No place like home for thrilling college basketball

So many quality players are back for so many teams that had so much success last season that it is difficult to imagine the city without multiple NCAA teams come March. But you don't win anything in November. You just start playing the games.

Drexel, Penn and Villanova began Friday night. La Salle plays Delaware at Gola Arena Saturday. Saint Joseph's hosts Yale at Hagan Arena Monday night. And Temple is part of ESPN's hoops marathon Tuesday (noon) at Kent State.

Drexel is picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association. St. Joe's is picked to win the Atlantic 10. Temple and La Salle both figure as contenders in an expanded and definitely stronger A-10. Villanova and Penn are the mystery teams as the season begins.

Nationally, the season should revolve around the triangle of Bloomington, Ind., Louisville, Ky., and Lexington, Ky. Indiana, Louisville and defending champion Kentucky (with another all-new cast) are the top three teams in preseason and could all be playing at the Final Four in Atlanta.

Indiana was the worst team in the Big Ten until coach Tom Crean convinced big man Cody Zeller to stay home and play for the Hoosiers. Nothing changed on the roster last season except Zeller, and the Hoosiers went from last in their own league to a Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky. In basketball, more than any other sport, one player can make all the difference.

Zack Rosen made all the different for Penn last season. Who will be that player in the city this season? Could be Drexel point guard Frantz Massenat. Or SJU's Langston Galloway. Or Temple's Khalif Wyatt. Or La Salle's Ramon Galloway.

It could be somebody nobody has considered, a player who spent his summer in the loneliness of a gym, perfecting his game when nobody was watching.

It is the fascination of college basketball, a game so cool that no amount of meddling by those who purport to run it can really mess up the games and the people who play them.

Really, is there anything better than a cold January night in a hot, overflowing Palestra? I have been to Cameron Indoor and Phog Allen, the Carrier Dome and the Garden. Allen definitely has the best atmosphere. Its fans know the game, appreciate the game, love the game.

Still . . .

I could be a homer here, but there really is nothing like the Palestra. The media sit next to the benches, not across from them. So you really feel as if you are in the game. Used to love it when Princeton coach Pete Carril would complain to me about the officials, wanting to know what I was going to do about all those unjustified calls against his team.

It is always great to see old friends when they bring their teams to town to play Penn or St. Joe's at the Palestra. Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon will finish talking to his team and then start talking to me, jokingly asking about strategy, laughing after his team gets hot, knowing it won't last.

Brown coach Mike Martin will be on that visiting bench when he brings his alma mater to the Palestra on Feb. 9 to play Penn, which won an Ivy title in his first season as an assistant, fell into the basketball abyss and then, came within a game of an Ivy title that hardly anybody thought possible when last season began. If it's a thrill for the players and the fans, imagine what it must be like for Martin to come back to that place with his own team.

As the season begins, most would think Drexel or SJU will be the city's best team. That's not unreasonable. They will play on New Year's Eve at Drexel. Get there early.

The Dragons are big. They have skill. They can score. They will defend.

The Hawks are even bigger. They can go on runs that intimidate teams.

Temple is making a last run through the A-10 before they join the Big East. Yes, the Owls lost three starters. Yes, they still will be a very tough team to beat, because they rarely beat themselves.

La Salle is very close to a breakthrough, but they have to do it. The talent is there.

Villanova has some highly recruited players, but there are questions. Was last year's 13-19 an aberration or the new normal?

Penn also had to replace three starters and is quite young. The name to remember here is freshman guard Tony Hicks. He has serious game.

So, let the games commence. Soon enough, November will become January, and then March. The November snapshots will fade from memory as the final picture that is a basketball season is developed over time.

Season prediction

My favorite website, kenpom.com, is out with projected season records, game-by-game predictions based on schedules, previous statistics and projections for new players.

Here are the City Six team projections, with overall and conference records: Drexel (21-6, 15-3), Saint Joseph's (19-9, 11-5), Temple (20-11, 10-6), La Salle (17-12, 9-7), Villanova (15-15, 7-11), Pennsylvania (12-16, 6-8).

Contact Dick Jerardi at jerardd@phillynews.com.