1. Spain- 2006 World Championships winner
2. Angola- 2007 FIBA Africa Winner
3. USA- 2007 FIBA America's winner
4. Argentina- 2007 FIBA America's 2nd place
5. Iran- 2007 FIBA Asia winner
6. Australia- 2007 FIBA Oceania winner
7. Russia- 2007 Eurobasket winner
8. Lithuania*- 2007 Eurobasket 3rd place
9. China- Host country gets automatic bid
*Spain (2nd place) had already earned a birth in the Olympics, giving Lithuania(3rd place) an automatic bid
The biggest surprise among these nine teams has to be Russia. With a shocking win over Spain to take first at the Eurobasket, Russia has many people wondering whether they are contenders, or pretenders. Of course the Olympics is a whole new atmosphere, only time will tell if Russia has what it takes to contend. The Olympics will consist of 12 teams. The Final 3 Olympic births will be awarded at the World Qualifying Tournament in mid-July of 2008. The teams most likely to contend for these final three spots are Greece, Germany, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Croatia, and Brazil.
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