The ultimate guide to the guys’s college basketball season: Last
With all of the monumental modifications across men’s college basketball, this season’s style can probably be captured in one word: mileage.It begins in Durham, North Carolina, where fans from all around the country will take a trip for a look of Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the 6-foot-9 freshman phenom and forecasted No. 1 choice in the 2025 NBA draft. Expect to see celebrities get on personal jets to Cameron Indoor Stadium to sign up with the sort of buzz that this sport has actually not experienced given that Zion Williamson’s lone season with the Blue Devils in 2018-19.
The impact of huge conference realignment suggests West Coast schools will likewise crisscross the country to play conference games. Oregon coach Dana Altman is so worried about possible jet lag, he has called NBA and NFL groups to get the scoop on taking a trip to various time zones. UCLA coach Mick Cronin informed reporters he wants comfortable beds on the Bruins’ chartered flights to the East Coast.Don’t be shocked if it takes a while to get used to a few of the other major modifications in the sport. John Calipari will be wearing red suits and sweaters this season as the coach at Arkansas– 700 miles from his previous school, Kentucky. Cal goals to begin fresh in Fayetteville and show he can win without Big Blue Nation.Editor’s Picks
2 Associated Clifford Omoruyi moved 994 miles south of Rutgers to Alabama, which could cut down the internet at the end of season in part due to the fact that of his decision. AJ Storr made the 500-mile trek from Wisconsin to Kansas, where he’ll be a crucial player for the preseason No. 1 team. Not everybody has had to travel that far, though: Kadary Richmond, an all-Big East first-team member at Seton Hall last season, is now with Rick Pitino at St. John’s, just an hour from his old school.A lot has actually occurred because April 8. We’re here to help make some sense of it.ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, Joe Lunardi and Neil Paine respond to some concerns about the teams and players that should catch your attention this season– and make a couple of choices and forecasts along the way.Jump to: Predictions|Picks|Conference winners![]()
2024-25 FORECAST The most intriguing team Duke is a group to see this
2024-25 season. Lance King/Getty Images Joe Lunardi: At any time Alabama basketball has greater expectations than Alabama football, it creates a story. And, on the hardwood, it’s one full of upside. Alabama was the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 general seed in 2023. The Tide reached the school’s first Last 4 in 2024. The natural development for 2024-25 would be a national championship, which is very much within reach for coach Nate Oats entering his sixth season in Tuscaloosa.Neil Paine: All eyes have to be on Duke, with Cooper Flagg leading one of the most gifted groups– on paper– to ever take the court at Cameron Indoor Arena. Heaven Devils started to discover their stride in the Jon Scheyer era last season, making it all the way
to the Elite 8. A lot of that group is now left, but this season’s edition invites the nation’s top recruiting class(by far )in addition to a handful of solid transfers. If Scheyer can mold them into something more than the sum of their substantial parts, Duke might add to its collection of championship games in March.Jeff Borzello: There are numerous stories at Indiana. It’s an essential season for Mike Woodson. There was pressure on him toward the end of the previous campaign, but he now has a skilled roster that’s more than sufficient to win NCAA tournament games.
