The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 21-13, 8-8 SEC

2009-10's toughest games: North Carolina (68-66 win), at UConn, Louisville, at Tennessee

Primary attraction: The Wildcats might not be as good as the Jayhawks, but with a new coach, an insane fan base, and a man named John Wall, they will certainly be 2009-10's most interesting team.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Why? Well, why? Why are the Wildcats and not the Jayhawks 2009-10's most interesting squad? The answer has to do with the parameters of this preview in the first place, which we set out a long, long time ago (it took us a little while to finish, in case you hadn't noticed). Frankly, the Jayhawks are a better team. Few would dispute that. But in terms of sheer interest, they're slightly less intriguing than the Wildcats, who fired former coach Billy Gillispie in the offseason and hired incumbent savior John Calipari. Calipari's first move -- after the whole vacated Memphis wins thing, of course -- was to drag along a bevy of his former Memphis recruits. Next, he landed No. 1 recruit John Wall, who is already proving why he is seen as the favorite at the top of next year's draft class. The Wildcats aren't nearly as deep as the Jayhawks, and on sheer talent, Bill Self's squad wins the day. But if you want a team to capture your interest for five months -- and knowing Calipari, maybe year-round -- the Wildcats deserve to be atop the list.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 25-7, 14-2 Big 12

2009-10's toughest games: Cal, at Tennessee, at Texas

Primary attraction: The Jayhawks are the most talented and experienced team in the country, and the easy favorite for the 2009-10 national title. In other words: duh.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. From surprise to juggarnaut, all in 365 days. The 2008-09 Kansas Jayhawks were a bit of a surprise, and given how good the Jayhawks usually are under Bill Self, that's saying something. Self lost a batch of pro-level talent after 2008's title run, but he didn't lose point guard Sherron Collins, and he didn't lose center Cole Aldrich, whose playing time was limited in 2008 behind Darrell Arthur, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson. But Aldrich proved to be every bit the player those three were, dominating the interior in 2008-09, while a Kansas team that was supposed to take a year off won the Big 12 and made waves in the NCAA tournament. That was like a bonus for Jayhawks fans. The real payoff comes in 2009-10, as Self added a top recruiting class to the mix and leaving the Collins and Aldrich-led Jayhawks with more talent than anyone in the country. This year, winning the Big 12 won't be a bonus. The Jayhawks ought to win it all.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 29-4, 13-3 ACC (Oh, and they were national champs, too.)

2009-10's toughest games: at Kentucky, at Texas, Michigan State (89-82 win), at Duke

Primary attraction: After his second national title, Roy Williams has a brand new team. Fortunately, that team is already really good.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Turnover: Not just an overlooked dessert anymore. Here's an easy way to tell your program is firing on all cylinders: You roll to a national title. Then, all of your best players, including four starters, leave. The next season, you are not only still ranked, you're ranked among the top five teams in the country playing with players that didn't see more than tangential roles in last season's national title. (And, oh yeah, you snag the best recruit in the country for 2010.) Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Roy Williams' reality. The man can have no regrets since leaving Kansas, having won two national titles and all, but more than anything his squad in 2009-10 proves just how well-oiled this program really is.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 23-11, 9-7 Big 12

2009-10's toughest games: North Carolina, Michigan State, at UConn, Kansas

Primary attraction: With the exception of Kansas, North Carolina, and maybe Kentucky, the Longhorns are the most talented team in the country.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. This is so not fair. I almost feel bad for Texas' opponents this year, because the ones that win won't do it in any sort of conventional way. More likely than not, they won't be better, per se. They will have to beat the Longhorns with guile, pace, hot shooting, and a little luck, because teams this stacked do not lose often, and when they do, it feels like a fluke. Take a gander down this roster: Damion James has 37 career double-doubles. Dexter Pittman is like 350 pounds and athletic. Jai Lucas, transfer from Florida, is the point guard the Longhorns desperately needed. And then throw in not one but two top 10 recruits in guards Avery Bradley and the 6-foot-7 wing Jordan Hamilton, both of whom have already made big impacts in Texas' 6-0 start. And then, when he becomes eligible in a few weeks, pile on guard John Lucas, a hot-shooting off-guard for Lucas to share backcourt responsibilities with. In case you haven't noticed, the Longhorns are loaded. Like, scary loaded.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 28-4, 15-3 Big East

2009-10's toughest games: Duke (59-68), Kentucky, Texas, Syracuse

Primary attraction: After losing prodigal Hasheem Thabeet to the NBA, does Calhoun's team have enough to win back a weaker Big East?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Jim Calhoun fights on. No, Jim Calhoun isn't leaving, and he isn't taking the hint. Last year's season included 28 wins, proving Calhoun can still get the job done at age 67; it also included the beginning of an investigation into illicit recruiting methods and another batch of health issues, which Calhoun has been battling for years. Given that he was set to lose so much talent, it would have made sense for Calhoun to ride off into the NCAA sunset. But he's still at UConn, and he's battling hard -- primarily through the media, who seem to mention it during every broadcast -- for a new long-term contract, even though Connecticut has seemed reluctant to give it to him.

