In Alphabetical order.
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
A little less than three weeks ago, the 14 members of the American Conference all converged on Irving, Texas for the AAC’s Annual Media Day. Among them were a cluster of legitimately hopeful players and coaches seeking a massive leap in this conference. Florida Atlantic has lost a lot, yet the Owls are once again ready to compete in entirely new way. Memphis is filled to the brim with dazzling talent, yet has been tasked with addressing major personnel changes to its coaching staff and potentially the overarching philosophy under Penny Hardaway. That leaves defending AAC Tournament Champions, UAB, left to carry the proven weight of the league entering the burgeoning 2024-25 season.
HC Andy Kennedy, Tony Toney, and Yaxel Lendenborg are ready to tackle high expectations in 2024-25.
Defending regular-season champion South Florida will have more to play for than ever imaginable following the tragic loss to rising Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. I feel beyond fortunate to be around AAR and his programs at Kennesaw and South Florida the past couple of years. A unique closeness with his players and coaching staff made him a special leader. Everyone I witnessed in his programs and around them, adored him and players loved playing for him. Ben Fletcher was by his side since the Kennesaw State early days with big ideas to build one of D1’s worst programs into a winner and champion. Well, it worked. That led the two to head to Tampa a season ago. The bond for this team will remain strong and honorable under Ben Fletcher.
Ross Hodge, Paul Mills, and Adam Fisher all enter year two as head coaches in the AAC with upgraded talent. An open opportunity to ascend is here for North Texas, Wichita State, and Temple respectively. Can one or more of them capitalize?
Regular Season Champion:
UAB
Conference Tournament Location:
Frisco, TX
Auto-Bid Winner:
UAB
Player of the Year:
PJ Haggerty - Memphis
Newcomer of the Year:
Jamal Mashburn, Jr., Temple
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Memphis, Wichita State, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, South Florida
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
1
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Combining academics and coastal empires has led to the 18-team monster, better known as the Atlantic Coast (-to-coast) Conference. Yes, the influx of SMU, Stanford, and California will hit the basketball court on Monday night giving that final feeling of - we are here now.
The ACC has had an illustrious history on the hardwood. Even recently, with disappointing quantities for teams selected in mind, the ability for programs like Miami (2023), Duke/UNC (2022), and Clemson/Duke (2024) to advance deep into the NCAAs, has to restore confidence. A program like Wake Forest continues to pound on the door for inclusion, yet needs to conquer road winning.to be included in the elusive field of 68.
A new window has opened with the sudden retirement of Tony Bennett at Virginia just weeks before the season was to commence. Ron Sanchez is tasked with carrying the Cavaliers forward, but will the loss of a Hall-of-Famer prove to be too much?
The anticipation at Louisville can be felt from Coast-to-Coast.. Pat Kelsey has delivered a roster and nonstop energy to a proud place that was lifeless for a couple of brutal years. Is it too much to ask for the Cardinals to vault all the way back into the top five in this league?
SMU and Stanford are not only new to the league but they bring in former proven Pac-12 (R.I.P.) coaching stalwarts. The Cardinal welcome Kyle Smith back to the Bay Area after a successful run at both San Francisco and Washington State. The Mustangs landed Andy Enfield. A man who constantly had dominant big men at USC, most notably Evan Mobley who led the Trojans to the Elite Eight in 2021.
Leading the charge as the most dangerous team to go deep, perhaps all the way in the NCAA Tournament is of course, Duke. With Cooper Flagg, the nations top recruit, and rare older transfers (Mason Gillis, Sion James, and Maliq Brown) in the fold - this Blue Devil roster has a balanced feel to it. Flagg is part of a heralded six-player freshman class that is just purely loaded with talent. Plus Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster are there to steady the ship from last year’s Elite Eight run.
North Carolina and Clemson are back to contend. RJ Davis is poised to go on another tear for the Heels, and I expect Chase Hunter to make a significant step forward in leadership at Clemson. RJ and Chase will have terrific teammates around them, which make these two the clear two and three for the ACC entering the season from my vantage point.
From there, the door opens for new faces. We may see Wake Forest finally realize the potential, and goodness they are strong on paper this season - returning Hunter Sallis, Efton Reid III, and Cam Hildreth for potent offense and glass cleaning. Four top Sophomores enter the program from the portal, where development leaps may be waiting in the wings. The Deacs have to be elated to have Omaha Billew (via Iowa State) and Davin Cosby (via Alabama). Ultra talented guys coming from highly successful teams.
Sophomore leap themes are fun and provide substantial upside, so let’s address the Irish of Notre Dame. The sensational sophomore duo of Braeden Shrewsbwerry and Markus Burton will take this team places in 2025. That is because of the staff, namely Braeden’s father - Micah. The second-year head coach quickly turned around Penn State in a two-year stint. He know has the ability to repeat history with this year’s Irish. Everything I have heard is positive. For an entire offseason. Buy stock immediately.