Despite landing one of the elite transfer classes in the nation, there are still questions surrounding the group’s shooting and frontcourt spacing. I won’t be shocked if the Hoosiers are the Huge 10 champs and Last Four competitors in March. I likewise would not be stunned if they do not strike their ceiling.Myron Medcalf: Somebody stole Penny Hardaway’s exclusive shoes off his front deck this summertime, and it was barely a footnote to the drama connected to Memphis. Hardaway was suspended 3 games last season for NCAA recruiting violations. He has actually made the NCAA tournament two times in 6 seasons. And he quickly fired the majority of his coaching personnel just months before
the start of this project. He has just one returning player on the roster. Hardaway is in the most critical year of his period. He has so much pull in Memphis as a former player and NBA star who stayed in his hometown after his career ended, but it appears like Hardaway needs to provide school officials more confidence to prevent any hot spot talk in March.The’ secret group ‘ How far can Ace Bailey take Rutgers this season? Ed Mulholland/Getty Images Paine: I may be a little prejudiced as a citizen of the Fayetteville metro location, however I’m interested to see what Arkansas carries out in John Calipari’s first season. In real Coach Cal fashion, the Razorbacks had a top-10 recruiting class, headlined by dynamic PG Boogie Fland. However they were also among the most active teams in the transfer website. Calipari’s teams have underperformed severely in the competition over the previous three years, so I’m not
entirely offered on Arkansas yet, but its advantage is undeniable.Borzello: In an era of college basketball when teams are developed by means of older players from the transfer website, Rutgers hopes it’s still possible to win with freshmen at the top of the roster. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are top-three-projected choices in June’s NBA draft; how far can they take Steve Pikiell’s group? He surrounded his two stars with a slew of midmajor transfers, however the team lacks tested interior size, and it’s worth wondering whether Pikiell can keep his current elite defenses with 2 of the very best offensive players in the country.Medcalf: With the return of Braden Smith, Purdue will have an All-American guard running the show. The Boilermakers likewise return essential vets, such as Fletcher Loyer, who made 44 %of his 3-point efforts last season. But Matt Painter’s squad likewise lost the very best player in college basketball for the past 2 years. It’s not clear how Purdue will represent the loss of Zach Edey. There are prospects– see Trey Kaufman-Renn– who might make Purdue a legitimate hazard in March. There’s likewise a world where it has lost too much to get through the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.Lunardi: A year back, Gonzaga entered February on the incorrect side of the NCAA bubble. It would have been Mark Couple of’s very first competition miss in his quarter century in Spokane. Rather, by late March, the Bulldogs were back in their accustomed area in the Sweet 16. Which variation of the Zags will we see in 2024-25? More particularly, can Gonzaga break down the last door between Few and a national championship? One needs to believe it will take place eventually.The first top-25 group to exit the NCAA tournament play 3:54 Golden focuses on taking Florida from excellent to fantastic Todd
Golden signs up with The Paul Finebaum Show to explain how Florida basketball will continue to climb the ladder in March and construct on program’s recent success.Borzello: My preseason top 25 had the very same teams as the AP preseason leading 25, so there’s no team that stands apart from that perspective– however let’s speak about Florida. I enjoy Walter Clayton Jr. as a scorer and Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin has actually drawn favorable reviews in Gainesville, but this group is still lacking a pass-first playmaker. I’m interested in whether the defense will take an advance in spite of the losses of Micah Handlogten and Tyrese Samuel. The Gators enabled a minimum of 79 points in each of their final seven games last season, and they might not have the explosiveness to simply outscore teams.Paine: Florida. Todd Golden’s group made strides last season, rising from No. 74 to No. 26 on KenPom and going back to the tournament after a two-year absence.
But it will likewise be down a number of beginners– including Handlogten, whose injury during the SEC tourney will cause him to miss all of this season. Florida ranks outside the predicted top 25 of both Pomeroy’s and Bart Torvik’s statistical systems, and was just 62nd in 247sports’composite ranking of skill added through recruiting and the portal.Lunardi: Simply a hunch, undoubtedly, but wouldn’t it be paradoxical if the early-round concerns continued for Kentucky? Definitely Mark Pope has actually assembled a roster that could be playing into April, however it might also turn out that John Calipari wasn’t the problem. We shall see.Medcalf: Yes, Rutgers might have a pair of top-three draft picks anchoring among
college basketball’s most remarkable shows this season, as it chases its first Last Four run in nearly 50 years. But as Kentucky just recently showed, groups led by young stars deal with challenges in a landscape including more older, experienced teams. While I believe Rutgers will be one of the most intimidating young groups due to the fact that of the talent on its roster, I likewise think the NCAA tournament is more difficult for those players to navigate in this present climate.A non-power-conference school we must all root for play 1:45 Saint Mary’s lasts longer than Gonzaga to claim the WCC title Saint Mary’s gets a big game from Aidan Mahaney to beat Gonzaga and win the West Coast Conference.Lunardi: Put me in the Dayton camp. There’s a reason the NCAA continues
to play the First Four at the UD Arena. Dayton fans are as devoted as they come, and the basketball gods still owe them for missing out on the 2020 competition that was canceled due to the fact that of the pandemic with a Last Four-caliber team.Medcalf: That’s easy. Grambling. Last season, Donte Jackson’s team reached the NCAA tournament for the first time as a Division I institution. Then, the Tigers won their first competition game with an overtime success against Montana State in the First 4. Jackson’s plan to”throw the whole cooking area”at Purdue’s Zach Edey didn’t work, but the Tigers earned a lot
of national support for showing no fear versus the top seed.
