The 2023-24 NCAA Men’s Basketball season is upon us! With UCONN topping San Diego State in the National Championship last year, the new road to the Final Four is off and running. Powerhouses such as Kansas, Purdue, Arizona, and Marquette look to knock off the defending champions, the Huskies, who remain a major threat to win it all. Big name transfers like Hunter Dickinson, Caleb Love, and Max Abmas are in their new threads. At the same time, the star studded freshman class of Isaiah Collier, DJ Wagner, Elliot Cadeau, and Rob Dillingham have all arrived on their respective campuses. Top returning players Zach Edey, Tyler Kolek, and Bryce Hopkins are all looking to go back to the dance in March, and make some noise for their teams.
The Big 12 is stacked as usual with three top-ten ranked teams, along with powerhouses Kansas, Houston, and Baylor. While Houston and Baylor pose high octane offenses, I don’t think they will be able to handle Kansas’ combination of junior Kevin McCullar Jr. and transfer Hunter Dickinson. Over in the Big Ten, Purdue looks to steamroll their way to another championship behind reigning 7 ‘4 National Player of Year Zach Edey. However, I think Indiana’s reloaded roster will hand Purdue an L in the Big 10 Championship. Over in the Big East, the field is loaded once again with the defending champion, UCONN, a powerful Marquette team, Villanova, Creighton, and the renewed Providence and St. John’s. I think Ryan Kalkbrenner and Creighton will come out on top of the most competitive division in college basketball. Down south in the SEC, I think Tennessee will roll to another title, outlasting Kentucky’s generational freshman class, and fending off Texas A&M’s physical defense. In the ACC, Duke and UNC are unsurprisingly at the top, but instead of traditionally being ranked in the top 5, Duke is ranked at 7, and UNC at 20. In this down year for the ACC, I think Duke overpowers UNC with the support of Kyle Filipowski. In the final year of the Pac-12, I think UCLA will take down Caleb Love and Arizona behind Mick Cronin’s talented freshman class, and Adem Bona. I also think Tristian Da Silva and Colorado, along with Boogie Ellis and USC could give Zona a run for their money as well.
26 other conferences will also punch tickets to the NCAA Tournament. I think FAU easily wins the AAC, SDSU wins the Mountain West, Gonzaga runs away with the WCC, and Liberty clears Conference USA. UMASS should take the Atlantic 10, Indiana St. should have the Missouri Valley Conference, and Princeton should run away with the Ivy league. James Madison rolls through the Sun Belt, UC Irvine wins the competitive Big West, and Chattanooga makes it back to the big dance, winning the Southern conference. Kent St. shoots their way back to the top of the MAC, and Weber St. wins the Big Sky. Wright St. should win the Horizon conference, Bellarmine should take the Atlantic Sun, and UNC Asheville should repeat as Big South champions. I think Iona will take the Metro Atlantic, and Charleston will win the Colonial conference, and I have Oral Roberts winning the Summit league. Bryant wins the America East, and Holy Cross wins the Patriot League, and TN State wins the Ohio Valley. Norfolk should probably win the Mid-Eastern conference, Alabama state should have the Southwestern Atlantic, McNeese should win the Southland, and finally, FDU should win the Northeastern conference.
After all 32 conferences crown champions, 32 spots in March Madness will remain. The selection committee will send 32 other teams to the tournament. Purdue, Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, The Ohio State University, and Michigan State will make it in from the Big Ten. I think the Big 12 will send Baylor, Texas, Iowa State, TCU, Oklahoma, and BYU will sneak in. In the Big East, the committee sends the trio of Marquette, UCONN, and Providence. The SEC should send a barrage of teams to The Dance, including Kentucky, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama, along with Missouri as a sneak-in candidate. The ACC will once again send UNC, along with Virginia and Clemson. In the final season of the Pac-12, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, and USC will join UCLA in the tournament. Colorado State will make it from the Mountain West, along with Nevada and Utah State. Finally, Louisiana Tech sneaks in from the CUSA, to set the stage for madness.
The most amazing thing about college basketball is the possibility that I could be completely wrong. While it is fun to try, men’s hoops are unpredictable, year after year. Don’t believe me? Last year, North Carolina, the inaugural national number one ranked team, missed the tournament. FDU, who weren’t even supposed to win their own conference, ended up punching a ticket to the tournament as the 16 seed, and upset number one Purdue in the first round. This was only in one year! Countless amazing stories within the history of college basketball hold up the famous nickname for the tournament. With all that said, I advise you to go turn on some college hoops. You just might get to see a special story unfold.