October 18, 2009

Rivals.com
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff

At the College Basketball Roundtable each week, we ask each member of the college basketball coverage staff for his opinion about a topic in the sport.

This week's question: Forget all the talk about best conference. Which is the best state for college basketball?

Indiana. Depth of field is the deciding factor. It starts in Bloomington with the passion that never was more evident than during the often-turbulent tenure of Robert Montgomery Knight as Indiana coach. While a nation and his own university questioned Knight's tactics, the Hoosier State stood steadfastly behind its enigmatic, supremely successful coach. And now, in Tom Crean, IU has another charismatic leader who will bring the program back to the upper echelon and do things the right way. But the Hoosiers aren't alone. Purdue continues to thrive under Matt Painter. What Butler has done of late behind Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter and Brad Stevens is impressive. With the Boilers and Bulldogs, the state boasts two of the top 11 teams in our preseason countdown (equaled only by North Carolina with UNC and Duke). Notre Dame is steady. Ball State, Evansville, Indiana State and Valparaiso have had some shining moments. And don't forget IPFW and IUPUI.

- GERRY AHERN

I finally am over the fact that an ACC school in North Carolina rejected my college application. That means I can say the Tar Heel State is the best college hoops state. Call it an obvious pick. I don't care. You can pair Duke and North Carolina with Kentucky and Louisville and say they're on equal footing, but then throw in Wake Forest and N.C. State. Even Charlotte and Davidson make things interesting from time to time. The Bluegrass State counters that depth with Western Kentucky... and Morehead State? Eastern Kentucky? I also like how basketball fans in North Carolina tend to think of themselves as sophisticated fans of the sport, but still manage to keep it as rowdy as SEC football.

- DAVID FOX

I would go with Kentucky. Chances are about 100 percent that if you grow up in Kentucky, you're a huge basketball fan. Football? Come on. Start with the University of Kentucky. "Fan" is an off-shoot of "fanatic," and nobody's fans are as fanatic - or, frankly, as maniacal - as UK's. It's all about the "Big Blue" on the basketball court. Heck, this week, people were camping out to get tickets to Midnight Madness. That's hard-core, folks (and also a bit, well, sad). There also are pockets of Louisville fans. They're passionate, too, but there just aren't as many of them. Western Kentucky is one of the best mid-major programs in the nation - and it has been that way for 50 years. Murray State had a great run in the 1990s and into this decade. Northern Kentucky is a Division II powerhouse. Kentucky State's Travis "Machine Gun" Grant was a scoring machine in the 1970s; just ask old-timers about him. Actually, you can ask old-timers about any number of players who played high school or college ball in the state. Just mention "Never-Nervous Pervis" or "Monster Mash" or "King Rex" or "Richie" or mention the "Fiddlin' Five" or "The Doctors of Dunk" and watch eyes glaze over and grown men get lost in reveries about their youth. Basketball rules in Kentucky.

- MIKE HUGUENIN

I have to go with North Carolina's combination of passionate fan bases and championship-caliber programs. Duke arguably was the dominant program of the 1990s. You could make a pretty good case that North Carolina has been the nation's top program since Roy Williams returned to Chapel Hill in 2003. The fact that the two schools are separated by just eight miles only heightens the tensions surrounding college basketball's top rivalry. And they're not the only programs with rich traditions. North Carolina State also has won multiple national championships. Wake Forest and Charlotte have reached the Final Four, and Davidson has been one win from the Final Four on three separate occasions. I can understand why someone would side with Kentucky instead. Kentucky and Louisville also have won multiple titles and have a rivalry that sometimes gets as bitter as the North Carolina-Duke series. Western Kentucky also has an outstanding tradition. But North Carolina has more people, more schools and therefore more quality basketball programs than Kentucky. I have to give North Carolina the edge.

- STEVE MEGARGEE