With
the return of Kintavious Dozier– who scored 16 points versus the Boilermakers– Grambling is all set for another go to the top of the SWAC.Top stories of the week from Get exclusive access to thousands of premium short articles a year from leading authors. – The majority of frustrating NFL teams “- MLB offseason reports, buzz, intel “- Upgraded CFB bowl forecasts” More ESPN +material”Borzello: It’s actually tough not to root for Tyon Grant-Foster and Grand Canyon. The Antelopes have actually been to 3 of the past four NCAA tournaments and knocked off 5-seed Saint Mary’s in the first round last season. They need to be even much better. Grant-Foster is a genuine All-America prospect after averaging 20.1 points last season– after going through numerous heart surgeries and leaving the game behind for 16 months. Finishing his college profession with a couple more NCAA tournament wins would top an extraordinary story.Paine: Saint Mary’s has actually regularly been one of the nation’s best non-power-conference teams under Randy Bennett but is constantly battling to leave the long shadow of WCC rival Gonzaga. Last season, the Gaels got rid of a rough nonconference stretch(5 losses in six games)to win 23 of 25 through the conference tourney, including snapping the Bulldogs ‘four-year WCC title streak.
It was frustrating to see them then right away lose as a 5-seed and say goodbye to 4 players who averaged 5-plus points. The Gaels enter this season unranked
, however it would be a great story to see them overcome more barriers and reach this program’s complete potential.The player everybody need to be paying a lot more attention to The numbers put up by Houston’s J’Wan Roberts last season don’t tell the whole story about his impact for the Cougars. William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports Medcalf: He played next to Tyler Kolek last season, however Kam Jones was a major contributor to a Marquette team that made a Sweet 16 run, shooting
41%from 3 in 2015. And if you’re searching for players who accrued momentum late in the season, take note of Jones, who made a strong case to be discussed among the Wood Award prospects going into the season. Over his last 16 games of 2023-24, Jones balanced 21.4 points.Borzello: Notre Dame’s Markus Burton opened his career with a 29-point outing versus Niagara and then got in the ACC as a freshman and balanced 17.5 points and 4.8 helps across 20 games. He had 28 and 8 at Syracuse and went for 31 versus Wake Forest. If the Battling Irish are to take an advance this season– and I believe they’re poised to do so– Burton will become a nationwide name.Paine: Houston’s J’Wan Roberts did
n’t get a single vote in the AP’s preseason All-America list. And perhaps that makes good sense, offered the sixth-year senior balanced simply 9.5 points a year earlier. However Roberts has actually played a crucial two-way role in Houston’s success these previous few years. While he isn’t a shooter( he has actually tried simply 6 profession 3-pointers ), he contributes in every other way, from effective offense (the Cougars balanced 121.4 points per 100 possessions when he chose a play)to his defense(he was leading 20 in the Big 12 in both steals and blocks per game ). According to Sports-Reference’s box plus/minus, Roberts had the country’s seventh-highest ranking amongst qualifiers last season.Lunardi: Neil beat me to it on J’Wan Roberts, so I’ll opt for 6-10 Johni Broome of Auburn. It states here the Tigers suffice to win a packed SEC and, if so, Broome is a reasonable Player of the Year prospect both in the conference and nationally. So why stop there? Broome is likewise my long shot for Many Outstanding Player at the Last Four.A player with an outside shot to win the Wooden Award Marquette’s Kam Jones and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner could
