UCLA, USC draw attention in college basketball

The luncheon is Wednesday and in another week NCAA college teams can officially begin practice.

But it's never too early to issue college basketball rankings.

A year ago, UCLA, with freshman star Kevin Love, was No. 1 in several preseason polls, and USC, with star freshman O.J. Mayo, was in the top 10.

Some of the pressure and lots of the national spotlight is gone from those teams this season because Love is with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Mayo is with the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

It's not as though UCLA and USC are gone from the rankings though.

The Bruins, with returning senior starters Darren Collison and Josh Shipp, are ranked as high as No. 4 in the Athlon Sports College Basketball preview issue; are No. 7 in Gary Parrish's CBS Sportsline early poll; and are No. 8 in Sporting News College Basketball and Lindy's College Basketball magazines.

USC is as high as No. 11 in Sporting News and is in most other top-25 rankings -- and those have all been published without knowing whether North Carolina transfer Alex Stepheson will be allowed to play this season for the Trojans.

USC is waiting to hear whether Stepheson, who transferred in part to be closer to his father who has an undisclosed illness, will be granted a hardship waiver from the NCAA. A player who transfers is required to sit out a year unless there is an extenuating circumstance.

Last year, Love and Mayo shared the covers of most of the preseason publications, both regional and national.

This year, Collison, UCLA's point guard who is on most preseason All-America lists, is alone on the Sporting News cover that says, "Something's Bruin . . . Dynamic playmaker Darren Collison and UCLA are our pick to win the Pac-10."

Collison shares the Athlon cover with USC junior Taj Gibson and hangs with Stanford senior forward Lawrence Hill and California junior guard Patrick Christopher on the Lindy's cover.

What is consistent in most of these rankings is the No. 1 spot. It's North Carolina in Lindy's -- "Want the title? Beat these guys."

It's North Carolina in Sporting News -- "No contest. Choosing North Carolina as our No. 1 preseason team was easy; in fact the only team that could topple the Tar Heels may be themselves."

It's North Carolina in Athlon -- Athlon doesn't have a catchy lead-in phrase. North Carolina is just No. 1.

And it's North Carolina for CBS Sportsline -- "The Tar Heels are returning the top six scorers . . . There's not a program in America that can touch that roster."

diane.pucin@latimes.com