The college basketball season is finally here, and the sport is wasting no time getting going.
All but six of the Associated Press Top 25 teams are in action on Monday night, including Duke and freshman star Cooper Flagg, top-ranked Kansas and several other Big 12 contenders and a battle between No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 8 Baylor.
While a lot can (and will) happen between now and NCAA tournament time, here are some of the biggest storylines to pay attention to as the season gets underway.
How far can Cooper Flagg lead Duke?
Cooper Flagg hasn’t played a game yet, but he’s already among the most anticipated college basketball players in recent history.
The 17-year-old out of Maine is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft next summer. The preseason All-American inked a massive deal with Gatorade last week to go with his shoe deal and other NIL endorsement deals. When he gets drafted, he’ll be the second-youngest college player ever to be selected for the NBA. Flagg averaged 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game at Montverde Academy in Florida last season while leading them to a perfect 31-0 record.
“Cooper’s feel for the game, combined with his athleticism, motor and the way he impacts winning on both ends of the floor, are what makes him special in my view,” one NBA executive told ESPN’s Jonathon Givony.
“He’s a basketball savant who is a step ahead of every play, which is what our game is built around with the tempo the NBA is played at.”
But before that can happen, Flagg will attempt to lead a new Duke team that is fresh off its deepest run in the NCAA tournament under coach Jon Scheyer. Though they lost their top four scorers from last year’s Elite Eight team, including Kyle Filipowski to the NBA, the Blue Devils are bringing back both Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster. Scheyer also landed transfers Mason Gillis, who helped lead Purdue to the national title game earlier this year, and Sion James and Maliq Brown.
Along with Flagg, Scheyer also secured commitments from 7-foot-1 center Khaman Maluach out of South Sudan, along with Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel. All four of those freshmen are five-star Rivals.com recruits, which easily gave Duke the top recruiting class.
Flagg and the Blue Devils will have several solid matchups early this fall, too, including a battle with No. 23 Kentucky next week and then games against both No. 10 Arizona and No. 1 Kansas before Thanksgiving.
While it may take them a second to settle in, Flagg is more than capable of leading Duke not only to an ACC title, but a very deep run come March. If the rest of the pieces around him fall into place, Duke should be in position to secure what would be its sixth championship.
Who can catch Kansas in the Big 12?
Kansas is back on top of the preseason poll this fall for a second straight season, and it’s easy to understand why. Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams are all back, and Bill Self brought in A.J. Storr from Wisconsin, Rylan Griffen from Alabama and Zeke Mayo from South Dakota State. Dickinson is perhaps the best big man in the country after averaging a double-double last season, and Storr averaged just shy of 17 points per game with the Badgers last season. Kansas will open the season with games against No. 9 North Carolina, Michigan State and No. 7 Duke all in the first month, too.
But the biggest issue for Kansas, one that plagued it last season, will be surviving the Big 12. The conference, which is consistently the toughest in the country, has plenty of other teams who could knock off the Jayhawks come March. Both Houston and Iowa State will start the year ranked inside the top five nationally. The No. 4 Cougars have four starters back from last year’s team, including J’Wan Roberts and L.J. Cryer, and the No. 5 Cyclones are starting the year with their highest ranking ever. Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert and Milan Momcilovic are all back, and coach T.J. Otzelberger landed key transfers in Joshua Jefferson (Saint Mary’s), Dishon Jackson (Charlotte) and Nate Heise (Northern Iowa).
Baylor is starting the year out at No. 8, and Arizona has Caleb Love back for a final season. Love averaged 18 points per game last year while reaching the Sweet 16.
The Big 12 is truly anybody’s to win once again. But, like it has consistently for the past several decades, the road to the conference title will run through Lawrence.
Calipari’s start at Arkansas, Alabama’s run continues in the SEC
Alabama is still in a great position this fall after making it to the Final Four for the first time in program history last season. Mark Sears is back after averaging 21.5 points per game last year with the Crimson Tide, and he’s a preseason All-American with the team that’s starting the season No. 2 in the country. Grant Nelson is back, too, and coach Nate Oats landed transfers Chris Youngblood, Aden Holloway and center Clifford Omoruyi.
The way Oats has been building up this program in recent years, Alabama could be a national title favorite down the stretch. There are eight other SEC teams ranked in the initial poll, too, including Bruce Pearl’s group at Auburn, Texas and Florida. Wade Taylor IV is also a legitimate national Player of the Year candidate at Texas A&M.
Fair or not, though, all eyes in the conference are going to be on both Kentucky and Arkansas for one reason: Head coach John Calipari.
Calipari stunned the college basketball world in April when he left Kentucky in favor of Arkansas. He had helped keep the Wildcats a national powerhouse during his 15 seasons with the program, but he largely struggled in recent years. They were bounced from the tournament in the first weekend in their last three appearances.
So he opted to jump for Arkansas, where he took over for Eric Musselman and has largely rebuilt the roster. Former BYU coach Mark Pope was hired to replace Calipari in Lexington, where he played in college himself.
The SEC is about as good as it’s ever been basketball-wise. But how Calipari and Pope do in their first seasons in their new homes — and how Calipari fares when he makes his first return trip to Kentucky with the Razorbacks on Feb. 1 — is sure to be the main focus in the league. Among the top games currently on the schedule, that contest at Rupp Arena is sure to be extremely entertaining.
Can Dan Hurley lead UConn to a third straight title?
This is going to be an incredibly hard task to pull off, but Dan Hurley has the first legitimate shot at a three-peat in decades.
After winning back-to-back titles, UConn will open the season with eyes on a rare third this fall. The Huskies lost significant members from last year’s team — including stars Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan — to the NBA Draft, but Alex Karaban is back after averaging 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Hurley is also bringing in Liam McNeeley, who is widely considered a projected lottery pick for next summer’s NBA Draft. The 6-foot-7 forward out of the Dallas area should fit into Hurley’s system perfectly.
The last time we saw a team win three straight championships was from 1967-1973, when John Wooden’s UCLA teams won seven straight. While UConn is the favorite in the Big East, it’s likely going to take things going perfectly for Hurley to reach the Final Four again. But, if the Huskies can get past Creighton and Marquette and win the Big East, another tournament run isn’t out of the question.