play their method into Wooden Award consideration this season. Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports Paine: After a quick dalliance with underclassmen in the late 2010s(Zion Williamson, Obi Toppin), the Wood Award has returned to favoring upperclassmen. That’s why fifth-year Creighton senior Ryan Kalkbrenner may be an underrated choice to watch: He’s ranked 6th in the Big East in scoring(17.3 points per game), fifth in rebounding (7.6)and initially in blocks (3.1 )last season, all while sharing the spotlight with Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander, who poured in more points. Both are now gone, which might open up more offensive chances for Kalkbrenner, who is currently the conference’s three-time reigning Defensive Gamer of the Year.Medcalf: Houston’s L.J. Cryer. At Big 12 media day, Kelvin Sampson informed me he thought Cryer never ever felt totally comfortable in 2015 since he was so concentrated on impressing after transferring from Baylor. Cryer shouldn’t feel that pressure any longer. If he ends up being the very best player on what could be the best group in America, he will certainly make the case for major consideration for the
Wood Award– especially if he links on 39
%of his 3-point attempts the method he did last season.Borzello: I’m unfaithful, however there are 2 point player who could set up huge numbers with increased use this season: Marquette’s Kam Jones and Purdue’s Braden Smith. Jones averaged 20.8 points and 4.5 helps in 6 games without Tyler Kolek last season, while Smith will be relied upon much more as a scorer without Zach Edey. He showed he might take on more offensive responsibility with 31 points versus Creighton in an exhibit game. If either of these groups can hang around the top 10, one of these players should end up as a first-team All-American. Lunardi: Why is nobody speaking about Hunter Dickinson at Kansas? Dickinson was on every All-America group this time last year and, if anything, he’s on a much better, much deeper group this season. He would likewise be the very first fifth-year player to win the award.The one storyline you’re enjoying this
season UConn has completed two extremely dominant runs to the national championship. Can the Huskies make it a three-peat? Christian Petersen/Getty Images Borzello: It needs to be Cooper Flagg and Duke, right? Flagg is the predicted No. 1 draft choice, the player with the most buzz going into college in several years, the centerpiece of a Duke group aiming to get to its very first Last Four given that Mike Krzyzewski retired.
Will he live up to the expectations? Can Duke– which might have 2 freshmen, Flagg and Kon Knueppel, as its leading scorers– win with freshmen leading the way? Flagg has regularly raised the teammates around him; will that continue in college?Medcalf: I wish to see if Alabama will spoil the party. Last season, the Crimson Tide played an NBA style– they finished 14th in adjusted pace on KenPom, and 47% of their field goal efforts were 3s– that can overwhelm opponents. With the addition of Clifford Omoruyi, they need to evolve into a more balanced team.
