Season Preview: The Contenders

Only 10 days until the start of the season! I'm in full college basketball mode right now. I generally take a different approach to studying college basketball than other sports. When talking about baseball, football, or anything else, I usually obtain a broad knowledge of the sport and then talk like I know everything and anything about that sport. Obviously, I'm usually wrong, but sometimes it's fun to argue like you're an expert and see people's reactions. But with college basketball, I try to strive for knowledge over everything else. I try to accept everyone's opinion on the sport and see it as a different perspective on the situation. It makes a more knowledgeable fan and helps me understand the game more. But enough about philosophy. Time to talk college basketball.

Generally at the beginning of the season there are a few favorites that stand out from the crowd. Last season there was one team that was the consensus #1 at the beginning; that was North Carolina. This season is no different. However, I do think there is plenty of room for movement at the top, and if there's one thing I've learned about college basketball, it's that the minute you have a team pegged, they go out and perform the complete opposity of what you expected. That said, I'm going to make somewhat of a bold statement and say I think the National Champion and 3 of the 4 Final Four teams will come from this group:

Kansas
UNC
Texas
Michigan State
West Virginia
Villanova
Purdue
Kentucky
Duke

That's less a prediction and more a general observation of the best teams in the country at this moment. It's also the top 9 teams in the rankings right now, which means it's not really that bold. But after this point I believe there is a break that separates the teams above (the favorites) from the teams below (teams that can be great but have serious obstacles to overcome to make a Final Four run). The next group below you can call darkhorses, but I think one of these teams will likely surprise and sneak into the Final Four (like Villanova last year). My top candidates for non-favorites that will surprise are:

Boston College
Maryland
Florida State
UConn
Ohio State
Michigan
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Mississippi State
Cal
Washington
Butler

This is not what I consider a comprehensive list of the "2nd tier" teams. This is just here to illustrate that one of these teams who isn't expected to make a Final Four run will likely emerge as a contender at some point in the season. The point is: expect the unexpected.

Now a look ahead: in the next few days I am going to put out conference previews: one for each of the power conferences, the A-10, and then a mid-major "best of the rest" section. Except for the "best of the rest", each will have a similar format and is designed not to go in-depth into every team but to give a taste of the conference, including the overall direction I think each is heading in and some general expectations just so you can get some perspective on each conference. When the season starts on Nov. 9th, my hope is you are an educated fan who thoroughly enjoys the game, as that is what I attempt to achieve in my studies.