Veteran athletes Julian Roper II and J.R. Konieczny are another reason to appreciate the depth and passion this program will bring in 2024-25 under Micah Shrewsberry. J.R. is a South Bend native as well.
Pittsburgh and Syracuse appear to be bubble-bound. The Panthers and Orange have great pieces and fairly high upside potential, just difficult to know until we see these two get tested a few times. Pitt is a bit more proven between the two tournament hopefuls. Returning Ishmael Leggett, Zack Austin, and Jaland Lowe, along with the portal addition of Damian Dunn (via Houston) and you have a very reliable backcourt. The frontcourt has a bunch to prove, likely to be led by Florida State transfer, Cameron Corhen. Red Autry’s Orange will feature JJ Starling and Chris Bell’s on-court leadership. Transfers will be key to the success, with two former CAA stallions coming in - Jyare Davis (Delaware) and Jaquan Carlos (Hofstra).
Pay close attention to the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech. These Yellow Jackets are coming off a wild first year under Damon Stoudamire that showcased four wins against high level NCAA Tournament teams. The consistent winning needs to come next. Baye Ndongo and
Naithan George had moments of brilliance as freshmen, now become more mature this season. The Javian McCollum addition via Oklahoma appears to be a perfect backcourt puzzle piece with Mr. George.
Miami will once again own one of the most talented rosters in the country, but how will they handle the first sign of trouble? Remains to be seen. At Boston College, Florida State, and Virginia Tech, the rosters are lacking a bit (largely due to NIL deficiencies', reportedly), and despite well-respected head coaches in Earl Grant, Leonard Hamilton, and Mike Young, this looks like a down year for all three. Over at N.C. State, the magic carpet ride to the Final Four eventually ended. A team back with good pieces, but no D.J. Burns, and I think the Wolfpack slip back to the middle of the pack. In Berkeley, the Bears should continue to improve. Excited to see the sharpshooting of
Andrej Stojakovic on display, but it will take time. Mark Madsen’s group not only has a new league to deal with, but also a brand new roster. Eleven guys are gone from last season.
Regular Season Champion:
Duke
Conference Tournament Location:
Charlotte, NC
Auto-Bid Winner:
Duke
Player of the Year:
RJ Davis - North Carolina
Newcomer of the Year:
Terrence Edwards, Jr. - Louisville
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
North Carolina, Clemson, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh (First Four)
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
6
ATLANTIC-10 CONFERENCE
The splendor that comes with two different A-10 teams earning wins in the coveted opening round of March Madness reassured the world, that what this league is doing has merit. The Duquesne Dukes stymied a lethal BYU team and Dayton took down a hot Nevada squad. The bar for 2024-25 has gone up, and now may introduce some new faces.
In the basketball-rich city of Richmond, Virginia, two prominent members reside. The defending regular-season champs, Richmond, and the cross-town rivals, VCU. The Spiders are looking to replace some immediate departures, but recent returns suggest that Chris Mooney’s squad (which still has DeLonnie Hunt and added a potpourri of vet transfers) is once agains crawling back for more. At VCU, Ryan Odom has perhaps the strongest returning roster he has had during his career. The Rams were the overwhelming pick at Media Day, and I tend to agree. Shooters, spacing, a renewed defensive energy all appear to be a great balance for sustained winning.
Ultra-dramatic A-10 Tournament bracket navigation usually mandates a commitment to getting stops. Look no further than Loyola-Chicago here. The Ramblers were an amazing 28th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. They became one of the hotter teams in the country to pull into a second-place finish in the A-10. Des Watson, Miles Rubin, and Jayden Dawson committed to staying and finishing these larger goals for coach Drew Valentine. The portal was pleasant with Justin Moore’s great floor general abilities coming over from Drexel and another frontcourt weapon with Francis Nwaokorie via UC San Diego. This team has a little bit of everything to work with, and should be a top contender for best defense in the league.
Head Coach Josh Schertz and Indiana State made waves last year behind overnight celebrity Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope, among others. Now, the Schertz-Avila-Swope trio are all the faces of the St. Louis Billekins program. Quite a shift, but a scary one for the rest of the A-10. Schertz convinced fan-favorite and sniper, Gibson Jimerson to stay this season. Should be a fun year, and I expect them to peak later in the campaign.
Dayton continues to operate at a high-major level. With scheduling, budget, massive fan support, etc. The Flyers have carved out a unique place in the A-10 and the nation. Due to these factors, they should always be in the mix for championships, at least during this era. Posh Alexander and Zed Key are in the fold to see how high these Flyers can fly.
