STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Once upon a time, the college basketball season began the week after Thanksgiving. Now it starts a couple weeks before. Tonight the regular season begins with more than 300 Division I teams hoping to succeed North Carolina as the national champion. Commentator John Feinstein is following the season and joins us now.
Good morning, John.
JOHN FEINSTEIN:
Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: So what are the chances that North Carolina and their coach, Roy Williams, would win another title?
FEINSTEIN: About zero, to be realistic. They lost their seven top scorers. This is unprecedented in the history of college basketball for a national champion. They had four underclassmen who left early--This is the trend now--to go to the NBA. They were among the first 14 players chosen in the NBA draft, so that's why they went. So Roy Williams is, quote-unquote, "rebuilding." He's got a fantastic freshman class, but they are not going to be in Indianapolis this year.
INSKEEP: Well, that does make you wonder, though, if North Carolina might be one of those few teams that has a system that's so strong that they might still produce a very strong team.
FEINSTEIN: Well, what they will produce is a young, talented team that will be a tough out on given nights. Certainly at home they will still be a good team. A lot of people down in North Carolina are in a panic, saying they won't even make it back to the NCAA tournament. I think they'll make the NCAA tournament, but realistically, they'll reload in another year and be back as a national contender.
INSKEEP: Well, who do you see as a favorite for this season?
FEINSTEIN: Well, everybody's picking Duke number one in the preseason polls because their two best players, Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick, decided to return for their senior years because they weren't fulfilled the way the Carolina kids were last year. And then you've got the usual suspects, those teams that are always deep and always good: Connecticut, if they can get their point guard, Marcus Williams, back. He's ineligible because he was involved in stealing from fellow students, so he's suspended for the semester. Kentucky returns talented players. I can go down the whole list, and probably I won't name the team that will end up winning the national championship.
INSKEEP: You mentioned Duke at the top there. Their coach, Mike Krzyzewski, is going to be pretty busy.
FEINSTEIN: Yes, he's been named the US Olympic coach for 2008, trying to recover from that debacle in 2004, and he's going to coach the world championship team next summer, too. So there are some who are concerned that he might be distracted. Krzyzewski says that because he was involved in coaching the Olympic team as an assistant in '92 and did get distracted and did end up getting sick and did end up missing time, that he's better prepared this time to deal with the distractions that come with being the Olympic coach. We'll have to see.
INSKEEP: And we'll also have to see about your old friend, Bob Knight, won't we? If he has an amazing season, he could have a very significant milestone on his hands this year.
FEINSTEIN: Well, he's averaged 22 wins a year in his four seasons since he went to Texas Tech. He needs 26 this year to pass Dean Smith as the all-time winningest coach. Dean Smith has 879 victories. You're right; it'll be tough for Knight to get there, but he certainly has a chance because he had a team that made the Sweet 16 last year, and they should be a little bit better this year. And then, of course, once he breaks the record, Steve, he'll tell us it doesn't mean anything to him.
INSKEEP: And you won't believe him for a second.
FEINSTEIN: No, not for a second. It means a great deal to him, because Bob Knight thinks of himself as a great coach, justifiably. He can't go past John Wooden's record of 10 national titles, so this is one way to tangibly establish in the minds of everybody how good he is.
INSKEEP: I hate to ask, is he convinced he's not going to go past John Wooden's record of 10 national titles?
FEINSTEIN: I think with three coaching at Texas Tech at the age of 65, it's probably not going to happen.
INSKEEP: John Feinstein, thanks very much.
FEINSTEIN: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: John's new book is called "Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today's NFL."
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