Murray State's Isaiah Canaan earned AP Preseason All-American honors (Getty Images)

Skim through the six names on the newly announced AP Preseason All-American team, and the first thing that stands out is the schools represented.

Sure, there's Cody Zeller of Indiana, Trey Burke of Michigan and DeShaun Thomas of Ohio State, a blue blood and two powerhouse programs from a major conference. But there's also forward Doug McDermott from Creighton and guards Isaiah Canaan from Murray State and C.J. McCollum from Lehigh, three mid-majors who have never before produced a preseason All-American.

Since the turn of the century, only five players from non-power six conferences have been named AP Preseason All-Americans: BYU's Jimmer Fredette in 2010, Davidson's Stephen Curry in 2008, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison in 2005, Saint Joseph's Jameer Nelson in 2003 and Xavier's David West in 2002.

It doesn't appear as though three non-power conference players have ever made the AP Preseason All-American team in the same year. The last time even two made was 1998 when TCU forward Lee Nailon and Utah guard Andre Miller both were on the team.

What does it mean that players from the Missouri Valley Conference, Patriot League and Ohio Valley Conference are among the headliners entering the new season? To me, it's a harbinger of a big season ahead for teams outside the power conferences.

The two premier non-BCS leagues, the Mountain West and Atlantic 10, both are as loaded as they've ever been with UNLV, San Diego State and Saint Louis in the preseason top 25 and a handful of others on the cusp. And in addition to the three preseason all-Americans, a number of stars from smaller leagues are back for another season, from North Texas forward Tony Mitchell to Saint Mary's guard Matthew Dellavedova to Detroit guard Ray McCallum.

Wisconsin guard Josh Gasser will miss the entire 2012-13 season (Getty Images)

In Bo Ryan's 11 seasons as head coach at Wisconsin, the Badgers have never finished lower in the Big Ten standings than a tie for fourth.

To extend that streak this season, they must overcome a season-ending injury suffered by perhaps their most indispensable player.

Junior Josh Gasser, the first Badger to start as a freshman since Alando Tucker in the 2002-03 season, suffered a season-ending torn ACL in practice Saturday. Gasser had been expected to replace Jordan Taylor at point guard after starting alongside Taylor at wing the past two seasons.

While forward Ryan Evans and big man Jared Berggren are probably Wisconsin's best returning players and freshman Sam Dekker may be the most promising, Gasser's contributions will not be easily replaced. He isn't the dynamic offensive star predecessors Trevon Hughes and Taylor were, but he averaged 7.6 points, shot a team-high 45.2 percent from behind the arc last season, guarded the opponent's best player and showed the toughness, work ethic and good decision making Ryan values.

[More NCAA hoops: ACC preview: Ranking the 15 most intriguing non-league games]

The best option to replace Gasser in the starting lineup is probably redshirt freshman George Marshall, who earned praise from teammates and coaches last season with his hard work on the scout team. The Chicago native averaged 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game as a senior in high school, leading his team to the city's famed Public League title.

Options besides Marshall are definitely limited. Sophomore guard Traevon Jackson will likely see more playing time than he would have otherwise.

Mason Plumlee and Duke will challenge Kentucky in Atlanta on Nov. 13

The Dagger's two-day ACC preview continues with a look at the conference's 15 most intriguing non-conference matchups next season.

1. Duke vs. Kentucky, Nov. 13 (Atlanta)

Comment: Are Kentucky's latest highly touted freshmen ready for the spotlight? Is Quinn Cook capable of becoming the true point guard Duke lacked last year? This showdown between two of college basketball's best-known programs will provide an early answer to both those questions.

2. North Carolina at Indiana, Nov. 27

Comment: The crown jewel of next year's Big Ten-ACC slate pits a pair of blue bloods who haven't faced each-other since 2005. The Tar Heels probably won't be a 30-win juggernaut since they're replacing four first-round draft picks, but the combination of forward James Michael McAdoo and a potent backcourt should provide them enough firepower to pose a threat to the talented Hoosiers.

3. Duke at Battle 4 Atlantis, Nov. 22-24

Comment: Duke's first-round draw at this season's toughest preseason tournament is a Minnesota team expected to finish in the upper half of the Big Ten and return to the NCAA tournament. Win that, and the Blue Devils get the winner of Memphis and VCU. And lurking on the other side of the bracket? A talented Missouri team and Big East favorite Louisville.

4. North Carolina State at Michigan, Nov. 27

Comment: The Big Ten-ACC Challenge delivers a heck of a matchup of league title contenders here. A point guard showdown between Trey Burke and Lorenzo Brown promises to be memorable, as does watching two of the better recruiting classes in the country try to make an early impact.

Among the strongman-style workouts Florida did this summer was a truck pull (via Preston Greene)

At the end of an hour-long weightlifting session on a Friday morning in late April, Florida basketball strength and conditioning coach Preston Greene told the Gators he had a surprise waiting outside.

(via Preston Greene)Sitting in the road behind the weight room were a couple of 600-pound tires big enough to fit a tractor. Greene instructed the Florida players to finish their workout by doing four sets of tire flips apiece for 50 yards as fast as possible.

