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It's a Long Way Away

© Chris Lin

1999 March Madness is still months away. Teams all over the country are preparing for next year's showdown. Recruiters are searching for the latest talent, players are honing their skills, and coaches are making the decisions which will affect their teams during the season. For some teams, strong recruiting classes will instantly make them contenders. For others, last year's players will only get better. However, some teams will have to go back to the drawing board, as their stars are long gone. There are over 150 colleges and universities eligible for the Big Dance. Only four will visit to Tropicana Field on March 27, 1999.

UCLA will be a strong contender again next year with probably the best recruiting class, led by Ray Young. Kentucky also scored big with Tayshaun Prince. Finally DePaul could be a surprise, with an exceptional group, led by Quentin Richardson. Other teams which made some steps forward with new recruiting classes were St. John's, Rutgers, and the usual powerhouses, North Carolina and Kansas.

Other teams may not have been able to touch the big talent, but they are still contenders. Utah may not be the huge surprise they were last year, when they upset North Carolina and Arizona, but they should still be a strong team with Andre Miller still at the helm. Duke should be the same primetime team which can be compared to the teams of Christian Laettner and Grant Hill. Trajan Langdon and Elton Brand will carry on the legacy of the Blue Devils. Many say next year is UConn's year. With definite NBA first-round picks Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin, the Huskies look poised to fly into the Final Four. The Kansas Jayhawks, despite losing Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz, can still be a powerful team. However, the team will have to improve a bit in order to fill the gaps left by these two stars.

The $1,000,000 question is who will come out on top? Nobody can be sure, because college basketball is so unpredictable and today's No. 1 team can be tomorrow's dud. There are many teams which claim to have a chance at taking this year's championship. The teams listed above all are valid contenders. Seven months from now, the country will be in a frenzy, as March Madness will sweep across America. Only one team will come out on top.

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