UNC | 5. Duke | 9. Vanderbilt | 13. Wisconsin | 17. Cincinnati |
| 2. Kentucky | 6. Florida | 10. Louisville | 14. Baylor | 18. Arizona |
| 3. Ohio State | 7. Pittsburgh | 11. Memphis | 15. UCLA | 19. Florida State |
| 4. UConn | 8. Syracuse | 12. Kansas | 16. Xavier | 20. Alabama |
UNC is one of five teams with its own cover this week, along with No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 12 Kansas and No. 15 UCLA. Below is the last time that each team appeared on the cover and how many appearances it has had overall.
- UNC: April 13, 2009 (Tyler Hansbrough); 19th appearance
- Kentucky: March 15, 2010 (DeMarcus Cousins); 14th appearance
- UConn: April 11, 2011 (Kemba Walker); seventh appearance
- Kansas: March 21, 2011 (Marcus Morris); 11th appearance
- UCLA: June 14, 2010 (John Wooden); 26th appearance
Good college basketball programs seem to come in pairs. Three schools have men’s and women’s programs ranked in the Top 10: UConn, Duke and Louisville.
| 1. Baylor | 3. Tennessee | 5. Louisville | 7. Stanford | 9. Duke |
| 2. Notre Dame | 4. UConn | 6. Texas A&M | 8. Miami | 10. Georgetown |
