College Basketball Preview 2013-14: Projecting Winners From Every Major Conference
By Nathan Giese
College basketball preview 2013-14 continues. We have already given our preseason top 25 and All-American teams thus far at HoopsHabit, now we will being predicting the winners for each conference.
To start off with, we will begin with the major conferences. For some clarification, everybody seems to have their own definition of what a “major conference” classifies as in college basketball. In college football, they are called BCS schools. They generally are called BCS schools in basketball as well, but there is no BCS. It’s all about the big names.
In all, it’s confusing, so here’s my definition of a “major conference:” A conference that has more than one team selected to the NCAA tournament (first being the winner of the conference tournament and others put in by the selection committee) on a regular basis. Those are the ones that are major conferences in my book.
With that, here are HoopsHabit’s projected major conference regular season winners for the 2013-14 college basketball season. Be on the lookout next week for the projected mid-major winners.
Atlantic Coast Conference: Duke Blue Devils
Despite the losses of Mason Plumlee, Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly, coach Mike Krzyewski may have his most talented overall team in years. Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon and Tyler Thornton return to bolster the backcourt, but they also return sharpshooter Andre Dawkins, who redshirted for the 2012-13 season.
Duke also brings in two great additions in Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood and freshman standout Jabari Parker. Many folks might remember that before everybody jumped on the Andrew Wiggins bandwagon, Parker was being slated as the top prospect out of high school since LeBron James. Hood and Parker will join another Plumlee brother, Marshall, in the frontcourt. Marshall didn’t play much last season, but the Plumlee bloodline in Durham runs deep.
Toughest competitor for the crown: North Carolina.
American Athletic Conference: Louisville Cardinals
The reigning national champion Louisville Cardinals are in the AAC conference for one season before they join the new, loaded ACC next season. Russdiculousness returns to Louisville as Russ Smith passed on the NBA draft in search for another championship. Rick Pitino always has great teams and this season will be no exception.
Montrezl Harrell will be moved to the starting center position and expected to be the second best option on offense the Cardinals have going into this season. Luke Hancock showed great poise during Louisville’s championship run and Kevin Ware has been cleared for basketball activities. Louisville is ready to win another championship.
Atlantic 10: VCU Rams
Havoc defense is returning as Shaka Smart has once again turned down bigger contracts and bigger schools to return VCU. Juvonte Reddic, Treveon Graham and Rod Brandenberg are the key returning players for Smart and the Rams and are ready to avenge their embarrassing loss to Michigan in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament, having their havoc defense picked apart by Trey Burke for a 78-53 loss.
VCU led the A-10 in scoring offense and points per possession behind were only second in points allowed per possession to Saint Louis. The havoc defense may have a fun name attached to it, but it’s beatable, as shown by Michigan last season. VCU knows they have a target on their back; it’s just a matter of staying true to the Smart plan.
Toughest competitor for the crown: Saint Louis.
Big 12: Oklahoma State Cowboys
The sexy pick is always Kansas and rightfully so, but Oklahoma State has more returning talent and one of, if not the best, overall player in the nation in Marcus Smart. Smart returns to Stillwater with more determination and focus than ever before, wanting to become a winner in college before moving on to the NBA.
Smart rejoins Le’Bryan Nash and Markel Brown as one of the most talented cores in the country. Expectations are high for the Cowboys and must maintain their composure and stay healthy this season. If they can do that, they will knock off Kansas and super freshman Andrew Wiggins from the top of the Big 12.
Toughest competitor for the crown: Kansas.
Big East: Creighton Blue Jays
Creighton enters its first year away from the very talented Missouri Valley Conference, where they would’ve been the favorites, and now are the favorites in a much more media-oriented conference in the Big East.
Doug McDermott, HoopsHabit preseason first team All-American, returns for his senior season to cement his legacy. McDermott is Mr. Do Everything for Creighton and the Blue Jays will go as far as he takes them. But the biggest return may be Grant Gibbs for Creighton. The offense is designed for McDermott, but Gibbs makes it run and plays solid defense, something McDermott isn’t known for.
Toughest competitor for the crown: Marquette.
Big Ten: Michigan State Spartans
The top-ranked team in HoopsHabit’s preseason top 25, Michigan State comes in with the most returning talent from all the top teams in the country. Gary Harris and Adreian Payne come back looking to bring a championship to Tom Izzo’s collection of accomplishments.
Keith Appling is going to have some more responsibilities as he is the senior leader on and off the court. He had a rough season at times, but should find his groove this season.
Toughest competitor for the crown: Michigan.
Mountain West: New Mexico Lobos
New Mexico is coming off a 29-win season and a round of 64 exit in the NCAA tournament and has a new head coach. Needless to say, the Lobos feel like they have something to prove and it’s going to be a challenge with the increasing talent in the Mountain West.
The Lobos lose Tony Snell, but return leaders in the frontcourt and backcourt in Alex Kirk and Kendall Williams. Williams and Kirk averaged 13.3 and 12.1 points per game last season, respectively. New Mexico is not a flashy team but they are extremely talented and should be in the discussion for a top four seed in the 2014 NCAA tournament when the time comes.
Toughest competitor for the crown: UNLV.
Pac-12: Arizona Wildcats
Arizona lost a lot of scoring offense from a season ago but they are still the cream of the crop in the Pac-12. Coach Sean Miller brings back Nick Johnson to be the offensive catalyst he loves to have. Kaleb Tarczewski is a name to keep an eye on as the sophomore will pick up increased minutes from last season as well as a potential starting spot in the absence of Solomon Hill and Grant Jerrett.
Toughest competitor: UCLA.
SEC: Kentucky Wildcats
John Calipari has done it again as he brings in nine freshman and the most loaded recruiting class in the country, highlighted by Julius Randle and the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew). They are the top team in the country if they can get all the moving pieces together (unlike last season and more like their national championship run in 2012). For now, we’ll give them the edge in the SEC and let the pieces fall where they may.
Willie Caulie-Stein and Alex Poythress are the returning minutes getters from last season’s studded class and should see significant time on the floor even with the newcomers taking up roster space.
Toughest competitor for the crown: Florida.
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