The Siena men's basketball team comes in at No. 34, according to Rivals.com, who is unveiling its top 65 teams for the 2008-09 season.

The Saints are one behind Saint Mary's at No. 33 and one ahead of No. 35 Clemson. Also, of note, Siena is just two spots behind Syracuse.

Here's what Rivals writer David Fox said about Siena's outlook....

Siena opened some eyes with its rout of fourth-seeded Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This team should be even better, and coach Fran McCaffery is a solid X's and O's guy. Four starters return from last season, which is good because the non-conference schedule is brutal. Siena will play in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando against Tennessee and then either Georgetown or Wichita State. Games at Pittsburgh and Kansas loom in December and January, plus there's a BracketBuster game in February. Siena feels it has several players who can compete with anybody. How the remainder of the roster performs will be critical.

The fact that the Saints are ranked that high could mean some possibly Top 25 votes when the first poll comes around.

Here's one thing that I thought was a little off.

Coming off the bench are defensive specialist Cory Magee and Ryan Rossiter, who can provide an inside presence with his rebounding and shot-blocking. Neither is an offensive threat.

I think both Magee and Rossiter would be a little offended with that statement.

Certainly the way Ryan showed maturity during the Italy trip and making the transition from green freshman to more settled sophomore, he has begun to prove the above statement untrue.

You can read the rest of the article here...

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=849779