We're in a golden era of offense in college basketball and last season 16 different schools averaged more than 120 points per 100 possessions. Among those 16 teams were three of the Final Four (Michigan, Illinois and Arizona) and five of the Elite Eight (add in Purdue and Duke). If you want to win it all, you have to be able to score and these are the teams who could put up the most points this season.
1. Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois' offense relies a lot on individual creation and hunting the matchups they want. They ran 31 pick-and-rolls per game, the 11th most in all of college basketball, while being the 7th most efficient offense out of pick-and-rolls, per Synergy. They want to space the floor and create driving lanes, while generating most of their shots from three or at the rim.
David Mirkovic can play like a point forward for this team, creating matchup nightmares everywhere he goes. The trio of freshman Quentin Coleman, Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks, and Andrej Stojakovic give Illinois multiple ball handlers who can create. Add in a pair of floor spacing 7-footers between Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic and Illinois will be incredibly difficult to stop.
2. Florida Gators
Florida will be one of the most experienced teams in the country, returning nearly everyone from last year's team that went 27-8 overall.
Despite not having the best floor spacing lineup, Florida can dominate offensively, on the glass and with their interior skill. They averaged 16.4 second-chance points per game last season, the second most in the country, per CBB Analytics. They rely a lot on post ups and bigs cutting to the rim in the half court, while trying to get guards out and running in transition as much as possible.
As of now, Denzel Aberdeen is eligible, and he'd be pairing up with Boogie Fland to form one of the most dynamic backcourts in the country. Regardless of his eligibility status, Florida will have arguably the best front court in the country between the trio of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu, who all averaged over 10 points per game for the Gators last season.
3. Duke Blue Devils
Jon Scheyer once again assembled an offense capable of being the best in the country.
The Duke offense has largely been successful because of their ability to space the court and execute off ball actions. They have skill and size everywhere and can run the offense through multiple options.
John Blackwell was one of the prolific wing scorers last season, and now he joins Cayden Boozer in the backcourt. Both are capable of handling the ball, but Blackwell should be able to focus more on just scoring this season. Dame Sarr, Patrick Ngongba, and Caleb Foster all returned, giving Duke continuity on the roster.
Duke also brings in multiple 5-star prospects, with Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje being the biggest name. The 7-foot-2 forward comes over from Spain as one of the best prospects in the world, and if he can adjust to college basketball, he has the tools to be unstoppable.
4. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville blends on ball creation with off ball movement to get a motion offense that can attack from multiple angles. Everything is based on taking high quality shots in a spaced out system.
Louisville has a lot of high profile names from the portal for this upcoming season. Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad is a quick point guard who is capable of both facilitating and scoring. He forms the backcourt trio with Adrian Wooley and Karter Knox, both very good shooters out on the wing.
6-foot-10 forward Alvaro Folgueiras is a perfect fit for the Louisville system as he'll be able to utilize his skill and shooting. Flory Bidunga is one of the best centers in the sport, giving Louisville one of the best lob threats out there.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide
Nate Oats doubled down last season on simplifying the offense to create quick, quality looks. This led to Alabama running more pick and rolls than almost anyone else in the country.
Alabama returns two productive ball handlers in Aden Holloway and Amari Allen, and this duo has the upside of being one of the best backcourts in the country.
London Jemison and Drew Fielder are shooting forwards who fit well with the floor spacing that Alabama wants. Brandon Garrison transferred from Kentucky and gives Alabama a big comfortable with setting screens.
6. Texas Longhorns
Texas will have to rely a lot on transfers and freshmen, but the Longhorns could be one of the best offenses out there.
7-foot-0 center Matas Vokietaitis is a physical scorer down low and averaged over 15 points per game last season for Texas.
Isaiah Johnson and Mikey Lewis are two guards who can score in bunches and give Texas quality shooting on the perimeter. Of note, Mikey Lewis did suffer a recent injury and will miss some of the season.
Elyjah Freeman and David Punch give Texas even more physicality on the interior that should make Texas difficult to guard.
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