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11. Seton Hall: I believe in Bobby Gonzalez. That's not to say I'm a fan of him. I think he's a slick cat, a shyster with a talent for recruiting and molding a team in his own image, but not someone with whom I would want my theoretical son to spend four of his formative years. But I'm not ranking teams based on my perception of the character of their coaches but on the strength of their programs for the upcoming season. And Seton Hall is an intriguing team this year if you can recognize their talent among the trees.

The Pirates will face the same problems this winter that haunted them last — perhaps to a greater extreme. They lack any semblance of size. In fact, the only Seton Hall player taller than 6-foot-5 who played significant minutes last season is gone (6-7 Stan Gaines). The other five players who were on the floor for at least half of the team's minutes in 2006-07 are small and talented, but is it possible for a team that could qualify for a 6-5 and under league to compete in the traditionally brawny Big East?

(A quick aside. How many Big East teams actually sport talented and imposing front courts? I count just four of 16 teams. Georgetown (Roy Hibbert, DaJuan Summers, Patrick Ewing) and Louisville (David Padgett, Derrick Caracter, Juan Palacios) are the two best teams in the league, squads Seton Hall is unlikely to beat regardless of their roster's composition. Then there's UConn (Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, Stanley Robinson) and Providence (Geoff McDermott, Jon Kale, Randall Hanke), two teams who will probably be able to exploit a small team's weaknesses — though Seton Hall managed a split with the Friars last year. The rest of the league, notably Marquette, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia and even Pittsburgh, is built around guard play. So perhaps the Pirates won't be at the distinct disadvantage we all figure them to be.)

Before we get back to the problems that Seton Hall's deficiencies present, let's first consider the advantages of its strengths. Gonzalez has an appropriate combination of talent for the style he prefers to play. Using his team's superior quickness and ability to cover the floor, he tries to create havoc on defense and uncertainty in the minds of opponents. The strategy saw remarkable success last season as Seton Hall was among the nation's leaders in forcing turnovers. At the same time, his bevy of ballhandlers protected it as well as any team.

Two superior talents will be the bedrock of any postseason run by the Pirates. Brian Laing and Eugene Harvey give Seton Hall two of the best players in the conference. Despite being just 6-5, Laing is a superb rebounder (15 games with at least eight boards last season) who might be able to hold down the 4 spot on the floor — assuming Gonzalez protects him on defense with the combination of zones he favored last season. If not for the point-scoring heroics of Scottie Reynolds at Villanova, Harvey would have had a legitimate case for Big East Freshman of the Year last season. He's not much of a 3-point shooter (30.8 percent in 2006-07), but he's adept at getting to the rim and scoring inside despite standing at just six-feet tall. He avoided turning his shooting into a liability last season by only taking 39 long-range shots, and with his on-court intelligence, he is on his way to becoming an elite Big East point guard.

Seton Hall's other two mighty mites, Jamar Nutter and Paul Gause, were not as adept at avoiding their weakness. Yes, they combined to make 102 3-pointers on the season but needed 332 attempts to get there (30.7 percent). In a sport where an average team scores one point per shot, those numbers aren't helping the Pirates to success. At least the 5-11 Gause tries to make up for his outside non-prowess with his ability to score from inside the arc. He also led all of college basketball in steals rate last year. Nutter offers nothing more than an ability to take care of the ball and a willingness to take an amazing preponderance of bad shots. Gonzalez would do well to give him something far south of the 77.4 percent of floor time Nutter saw last winter.

Larry Davis, a stringbean shooter with the long arms to fit in well in Seton Hall's high-risk defense, and freshman Jeremy Hazell will hopefully take most of the minutes that Nutter butchered last year. The 6-4 Hazell is likely to be the only impact freshman for Gonzalez this season. After originally committing to Oral Roberts, the Patterson, N.C., product will instead come to the big city to fulfill his hardcourt dreams. He is an athletic wingman with exceptional shooting ability but one who could use another 20 pounds on his thin frame. Think of him as a more explosive version of Davis with a higher ceiling.

That's the end of the good news for Seton Hall: deep and talented around the perimeter, able to produce turnovers and protect the ball. Compiling a team that would have trouble gaining access to certain amusement park rides creates obvious problems. Even the heroics of Laing couldn't prevent the Pirates from being one of the worst rebounding teams in the Big East. In fact, Seton Hall's size deficit puts it at a disadvantage in several areas. The Pirates were 15th in the Big East in defensive rebounding percentage, effective field-goal percentage defense and opponents free throw rate (how often they sent the other team to the line). Opponents ran roughshod in the paint against the helpless Pirates, who were also 15th in offensive-rebounding percentage, and, thanks to the shot selection of players like Nutter, 13th in effective field-goal percentage.

The Pirates will depend on a couple of question marks to provide the size they so lack. Mike Davis spent nearly seven years in high school before graduating from Brooklyn Academy last winter and matriculating at Seton Hall. If the 6-9 Davis can maintain his grades and stay in shape, he may be an answer for the Pirates in the frontcourt. Fan favorite John Garcia is the other unknown. He has had injury and fitness problems during his two years — including one redshirt — in South Orange. But he came to Seton Hall with an impressive billing, and he'll get every opportunity to show what he has to offer. Two more freshman, 6-9 Brandon Walters and 6-6 Michael Glover, will also get the chance for run. Junior college transfer, 6-11 Austin Okosom played scant minutes at Georgetown College (Ky.) but will also get an opportunity to play his way into Gonzo's rotation. (More on Seton Hall recruiting.)

If those five can't provide affirmative answers to the Pirates' frontcourt questions — and even if they can — Seton Hall will be the same kind of team they were last year. The question is whether they'll be better. With Harvey a year more experienced and Laing established as the heartbeat of the team, the Pirates sport two of the league's best players, and there's enough around them to make them an intriguing while extreme team. I'm betting that the perimeter talent is deep enough — and Gonzalez's ability to mask his team's weaknesses good enough — to get the Pirates the wins required to sneak into the Big East Tournament.