How to pick a college basketball team?

[Laxation]

Im in need of a basketball fix, and I need a team to care about...
How do I find a college team to start rooting for? I'd like them to be a team that will play in Australia, so they gotta be good, but outside of that I have no idea how to pick, can you guys help me out!

[Andrew]

I'm not hugely into college ball as I've said before (though that'll likely change a bit with the lockout) but as far as my interest currently goes, I tend to take an interest in North Carolina since I'm a Michael Jordan fan. Without any kind of connection to one of the schools, I think something like that is the way to go: the college of your favourite player, a college from the state your favourite NBA team is in, one of the top schools in recent tournaments, etc.

[JaoSming]

If you want to like a team everyone hates, Duke

If you want me to hate you, pick any other team

[Fresh8]

Maryland because they recruited good guards like Steve Francis and Juan Dixon.

[rise]

South Carolina produced the perennial All-Star Renaldo Balkman.

[shadowgrin]

I usually watch out for HS players, the college they go to dictates the college team I support. So for the upcoming season it's going to be Baylor and Duke despite my hate for Dookies.

[The X]

You don't have to have just one team. There's 300 to 350 Division 1 teams. I suggest looking first a power conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-10 & SEC) since talent level is higher & games are (generally) going to be of higher quality. If you want a team that has a chance to compete for a national title or is usually challenging for their conference then list looks something like follows:

ACC: Duke, North Carolina (Maryland)
Big East: Connecticut, Syracuse (Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia)
Big Ten: Michigan State (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin)
Big 12: Kansas (Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas)
PAC-10: Arizona, UCLA (California, USC, Washington)
SEC: Florida, Kentucky (Tennessee, Vanderbilt)

There are also majors like Memphis and Xavier and mid-majors like Gonzaga of WCC or Butler of Horizon who are all high quality programs.

What sort of style of play do you want team to have? Alternatively, do you want to focus on a certain region of the States? Do you like an underdog or the alpha dog? Would you prefer a team everybody likes or that everybody loves to hate?

As you can see, the list goes on and on and on.

Aside from that, come March Madness, make sure to jump on bandwagon of at least one mid-major and one minow.

[Kenny]

My favourite is Duke, particularly their championship teams with Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley. I also kind of like them because Jalen Rose doesn't

[Axel The Great]

I tend to support college teams from Texas, but most of the time I just watch college basketball because it's good, fun basketball to watch and to see some of the NBA's future players.

[Lamrock]

I only really root for University of Washington or Oregon since I've lived in Eugene and now Seattle, but I always end up bandwagoning some underdog team once they're out of it. Just watch the tournament next year and you'll probably pick one up.

[[Q]]

ACC: Duke, North Carolina (Maryland)
Big East: Connecticut, Syracuse (Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia)
Big Ten: Michigan State (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin)
Big 12: Kansas (Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas)
PAC-10: Arizona, UCLA (California, USC, Washington)
SEC: Florida, Kentucky (Tennessee, Vanderbilt)

Big West: UC Irvine Anteaters!

but in all seriousness, I'm an LA guy so I like UCLA but hate USC.

and I've always liked North Carolina but hated Duke.

[Cleveland wins]

Pick a team or teams that have been consistenly winning. My favorite team for example is Ohio State, but i also root for Florida, Florida State and Miami because i'm a floridian now. I also like the houston cougers, try to pick someone from the big east like was mentioned, big ten and sec, which are 3 of the top 5 conferences.

[Oznogrd]

Shit half the fun of college sports is pulling for a team you know is an underdog every single year.. They dont have to be good, but you should find some personal connection.I bandwagon alot of different teams who pull big upsets during march madness. I love the little guy winning. As far as long term support though I'm pretty much an Illinois guy being an alum (have i mentioned i had class with deron willams? yes, yes i have ) and a Clemson guy because thats where my sister went. I pretty much hate Duke, Chapel Hill, Ohio State, and Notre Dame (cuz they keep burning me in my bracket).

[Dc311]

Don't even worry about it.Just wait until the NCAA tournament starts.

[The X]

Don't even worry about it.Just wait until the NCAA tournament starts.

I think the whole point of wanting a favourite team was so he could get his bball fix from next month since NBA is lockout mode

[_Steve_]

Syracuse Orange, Kentucky, UNC and Georgetown played nice basketball and were fun for me to watch during the last few years...

[Mavs4Life]

I support Texas weel, because that's where I live . Not a big college basketball fan.