2022-2023 College Basketball Preview: Who is The Best Bet to Win Each Conference Regular Season?
By Reed Wallach
College basketball gets started on Monday and boy are we in for a fantastic year of hoops.
This could be one of the most wide open National Championship races on the hardwood with several teams loading up via freshman recruits and the ever active transfer portal. Several teams are firmly in the hunt for the No. 1 team in the country as the season gets underway on November 7th including but not limited to Gonzaga, Houston, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Baylor, Kansas and Arizona.
We will have season long coverage for you over on BetSided but here is our preview for each of the five major conference favorites, in my opinion.
ACC College Basketball Season Preview: North Carolina (+1000)
The Tar Heels made the NCAA Tournament as the No. 8 seed, a frustrating team that struggled to find consistency amongst all their talent. It all clicked in 'Big Dance,' though as the likes of Caleb Love and Armando Bacot helped propel the Tar Heels to the National Championship game and a near win over Kansas under first year head coach Hubert Davis.
Now, the team returns nearly the entire core as they look to avenge their runner up tournament run by cutting down the nets.
I may not be as bullish as the ACC media, who nearly unanmiously picked the Tar Heels to win the ACC, but this team is definitely the "favorite" heading into the season. However, if they get overtaken by Duke or another formidable roster, I would not be surprised mainly due to their defense.
The team struggled on that side of the floor all year, namely in the backcourt as Love and Davis struggled to limit dribble penetration. The team was bottom 10 nationally in turnover percentage and allowed opponents to shoot 47% on two-point shots (87th in the country).
If the team makes a leap on that side of the floor, they are rightfully a title contender. The team is as talented as any team in the country, replacing stretch big Brady Manek with Northwestern transfer Pete Nance, but I still need to see it before I'm rushing to the window to back North Carolina to cut down the nets.
Big Ten College Basketball Season Preview: Illinois (+400)
We spoke about Indiana above, but I actually think the new look Illinois team is the best team in the Big Ten.
The Illini did lose key contributors including Kofi Cockburn, Trent Frazier and Alfonso Plummer, but Brad Underwood crushed the transfer portal, bringing in Texas Tech guard Terrance Shannon Jr and Baylor wing Matthew Mayer to join the likes of Coleman Hawkins and and R.J. Melendez
The best players on the floor today in the Kansas-Illinois scrimmage, per source:
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 22, 2022
Kansas: Kevin McCullar
Illinois: Terrence Shannon
Both transferred from Texas Tech.
The two Big 12 imports will make up for some of the defensive losses the team lost, while the offense should have good spacing around five star freshman Skyy Clark, who looks to run the point this season.
While KenPom has the team taking a step back in it's early projections, down from 20 to 33, other metrics like Bart Torvik has the Illini as the No. 14 team in the country.
I think they have a higher ceiling than Indiana and by the time conference play starts could be the clear favorite.
Big 12 College Basketball Preview: Baylor (+1200)
This team is arguably the best bet on the board heading into the season. The team is loaded at all positions and has the depth to withstand injuries.
We'll start in the backcourt where the team returns two key contributors that averaged double digits last season in senior Adam Flager and sophomore LJ Cryer. Both are lights out shooters at over 38% from beyond the arc and will be backed up by transfer Dale Bonner and freshman Langston Love.
At wing, the team has a five star recruit in Keyontae George who will likely have NBA Draft buzz all season as the team's premiere bucket getter. He's a willing passer and has great length to check guards and forwards in Baylor's no-middle defensive scheme.
Baylor is consistently nasty down low, shutting off the rim and crashing the glass well and the return of Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchachoua should only bolster that.
This number has been dropping all summer and likely will drop throughout the winter too.
PAC-12 College Basketball Preview: Arizona (+2000)
UCLA received the majority of the first place votes in the preseason media poll, but Arizona is looked at on the same level as the Bruins, and rightfully so.
The team may have lost NBA talent by way of Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry, but the rest of the rotation returns as well as key transfers.
Kerr Kriisa is the ball handler of the starting five and will be joined by veteran Texas transfer Courtney Ramey in the backcourt. Up front, 6'11" big man Azuolas Tubelis returns with nearly 14 points per game as Oumar Ballo slids in for Koloko, another seven-foot rim protector for the Wildcats.
Arizona backs up Ballo with two more seven footers in freshmen Henri Veesaar and Dylan Anderson to add some size off the bench as well as senior transfer Cedric Henderson Jr, who transferred from Campbell after averaging 14 points per game on nearly 50% shooting from the field and 38% shooting from the three-point line.
While there are questions for both UCLA and Arizona, I believe the ceiling is higher for Lloyd's group, who has the size to overwhelm opponents on the inside and the necessary 3-point shooting with Ramey and Henderson to be a top 10 unit on that side of the ball.
SEC College Basketball Preview: Kentucky (+1500)
It was an underwhelming exit for the Coach Cal and the Wildcats last March, losing to Elite 8 bound St. Peter's in the first round, but the team has reloaded and is looked at as a National Championship contender.
The team brings back National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe as well as Jacob Toppin and Sahvir Wheeler to complement the sixth best recruiting class in the country. Shot making was a concern last season for the Wildcats, but Coach Cal hit the portal and brought in 47% 3-point shooter C.J. Frederick as well as 39% 3-point shooter Antonio Reeves.
The Wildcats are No. 1 in KenPom's preseason ranking, but they must weather the early injury bug. Tshibwe had a minor knee procedure three weeks ago, but does look ready to go for the team's opener next week. Meanwhile, Wheeler suffered a knee injury in the team's exhibition against Missouri Western State this week, but Coach Cal is hopeful it is minor.
On paper, Kentucky is a top team that improved in spots where they were flawed last year, mainly shot making.
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