10. Mountain West
Champion: Nevada - Final Four good
Sleeper: UNLV - The Athletic has a nice article on UNLV this week about chasing their history. The gist is, it’ll be very hard to recapture the Tark days. That’s probably true but keep in mind, Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the country. No one is dominating out west. The best program is Gonzaga in Spokane. Marvin Menzies is doing good work. Keep an eye on UNLV over the next few years. They’re my new Rhode Island.
Player of the Year: Caleb Martin, Nevada
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Dave Pilipovich, Air Force
9. West Coast
Champion: Gonzaga - Probably would have been my national champion pick but losing Killian Tillie for the first month plus makes me nervous. Still stacked, it’ll be curious to see how Tillie comes back. They’re still the class of the west coast.
Sleeper: San Francisco: Could see them challenge for 2nd place in the league. St. Mary’s and BYU should be better but it’s not a lock.
Player of the Year: Zach Norvell, Gonzaga
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: None
8. Missouri Valley
Champion: Illinois State - Loyola is the easy pick and they could win it, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise but, with expectations come new challenges. A lot of magic was expended last March.
Sleeper: Bradley - Brian Wardle has slowly built a program that can soon challenge for Valley titles. With the departure of Wichita State, I think the league may benefit in the long run with more balance and competitiveness. Bradley is trending in the right direction.
Player of the Year: Malik Yarbrough, Illinois State
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Greg Lansing, Indiana State
7. AAC
Champion: Houston
Sleeper: UConn - There is talent in Storrs. Danny Hurley isn’t walking into a mess like he did at Rhode Island. Don’t be surprised if they get on the right side of the bubble.
Player of the Year: Jalen Adams, UConn
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: All should be safe but Brian Gregory probably has a short leash at South Florida
6. Pac-12
Champion: Oregon
Sleeper: Colorado - I contemplated Oregon State here but I’m very bullish on McKinley Wright, their point guard. This is a very young team but return a good chunk of their minutes. With the league as wide open as it appears without any great teams, Colorado could sneak into the top 4 of the league.
Player of the Year: Bennie Boatwright, USC
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Wyking Jones, Cal
5. Big East
Champion: Villanova
Sleeper: Butler - Georgetown could be a pain in the ass this year as well but Butler is squarely on the bubble entering the season and that seems preposterous given their history.
Player of the Year: Phil Booth, Villanova
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Dave Leitao, DePaul; Chris Mullin has no reason not to get St. John’s back into the tourney. Failure to do so and he won’t be back.
4. Big 14
Champion: Michigan - John Beilein is the best coach in the league
Sleeper: Ohio State - After Beilein retires, Chris Holtmann will be the best coach in the league. They’ll be sloppy early given the talent drain, but I bet by time you get to mid-February, they flash the brightness of their future.
Player of the Year: Carsen Edwards, Purdue
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Richard Pitino, Minnesota; there are a few options here but if he fails to dance, I’m not sure why they keep him
3. Big XII
Champion: Kansas
Sleeper: Texas Tech - Most see them on the outside looking in and they lost quite a bit but I’m a believer in Chris Beard. Keep an eye on freshman Khavon Moore.
Player of the Year: Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Maybe Mike Boynton but I’m not sure anyone has a hot seat. If Kansas State underachieves, Bruce Weber might be in trouble. I’ll make one bold call, Bill Self is coaching his last year in Kansas.
2. SEC
Champion: Kentucky - This whole year is about Tyler Herro averaging double figures and Badger fans grumbling about it
Sleeper: Arkansas by default because 9 teams will end up dancing. Also, they have Daniel Gafford
Player of the Year: Reid Travis, Kentucky - he’s exactly the kind of player Kentucky could have used the last two years
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Mike Anderson’s seat will probably get hot with such a deep league. Frank Martin probably has another season of good will from his improbable Final 4 run but South Carolina is mired in the bottom half of the league and he hasn’t recruited all that well
1. ACC
Champion: North Carolina
Sleeper: Notre Dame - They look like the last of 9 ACC teams that should dance but I won’t be surprised if they end up better than that. Love their veteran back court:
Player of the Year: Luke Maye, North Carolina
Coach Getting Left on the Tarmac: Maybe Danny Manning but he has the luxury of a very good recruiting class this season, so he can preach patience. Won’t be surprised if this Jim Larranaga’s last go-round in South Beach.
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