The Top Of the World Classic will be no more, according to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks ... which hosted the event.

"The decision to cancel this year's tournament was not of our making or of our choice," tournament director Brian Hove said. "The escalation in appearance fees precipitated by the 2006 NCAA rule change has effectively priced the Classic out of the market."

Before 2006, there were 10 certified preseason basketball tournaments in the country, including the Top of the World Classic and the University of Alaska Anchorage's Great Alaska Shootout.

Rule changes in 2006 allowed any institution to host a multiple-team event; there were 45 held last year.

Unless you worked late hours, a stoner, or a fan of a school that was participating, you probably never watched the TOTW Classic. Major programs saw no reason to go all the way up to Alaska to play in a tournament that even their well-traveled fans won't attend. Smaller programs saw no reason to spend money to go up to Alaska when they could now get the same sorts of money by traveling to a nearby tournament.

They couldn't even field a tournament this year. They originally had Stanford, Morehead State and Chattanooga signed on ... but Morehead State and Chattanooga paid a buy-out to play in events closer to home. Bradley, Central Florida and Austin Peay all agreed to joining the tournament, but they were still three teams short of holding the event.

They couldn't even find another team to make it a smaller, six-team dance.

The FanHouse college hoops team conducted a premature poll back in July and it turns out that these guys hate the mid-majors as much as the real pollsters. Just kidding, boys. But there are a number of mid-majors who will be overlooked coming into the season and -- with college hoops practice underway -- now is a great time to start breaking down some of these teams. That way, you won't be sitting there with a ruined March Madness bracket when a team like UNLV makes it to the Sweet 16.

The Big West coaches and media voted UC Santa Barbara as the team to beat. And with four players returning from a team that placed second in the Big West, who is going to argue with that? The Gauchos appear to be on the verge of a big season. And you know what, they had better be.

The FanHouse college hoops team conducted a premature poll back in July and it turns out that these guys hate the mid-majors as much as the real pollsters. Just kidding, boys. But there are a number of mid-majors who will be overlooked coming into the season and -- with college hoops practice underway -- now is a great time to start breaking down some of these teams. That way, you won't be sitting there with a ruined March Madness bracket when a team like UNLV makes it to the Sweet 16.

The Mountain West is going to have a number of good teams and even though BYU has lost Keena Young, the defending Mountain West champions are definitely a team that you will want to keep your eye on.

The FanHouse college hoops team conducted a premature poll back in July and it turns out that these guys hate the mid-majors as much as the real pollsters. Just kidding, boys. But there are a number of mid-majors who will be overlooked coming into the season and -- with college hoops practice underway -- now is a great time to start breaking down some of these teams. That way, you won't be sitting there with a ruined March Madness bracket when a team like UNLV makes it to the Sweet 16.

The WCC is more than a one-team conference. But Gonzaga might have its best team in recent memory, meaning that the rest of the conference will be overshadowed. Don't be fooled. The West Coast Conference has a number of talented teams, and St. Mary's is good enough to not only make the tournament, but also do a little bit of damage.

Well, there you have it. The Premature FanHouse Hoops BlogPoll for 2007 is complete. After the jump is the full list with links to each of the top-26 team post/preview.

The voting for #1 was very close. One point separated Memphis from North Carolina after tallying the ballots. Memphis even appeared #1 on one more ballot than UNC, but there was a little more consistent top-tier support for UNC in the voting. Kansas and UCLA each received a vote as the #1 preseason team, and the final point totals between Kansas and UCLA was only 2 points difference.

All of the top-10 teams appeared on every ballot as did USC. The entire top-20 appeared on over half the ballots.

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.

The North Carolina Tar Heels tops our pre-pre-season poll, mainly because a young team that was a late game meltdown from getting to the Final Four will have marinated to coach Roy Williams' liking for 2007-2008. Tyler Hansbrough and Tywon Lawson are back and should continue to wreck havoc on the ACC. Hansbrough will continue to get his 18 points and 8 boards while being a pest for teams to deal with. Lawson, however, could vault this team to greatness. His confidence rose as the season wore on last year and made the Heels title contenders.

Talent isn't the problem in Chapel Hill. Sweet shootin' Wayne Ellington is back, as are role players Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Bobby Frasor. Deon Thompson [who's performing very well for the Under 19 team] and Alex Stephenson will pick up the slack from departed Brandan Wright. Those heralded recruiting classes are growing together.

The problem is intensity. The team was labeled as 'soft' last year, which was plainly evident in that final stretch against Georgetown in the Elite 8. Two of their top defenders, Wright and Reyshawn Terry, have gone to the NBA [Wes Miller, another really good defender, graduated]. That leaves Hansbrough alone again to try to do his thing and could wear him out as the season goes along.

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.

What's not to like? John Calipari's club has been to the Elite Eight two years in a row, almost everyone is back, and the recruiting class is strong. Memphis is a popular Final Four pick, and ESPN's Andy Katz is among the many experts picking the Tigers to win it all.

Memphis lost only one senior from last year's team that fell to Ohio State in San Antonio, although he was a fairly big loss: second-leading scorer Jeremy Hunt. Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey, Robert Dozier and Antonio Anderson are back, as are all the players who got significant minutes off the bench last year.

And their best player may be incoming freshman guard Derrick Rose, who had an outstanding senior season for Chicago Simeon High School. Another freshman, Jeff Robinson, is expected to make an immediate contribution.

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.

UCLA fans, players and coaches must really hate the Florida Gators. Like really hate them. Like they've come to the point where they're making voodoo dolls of Joakim Noah. Though they might have been doing that well before the last two Final Fours.

UCLA, which has made it to two straight final fours, has had its season ended by the Gators both times, which, I'd like to imagine, is worse than losing to two different teams. (Ladies and gentleman, that's what we call in grammar a run-on sentence).

But the 2007-08 season won't see similar results for the Bruins. This is the year that UCLA strikes back. Ranked third in the Premature Hoops BlogPoll, the Bruins, who lose a lot from last year's squad but gains more, is determined to win it all this year. And they certainly can.

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.

Bill Self's Jayhawk squad was a popular pick to cut down the nets last year and fell just short of his first Final Four in a tough loss in the regional final to UCLA. It appeared at times during the offseason that the NBA Draft would wreak some havoc on the roster, but thanks to Brandon Rush's knee injury, it ended up being only Julian Wright who left early. Every other key player for the Jayhawks is returning, and sophomore forward Darrell Arthur should step right into Wright's spot and allow the team to barely miss a beat (after he recovers from his injury).

KU became most dangerous down the stretch of the past season as freshman Sherron Collins, an explosive bowling ball of a PG, started to come into his own. Along with steady defensive minded Russell Robinson and combo guard Mario Chalmers, Self can always have 2 All-Big XII caliber 'small guards' on the floor.

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.

So much talent in the Louisville frontcourt. So much to fear of injury. Forward Derrick Caracter finally had the proverbial switch go off in the second-half after near-exile from the team. Poised as he was to carry that into this coming season, he had to have off-season surgery to repair a cartilage tear in the left knee. There's David Padgett, gutting it out inside, with questions about whether his knees will make it through the game. Juan Palacios always seems to be battling foot injuries. Earl Clark should just avoid hanging out with all of them, as should incoming power forward George Goode.

The talent, but not the injury fears, in the backcourt is almost as impressive. Edgar Sosa had a trial by fire running the point as a freshman. Naturally, there was some up-and-down performances, but Louisville should benefit tremendously this season. Jerry Smith began to emerge in the second half. Losing Brandon Jenkins's steadiness hurts, but Preston Knowles will help stretch the defenses.