Since Syracuse won the National Championship last spring many things in the NCAA have changed. Some of the changes have not been covered by ESPN or other media networks. Here are 20 that may surprise you:

1. Don't tell sophomore Billy Edelin that last season was a fluke for defending national champion Syracuse. "Anything less than going back to the Final Four isn't going to be good," he said.

2. The departure of Carmelo Anthony to the NBA is obviously the biggest void for not only the Orangemen, but all of college hoops. Hakim Warrick (Friends Central), who made that huge block in the championship game, has worked on his perimeter game and will see some time at small forward, Anthony's former spot.

3. Florida should be fine as long as it avoids being ranked No. 1. The Gators went into a mysterious funk last season after claiming the top spot in February and were trounced by Michigan State in the NCAA second round. Matt Walsh (Germantown Academy) had a fine freshman season, but all Gator eyes are on fellow sophomore Christian Drejer, who was bothered by an ankle injury last season.

4. Former Illinois coach Bill Self takes over for Roy Williams at Kansas. Mission No. 1 for Self: instill more toughness in the Jayhawks, particularly on defense.

5. The A-10's other two newest coaches are Dayton's Brian Gregory, a former Michigan State assistant, and Dereck Wittenburg, the former Wagner coach now at Fordham.

6. The image of college basketball coaches slipped below that of telemarketers after a ridiculous off-season, low lighted by the mess at Baylor. Things were so emergent that a mandatory ethics meeting of the 327 Division I coaches was convened in October in Chicago.

7. Texas Tech coach Bob Knight was among the many skeptics of the motivation behind the meeting. "I would rather listen to Saddam Hussein speak on civil rights than some of the people that have spoken on ethics to this point," Knight said.

8. The toughest challenge belongs to Scott Drew, the former Valparaiso coach who takes over at Baylor. The program is reeling after the murder of Patrick Dennehy allegedly at the hands of teammate Carlton Dotson and the tape of former coach Dave Bliss telling assistants to cover up violations by falsely telling NCAA investigators that Dennehy was dealing drugs.

9. The NCAA waived the 1-year ineligibility rule for players wishing to transfer from Baylor. The Bears' top three returning scorers (John Lucas III, Oklahoma State; Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State; and Kenny Taylor, Texas) all bolted. Taylor's Longhorns visit Baylor on Feb. 10, with Lucas making his return 2 weeks later.

10. "The strange thing to me is we've lost 36 games the last 2 years. We only added one freshman (Reyshawn Terry) and he was second-team all-state. The fans need to understand that ol' Roy ain't that good," said new North Carolina coach Roy Williams.

11. The Tar Heels have enough talent that they'd win 15 games with Larry Fine as head coach. Throw in Williams, who should be worth five to seven victories, and this is a 20-win team with realistic Sweet 16 expectations.

12. Duke (yawn) has been pegged to win the conference. The Blue Devils have won an unprecedented five consecutive ACC Tournaments. The most intriguing player on the Dookies' roster is 6-8 freshman forward Luol Deng, considered the best high school player in the land last year not named LeBron James.

13. Michigan's biggest win in years came in September when it successfully appealed an NCAA postseason ban in 2004. The Wolves return four starters, including Big Ten freshman of the year Daniel Horton, as coach Tommy Amaker continues to try to bail out of the Ed Martin/booster scandal.

14. Notre Dame's backcourt of junior Chris Thomas and sophomore Chris Quinn should make the students quickly forget about the dreadful football team. 15. After Jim Harrick, Georgia needed discipline and that's exactly what it got in new coach Dennis Felton. "I knew he was demanding," said athletic director Vince Dooley, "I didn't know he was quite as demanding as he is. But that's OK." 16. Beginning next season, the three-point line will be 20 feet, 6-inches, a shade more than 9 inches farther than the current mark of 19-9.

17. How old does this make you feel? Patrick Ewing's son, Pat Ewing Jr., is a freshman at Indiana.

18. Illinois sophomore guard Dee Brown on the media's choice for preseason player of the year: "I wasn't expecting it. If someone would have told me I would be the preseason player of the year, I would have laughed and told them they were lying."

19. Ever heard of Belmont College? It's in Nashville, Tenn., and has never been to the NCAA Tournament. The reason you're reading about it is that it returns the nation's leading field goal shooter (Adam Mark, 67.0 percent) and leading free throw shooter (Steve Drabyn, 95.1).

20. Selection Sunday is March 14 and the play-in game is 2 days later at Dayton. The regionals are March 25 (East and West) and March 26 (South and Midwest). The Final Four, in San Antonio, begins April 3.

Elon University Pendulum © 2003