The NCAA men’s college basketball’s renewed season is set to tip-off this Friday, and several pundits across the web have weighed-in on which teams will prevail as the top dogs in their respective conferences.
As such, let’s take a look at some predictions from the experts themselves as for who will prevail as champions from each of the seven top-heavy conferences (Bigs East, Ten, and 12; Pacific; Atlantic; Southeast and American). And to round out your college basketball season review, check out our special feature on the top 10 players in the country to learn more about the rising stars ready to explode this 2015-16 season.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Expert Predictions for the 2015-16 NCAA Men’s Basketball Regular Season
CBS Sports
| Conference | Garry Parrish | Matt Norlander | Chip Patterson | Sam Vecenie | Jerry Palm | Jon Rothstein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big 12 | Kansas | Kansas | Kansas | Kansas | Kansas | Kansas |
| Big East | Villanova | Villanova | Villanova | Villanova | Villanova | Villanova |
| Big Ten | Maryland | Maryland | Maryland | Maryland | Maryland | Maryland |
| Pac-12 | California | California | Arizona | Arizona | Arizona | California |
| ACC | UNC | Virginia | UNC | UNC | UNC | UNC |
| SEC | Kentucky | Kentucky | Kentucky | Kentucky | Kentucky | Kentucky |
| AAC | UConn | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | UConn | SMU | SMU |
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]As what CBS Sports and basically each expert on this here article attests, Villanova, Kentucky and Maryland are heavily favored to win their respective conferences.
Since we’re just talking about possible conference winners, the Villanova Wildcats are once again poised to rule over the Big East, especially with the arrival of electric freshman Jalen Brunson. We’ll just save our criticism about the Wildcats’ NCAA tournament woes for another discussion.
Meanwhile, with a roster composed of Melo Trimble, five-start recruit Diamond Stone and Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon, the Maryland Terrapins boast one of the nation’s most formidable starting lineups to run away with the Big Ten title.
And, of course, there’s the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats lost seven players to the NBA draft this year, but had the best recruitment period in the offseason (per Rivals.com) – led by top-ranked prospect Skal Labissiere – to give decorated head coach John Calipari the best odds from bookmakers (+700) at winning yet another national title.
It’s also worth mentioning that CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander decided to side with Virginia instead of heavy favorite UNC and defending champion Duke out in the ACC. The Cavaliers have a stellar defense, but the lack of scoring options around the perimeter outside of Malcolm Brogdon could still spell trouble for the team’s hopes of finally winning the big one.
USA Today
| Conference | Scott Gleeson |
|---|---|
| Big 12 | Oklahoma |
| Big East | Villanova |
| Big Ten | Maryland |
| Pac-12 | California |
| ACC | UNC |
| SEC | Kentucky |
| AAC | SMU |
Scott Gleeson of USA Today strongly believes that this is the year that the Oklahoma Sooners put and end to the Kansas Jayhawks’ 12-year reign over the Big 12. And with the conference’s scoring leader last season in Buddy Hield looking indeed like the best player in the conference, betting on the Sooners as +3.500 sleepers to win the national title is not as far-fetched as it seems at all.
Still, it’s hard to argue against the Jayhawks’ dominance over the group. Was standout freshman Chieck Diallo’s still-tentative status of joining the team enough of a reason as for why Gleeson sided with Oklahoma instead?
Hero Sports
| Conference | Hero Sports |
|---|---|
| Big 12 | Kansas |
| Big East | Villanova |
| Big Ten | Maryland |
| Pac-12 | Arizona |
| ACC | Duke |
| SEC | Kentucky |
| AAC | Cincinnati |
The folks over at Hero Sports are still high on the defending champs in the Duke Blue Devils, who reloaded their roster with top-five recruit Brandon Ingram and agile point guard Derryck Thornton for a chance to repeat as national champions.
The North Carolina Tarheels may have the best player in the ACC in Marcus Paige, but he’s not entirely healthy, and the Tarheels still look to have a very shaky defense. With that said, heeding Hero Sports’ advice and placing your stakes on Duke at +800 to win back-to-back national titles may be a sounder decision indeed than picking trendy UNC (+1,000) when all is said and done.
Top Bet
| Conference | Top Bet |
|---|---|
| Big 12 | Kansas |
| Big East | Villanova |
| Big Ten | Maryland |
| Pac-12 | California |
| ACC | UNC |
| SEC | Kentucky |
| AAC | SMU |
We here at Top Bet pretty much went with the conventional picks for the more predictable conferences as well, so it would be better for us to delve further into the other two swing-vote groups, namely the Pac-12 and the AAC.
The Pacific will likely be won by one of only two proven contenders: the California Golden Bears or the Arizona Wildcats. We gave the edge to Cal, seeing how their already prolific backcourt offense just got stronger with the addition of freshman Jaylen Brown, and that Arizona lost four of its starters from last year’s campaign.
And last but not least, there’s the enigmatic American Athletic Conference. You really can’t go wrong with picking either Kevin Ollie’s Huskies or Larry Browns Mustangs, but the latter brings much more to the table on paper than UConn.
SMU has the best floor general in the AAC in Nic Moore. And together with big men Markus Kennedy and transfer Jordan Tolbert, the Mustangs look more well-equipped than the Huskies right now in prevailing as this season’s conference champs.
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