2. Kemba Walker. All of which is not to say Calhoun doesn't have talent in this squad, because he does. He's Jim Calhoun. It's UConn. He has talent. Chief among that talent is Kemba Walker, who showed some flashes of top-level stuff during his freshman campaign and has been ruthlessly effective so far in 2009-10, making 53 percent of his threes while doling out over five assists per game.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 26-8, 13-5 Pac-10

2009-10's toughest games: Kansas, Mississippi State, at Cal, Washington

Primary attraction: Train-wreck cliche applies here: You don't want to watch, but you can't look away.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. I mean, just look at that record. I'll be honest: UCLA was not supposed to be in these rankings. Had we started the process with them included, they'd have like been somewhere down the 20-30 range. After all, in so far as the team would be competitive, there was not a whole lot interesting about the 2009-10 Bruins. Two weeks later? Well, look at the Bruins now: They're 2-4 after six games, including a loss to Cal-State Fullerton (65-68), a blowout loss to Portland (47-74) and an 11-point, 76 Classic loser's bracket defeat to Long Beach State (68-79). It's fair to say the Bruins' best game came in a 67-69 loss to then-No. 12-ranked Butler.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 26-6, 15-3 Horizon League

2009-10's toughest games: Minnesota (82-73 loss), Clemson (70-69 loss), at Georgetown, Ohio State

Primary attraction: Will Butler's tough early schedule doom the country's best mid-major Final Four candidate?

1. Sometimes, leaving the Horizon League can be tough. Butler's m.o. this year was simple: Survive a tough early schedule, get a few committee-impressing wins, and get to the relative safety of the Horizon League, where the Bulldogs should go unchallenged for most of the year. This is a risky scenario, because if Butler had an easy non-conference schedule, they could have likely finished the season with just a few losses and a record impressive enough to get them, say, a four seed in the NCAA tournament no questions asked. Instead, Butler went for it all, scheduling the games you see above. It will either pay off or backfire, and in two games thus far, Butler has maybe been a bit of a disappointment. Sure, the Bulldogs got a close win over UCLA. A few months ago that might have looked great. Now? Not at all. Butler has work to do against No. 16 Georgetown and No. 15 Ohio State if it wants this gamble to pay off.

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 26-9 (11-7 Big Ten)

2009-10's toughest games: Tennessee (73-72 win), West Virginia, at Michigan State

Primary attraction: Matt Painter has a loaded, experienced squad. But just how far does experience go?

1. Returning minutes and errata. Purdue is talented, but perhaps the Boilermakers' most notable trait is their experience. Purdue has effectively lost no one in two years; they've returned star player Robbie Hummel, athletic and too-often overlooked guard E'Twaun Moore and defensive stopper Chris Kramer two successful years in a row. Purdue is a bonafide national contender. But their talent doesn't equal the likes of Kansas or Texas or even Michigan State. They're just a notch below the elite when it comes to blue-chip players. So, then, the 2009-10 Purdue season might provide us a handle little indicator: Does experience and coherence trump talent? Does Purdue beat Texas on a neutral court? Does the fact that Hummel is a junior and Kramer has seemingly been around forever mean more than plaudits from recruiting services? Purdue is an elite team, but how elite? And in the equilibrium between top-level, one-and-done talent and players who excel in college but might not play in the pros, where does Purdue stand?

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 22-11, 9-9 Big Ten

2009-10's toughest games: at Butler, at Purdue, at Michigan State, at Michigan

Primary attraction: Tubby Smith leads a quietly rabid Minnesota fan base back into the national conversation. But for how long?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Tubby Smith's precarious position. Gophers fans love Tubby Smith. Tubby Smith should love Gophers fans. After all, Smith was expelled from Kentucky for too many just-OK seasons in a row, a rare feat for a fan base who watched that same coach win a national title not all that long ago. But where Kentucky's fans expect everything, Minnesota's fans are more than happy with what Tubby's got going right now: A consistently improving program that can compete night in and night out with some of the best teams in the country, and that seems all but a lock to return to the NCAA title again this season. If he keeps this up, Tubby could probably stay at Minnesota forever. But does he want to? Smith was the subject of some Alabama-related rumors last offseason, and those were not the first in his Gopher tenure. Does Tubby really want to be in Minnesota? And if not, why not?

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The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 23-13, 9-7 SEC

2009-10's toughest games: at UCLA, Kentucky, at LSU, Tennessee

Primary attraction: As Rick Stansbury deals with Renardo Sidney (or the lack thereof), can the Bulldogs fulfill their promise?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Re-nar-do! Re-nar-do! Re. Nar. Dooooooo! Uh, Renardo? Much of the 2009-10 season will hinge on whether Rick Stansbury's great gambit -- signing Renardo Sidney amidst eligibility suspicions after Sidney's attempts at landing at USC and UCLA failed -- works or not. Thus far, things aren't looking good. The Bulldogs are two games into the 2009-10 season, and Sidney is still ineligible. The NCAA wants more documents from the Sidney family in order to prove they weren't receiving money for their mortgage while they lived in California; meanwhile, Sidney's lawyer, Don Jackson, seems more intent on making a name for himself than doing right by his client, whose best interests involve playing basketball as soon as possible. Whether Sidney can't get eligible and Jackson knows it or Jackson is merely stalling in an attempt to raise his own profile is as yet unknown. What is known is that the Bulldogs need Sidney, and Sidney needs the Bulldogs. They need each other, and soon.

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