"The first time we did the tire flips, my legs were wobbly, my butt was on my fire and I was gasping for air," said Patric Young, Florida's chiseled 6-foot-9, 250-pound center. "I was like, 'Oh my goodness, I don't want to do this again.'"

If the Gators thought the tire flips were tough, the strongman-style workouts only got more brutal from there. Each Friday from mid-April until August, Florida players would finish their weightlifting, walk outside and find Greene waiting with a sadistic new form of strength training torture.

Sometimes they pushed a sled loaded with weight up and down the street or did sprints carrying a 110-pound heavy bag over their shoulders. Other times they pushed a three-ton Ford pickup truck uphill for 75 yards or used a rope to pull a car hand-over-hand 100 yards up an incline. Worst of all was when Greene would combine four or five of these disciplines into one workout to create what he called a strongman medley.

"I swear he just made up some of the stuff on the spot," senior forward Erik Murphy joked. "It was a little unorthodox, but it was fun too. You weren't so much training for basketball as pushing yourself beyond what you thought you could do."

Dane Bradshaw started on Tennessee's Sweet 16 team in 2007 (Getty Images)

Former Tennessee guard Dane Bradshaw, a starter on Tennessee's 2007 Sweet 16 team, spoke with me this week to help preview the SEC. Here's his scouting report on the league next season:

1. How do you think the addition of a program like Missouri and to a lesser extent Texas A&M impacts SEC basketball?

DB: SEC basketball has had its share of national champions with Kentucky and Florida in the past 10 years, but I still think the SEC tends to be underrated when you think of the power conferences. Maybe a lot of that has to do with the emphasis of it being such a football conference, but I think with Missouri and Texas A&M coming in, I think it immediately brings in more attention and more respect across the nation. And of course being a former SEC basketball player, I'd love to see the conference get recognized even more so as a basketball powerhouse and get into that discussion with the ACC and the Big East as one of the elite basketball conferences.

2. Last season, it felt like a foregone conclusion that Kentucky was going to win the SEC because of the combination of newcomers and returners. Kentucky's a favorite again, but does it feel a bit more open this year?

DB: I think it does. Kentucky's the favorite because of the talent level, but last year it had a different feel. Last year, it was all coming together for Kentucky under John Calipari. They had senior leadership with Darius Miller, they had incredible first-round freshman talent and they had a couple really good sophomores. It just seemed like it was going to be really hard to knock them off barring any significant injuries to star players. But this year it's more up for grabs, with Kentucky obviously still being one of the teams who can win it. It's going to be a real interesting year.

Indiana is the AP Poll's preseason No. 1 team (Getty Images)

If the preseason AP Top 25 poll's history of prognosticating NCAA tournament seeding and success is any indication, top-ranked Indiana could be in line for memorable season this winter.

A study by college basketball stats guru Ken Pomeroy showed that the top team in the AP's preseason poll has made the NCAA tournament every year since 1990, has advanced to the Final Four 13 times and has won seven national titles. The only No. 1 team not to receive a top-three seed during that time period is UConn's 2000 team, which received a No. 5 and lost in the Round of 32.

In case that doesn't seem especially impressive, consider that the AP's preseason No. 1 has done better than the poll's top team entering the NCAA tournament. Pomeroy's study indicates the final No. 1 has reached only 11 Final Fours and has won the national title only four times.

Indiana appears very capable of adding to the success rate of the AP's Preseason No. 1 team thanks to the presence of national player of the year

The rematch between Louisville and Kentucky is one SEC non-league highlight (Getty Images)

The Dagger's two-day SEC preview continues with a look at the conference's 15 most intriguing non-conference matchups next season.

1. Kentucky at Louisville, Dec. 29

Comment: The last time these two bitter in-state rivals met, Kentucky survived a valiant Louisville second-half comeback and eliminated the Cardinals in the Final Four to reach the national title game. Louisville will have the core of its Final Four team back, whereas Kyle Wiltjer is the only Wildcats player who even logged a minute in that game.

2. Kentucky vs. Duke, Nov. 13 (Atlanta)

Comment: Even though Duke and Kentucky have somewhat of a rivalry as a result of their five NCAA tournament matchups, they've only played sporadically in the regular season. This opening week showdown pits the freshman-heavy Wildcats against a Duke team that starts seniors Mason Plumlee, Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly but lacks its usual array of talent.

3. Missouri at Battle 4 Atlantis, Nov. 22-24

Comment: The first barometer for how good the transfer-laden Tigers can be is the toughest preseason tournament of the year. Up first for the Tigers is a Stanford team that returns four starters from last year's NIT championship, followed by perhaps a semifinal tilt with Louisville. Memphis, Duke, VCU and Minnesota loom on the other side of the bracket.

4. Florida at Arizona, Dec. 15

Comment: Arizona played in Gainesville last season without its point guard and with 6-foot-7 forward at center, yet the Wildcats still almost upset the Gators. Florida will have to play far better in Tucson to make it two straight over the Wildcats because Arizona bolsters its frontcourt with a decorated freshman class and adds Xavier transfer Mark Lyons in the backcourt.