They have star power with Mark Sears. They have an entertaining style. They have genuine Last 4 capacity. Sorry, Kalen DeBoer. However Alabama might be a basketball school now.Lunardi: It has not been an excellent few years for the agreement No. 1 group. A season ago, Kansas was banged up and made”just”
the Sugary food 16. A season before that, North Carolina didn’t even make the tournament. You get the idea. Being the hunted in a sport with so much parity is most likely a downside. Yet here again are the Jayhawks, with as much power and pedigree as any program in college basketball. For me, the road to San Antonio starts in Lawrence, Kansas.Paine: Like most college hoops watchers, I presume, I want to see what UConn can do for a repetition to the repetition. Coach Dan Hurley’s team went on one of the most remarkable runs in men’s competition history in winning the 2023 nationwide title, then followed it up with an even more dominant go to the 2024 champion. The 2nd came without a number of the key players who ‘d fueled the very first team– and that’s something Hurley will have to browse once again this year (among UConn’s top 5 scorers from a year earlier, only Alex Karaban returns). However as long as the Huskies have their coach, they have another possibility to be terrific.![]()
2024-25 PICKS![]()
play 3:53 Oats discusses moving on from Alabama’s Last 4 look Nate Oats joins Marty & McGee to speak about Alabama’s previous accomplishments while staying focused on future goals and takes a blast to the past to relive his days as a football player.Final 4 (* indicates nationwide champ)Borzello: Kansas *, Alabama, Duke, Baylor Lunardi: Kansas *, Duke, Auburn, Creighton Medcalf: Alabama *, Duke, Kansas, Houston Paine: Houston *, Duke, Iowa State, Alabama Wooden Award(player of the year)Borzello: RJ Davis, North Carolina Lunardi: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas Medcalf: RJ Davis, North Carolina Paine: Mark Sears, Alabama Newbie of the year Borzello: Cooper Flagg, Duke Lunardi: Cooper Flagg, Duke Medcalf: Cooper Flagg, Duke Paine: Cooper Flagg, Duke Coach of the year Borzello: Dan Hurley, UConn Lunardi: Expense Self, Kansas Medcalf: Kelvin Sampson, Houston Paine: T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State All-America Group Borzello: RJ Davis, North Carolina Mark Sears, Alabama Caleb Love, Arizona Cooper Flagg, Duke Johni Broome, Auburn Lunardi: Mark Sears, Alabama Cooper Flagg, Duke Johni Broome, Auburn Hunter Dickinson, Kansas Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton Medcalf: RJ Davis, North Carolina Mark Sears, Alabama Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M Cooper Flagg, Duke Johni Broome, Auburn Neil Paine: Mark Sears, Alabama RJ Davis, North Carolina Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State Johni Broome, Auburn Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton Conference choices 2024-25 Department I conference winner chooses * Parentheses shows variety of elect each school ACC: Duke Blue Devils(4)America East: Vermont Catamounts( 4)American: UAB Blazers(3), Memphis Tigers( 1)Atlantic
10: Dayton Flyers (2), Saint Louis Billikens(1), VCU Rams(1 )Atlantic Sun: Lipscomb Bisons(4)Huge 12: Kansas Jayhawks(2), Houston Cougars(1), Iowa State Cyclones(1) Big East: UConn Huskies (3), Creighton Bluejays (1 )Big Sky: Montana Grizzlies(2)
, Weber State Wildcats (2)Huge South: Peak
Panthers (4)Big 10: Purdue Boilermakers(2),
UCLA Bruins(1), Indiana Hoosiers(1)Big
West: UC Irvine Anteaters(4) Coastal Athletic Association: Charleston Cougars( 2)
, Towson Tigers (2)Conference USA: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs(3), Sam Houston Bearkats(1 )Horizon League: Milwaukee Panthers(2), Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (1 ), Northern Kentucky Norse(1 )Ivy League: Princeton Tigers(4)City Atlantic Athletic Conference: Quinnipiac Bobcats(
4)Mid-American: Ohio Bobcats(4)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Howard Bison (3), Norfolk State Spartans (1)Missouri Valley: Bradley Braves(4 )Mountain West: Boise State Broncos (3), Utah State
Aggies(1)Northeast Conference:
Wagner Seahawks( 3), Central Connecticut Blue Devils(
1)Ohio Valley: Little
Rock Trojans(3 ), Southern Illinois Salukis(1)Patriot League:
Colgate Raiders(3), Bucknell Bison (1)SEC: Alabama Crimson Tide(3), Auburn Tigers(1)Southern: Wofford Terriers (2), East Tennessee
State Buccaneers( 1), Chattanooga Mocs(1 )Southland: McNeese Cowboys (4)SWAC: Grambling Tigers (2)
, Southern Jaguars (2)Summit League: South Dakota State
Jackrabbits (3), St.
Thomas-Minnesota Tommies(
1)Sun Belt: Arkansas State
Red Wolves(4)Western Athletic Conference: Grand Canyon Lopes(4