North Carolina

AUSTIN, Texas -- On Wednesday, ESPN announced the eight sites for ESPN's weekly "College GameDay Driven by State Farm" men's college basketball series and the "Saturday Primetime" game-of-the-week telecast.

MAUI, Hawaii, Aug. 5, 2008 – The EA SPORTS Maui Invitational today announced the official bracket for the 2008 edition of the nation’s premier early-season college basketball tournament. Marking its milestone 25^th year, the eight-team competition will return to Maui’s ocean-front Lahaina Civic Center Nov.24-26.

Like civilizations, all great basketball programs eventually fall.. replaced by an upstart newcomer. In this week's Rise & Fall series, we'll take a look at which BCS programs are rising, falling, or merely treading water.

ACC

A few days after the 2008 NCAA Championship game, I made an early projection of the 08-09 All-Americans to go along with Top 50 and All-Freshman projections. Now that players have officially entered or withdrawn from the Draft, we have a much better sense of how next year's landscape will look:
First Team
G - Brandon Jennings - Arizona
G - Stephen Curry - Davidson
F - Kyle Singler - Duke**
F - Luke Harangody - Notre Dame
F - Tyler Hansbrough - North Carolina

Nothing wrong with testing the waters..

With the deadline for underclassmen to pull out of the 2008 NBA Draft now passed, it’s time to look at who used, and who was used, by the system, The rule that allows players to “test the waters” has come under fire from some analysts in recent weeks, as players with no business declaring for the Draft have left college coaches and fan bases anxiously awaiting their final decisions.

To stay or go: Futures Hinge on Player Decisions

Even with the draft order now set, and player workouts getting underway, it’s still tough to predict which players will ultimately stay in the draft this year.  According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, 69 underclassmen declared for the draft this year, including surprises like Oregon State’s CJ Giles, who has now been kicked off two college teams, and Alabama’s Ronald Steele, who didn’t even play last season due to injury.