Free was one of the best anime of the year, of any genre. It would be a shame if it couldn't get past small fry like Giant Killing and Ippo. Yowapeda is a good show too, but nowhere close to as good as Free. I haven't seen Kuroko.
Definitely check out Kuroko no Basket, I felt it was one of the best anime in general as well, I haven't seen Free and it also put Kuroko's manga sales through the roof. Im upset that its not in the final but its alright, I haven't seen Free yet. kinda through me off with the amount of fangirls at first, Kuroko has fan girls too but its more balanced, but I'll check it out.