Preseason Sweet 16: Texas Longhorns

Editor's note: With the men's college basketball season starting to ramp back up, Yahoo! Sports analyst Clark Kellogg picks the teams he thinks have the best shot at making it to the Sweet 16 in 2006.

Each pick is listed alphabetically. Check back during the week for his latest selections.

Other Sweet 16 teams: Arizona | Boston College | Connecticut | Duke | Gonzaga | Iowa | Kentucky
Louisville | Michigan State | Nevada | Oklahoma | Stanford | Villanova | Wake Forest | West Virginia

THE REST OF THE BIG 12 BAYLOR From just six scholarship players the last two seasons to 10 now is a positive step for the Bears. COLORADO All five starters return for the Buffaloes – including sophomore Richard Roby, who averaged 16 ppg as a freshman. IOWA STATE The senior guard tandem of Will Blalock and Curtis Stinson must lead a team that lacks a proven presence inside. KANSAS The freshman class is hyped as one of the nation's best, but holdovers Christian Moody and Jeff Hawkins will be the difference-makers. KANSAS STATE Jim Woolridge is implementing a motion offense to provide more balanced scoring opportunities for a roster full of newcomers. MISSOURI Better team chemistry and more unselfishness will be the focus for the Tigers this year. NEBRASKA With leading scorer Joe McCray returning along with six other letter winners, the Huskers could be one of the league's most improved teams. OKLAHOMA Small but experienced, the Sooners might have an advantage in the Big 12. OKLAHOMA STATE Like Kansas, the Cowboys welcome and will rely heavily on a highly touted incoming class. TEXAS A&M Despite the loss of leading scorer Antoine Wright, the Aggies return three starters and will battle for an upper-half finish in the conference. TEXAS TECH There are no seniors on the roster, but the trio of sophomore Martin Zeno and juniors Darryl Dora and Jarrius Jackson give Bob Knight talent and leadership.

Texas Longhorns
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At one point last year the Longhorns were 14-3 and looking like a team that could win the Big 12 championship and make a strong NCAA tournament run.

That was before freshman big man LeMarcus Aldridge went down with a hip injury and missed the last 15 games of the season, and also before P.J. Tucker was declared academically ineligible and missed the last 14 games. Texas did, however, make the tournament despite going 6-8 during that stretch, but it lost to Nevada in the first round.

The Longhorns lost three very solid seniors from last year's team: Sydmill Harris, Jason Klotz and Kenny Taylor. Klotz and Taylor averaged double figures, and Harris was an excellent defender. Their contributions will be missed, but with four starters and three very capable reserves returning, Rick Barnes has a team that could be one of the nation's best.

Point guard Daniel Gibson was terrific last year as a freshman. He led the team in minutes, points, assists and steals, and was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. But he also led the team in turnovers.

However, Aldridge and Tucker are back in the lineup with a season of experience under their belts, so I expect the turnovers to go down considerably. Senior Kenton Paulino will most likely man the other guard spot. He shot 48 percent from behind the arc and is a solid defender.

Up front the Longhorns will be very hard to match up against. Senior Brad Buckman averaged 13 points per game and led the team in rebounding. He also shot 54 percent from the field and 44 percent from deep. Aldridge was brilliant in three conference games before getting hurt, and has the potential to be a dominating presence inside. Then there is Tucker, a candidate for conference player of the year. He scores, rebounds, defends, leads and, despite being only 6-foot-5, might be the league's best offensive rebounder.

Dion Dowell and Mike Williams, athletic sophomores, will see plenty of minutes after getting valuable playing time last year. And keep an eye on 6-foot-9 red-shirt freshman Connor Atchley. The coaches are quite high on him.

The only glaring problem areas I saw for the Longhorns last year were turnovers and the loss of Aldridge and Tucker. In conference play Texas averaged four more turnovers per game than its opponents, and some of that was due to Gibson being a freshman, and some of it was due to missing two starters.

As I mentioned earlier, I expect the turnovers to come down. If that happens, Texas will be very potent on the offensive end. After all, when a team has playmakers, post scorers and good shooters, scoring points generally isn't a problem.

The Longhorns should also be quite capable on the defensive end. Not only have rebounding and playing D never been problems under coach Barnes (in seven seasons at Texas his teams have held opponents to an average of 40 percent shooting while outrebounding them by five per game), but with a roster full of athleticism, depth, size, toughness and versatility, the Longhorns should again excel in shutting down the opposition.

If the Longhorns stay healthy (a must for all teams) and embrace their roles on the floor, we could see them in Indianapolis.

Clark Kellogg is Yahoo! Sports' NCAA men's basketball analyst. Send Clark a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Monday, Nov 14, 2005 4:45 pm, EST

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