The other crop of squads worth keeping tabs on are George Mason and Saint Joseph's. Both teams have playmakers that dazzle. Questions remain on the defensive side of the ball and with shot selection.
Regular Season Champion:
VCU
Conference Tournament Location:
Washington, DC
Auto-Bid Winner:
Saint Louis
Player of the Year:
Erik Reynolds II - St. Joseph’s
Newcomer of the Year:
Robbie Avila - Saint Louis
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
VCU
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
VCU, Dayton, Loyola-Chicago, Richmond, George Mason
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
2
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Who can stop Connecticut? This has become an unstoppable force at the program-level nationally. The two-time defending Champion Huskies are right back here at the top of the list with a three-peat in realistic sight. Fortunately for the Big East, some teams in this league have had head-to-head success against UConn. Creighton and Seton Hall have been able to beat the Huskies in each of the two seasons and Sean Miller’s Xavier program swept the Huskies in 2023, so there is a sliver of hope for the other 10 schools.
Despite the avenues for derailment, UConn will start this season at the top of the Big Board and Seed List. Until its proven, I certainly do not want to forecast against this freight train. Alex Karaban takes over the primary big role, which should be no issue. Hassan Diarra, Solo Ball, and Aidan Mahaney make up a really skilled backcourt. Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed, Jr. solidify the frontcourt. Ultra-talented freshman Liam McNeeley gives the Huskies that extra layer to bury teams on a regular basis once again.
The Blue Jays of Creighton are the team that can take this trophy from UConn’s grip. Ryan Kalkbrenner is a dominant college basketball player, who will combine with Mason Miller, Pop Isaacs, and Steven Ashworth to lead this team to another quality season and high-octane offense. January 18th and February 11th are the dates to keep circled, as they will face UConn on each.
Kam Jones is setup to have an even more electric role and impact on the emerging Marquette program under Shaka Smart. The Golden Eagles have advanced a round farther in each of the three years under Smart thus far. First Round in 2022, Second Round in 2023, and the Sweet 16 a season ago. If the pattern continues, you may see this program in the final eight this year. Marquette brought in a few freshman led by Damarius Owens to help uphold the standard, but did not take a transfer in this cycle.
Rough luck, snake-bitten, can’t catch a break. Just a few examples have how one might summarize the Xavier rosters recently. The Musketeers have leveraged some of the misfortune to help accumulate depth. Stars like Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter would be likely gone by now, but the recovery process was long for each and they now have eligibility remaining. The influx of transfer portal prowess this time around includes the secured commitments from Dante Maddox, Jr., Ryan Conwell, Marcus Foster, and John Hugley IV bring in a loaded veteran presence. This squad is old and full of quality guys who can fill the stat sheet.
Rick Pitino has an equally loaded team roster primed to get this SJU program into the dance for the first time since 2019. The foundation was built a season ago. The additions of Kadary Richmond, Aaron Scott, Deivon Smith, and Vince Iwuchukwu provides enough veteran assurance to get St. John’s on the good side of the bubble this coming year.
Regular Season Champion:
UConn
Conference Tournament Location:
New York City, NY
Auto-Bid Winner:
UConn
Player of the Year:
Kam Jones - Marquette
Newcomer of the Year:
Deivon Smith - St. John’s
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Creighton, Marquette, Xavier ,St. John’s
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Creighton, Marquette, Xavier ,St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
5
BIG TEN CONFERENCE
The days of Zach Edey eating everyone in this conference alive are mercilessly over. The league is opening up again to all comers, including four new members from the West Coast - UCLA, USC, Washington, and Oregon. The 18-team structure requires a chunky element of unbalance to the scheduling models. Many conference mates will only see each other once prior ot the B1G Tournament and the top 15 of 18 will qualify for the postseason event.
Purdue got the benefit of the doubt at Media Day, to repeat as the 2025 champion. But I’ve had an strong suspicion that this league could in fact have a surprise winner. Perhaps a Michigan, or an Ohio State. A couple of major schools with fresh mindsets at the helm to run their programs.
Out West, Eric Musselman (USC) and Danny Sprinkle (UW) have been brought in to elavate programs that have been terrific before in the past, yet needed a fresh approach for this daunting travel schedule. UCLA scrapped a strategy that was heavy on international and went into the modern D1 transfer portal for some major upgrades. And at Oregon, Dana Altman a deep team is building around Jackson Shelstead.
Brad Underwood and Tom Izzo continue to coach and recruit at the highest levels of the league. Illinois will welcome in Kylan Boswell, a leader at Arizona and a pair of international phenoms in Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic. The Illini think their vets can bring them along. Ben Humrichous may have been the biggest prize however after he scorched the Valley last season with 41.4% three-point shooting. In East Lansing, a cast of characters are prepped to take on larger roles. Jaden Akins is still around to lead the group.
Pressure is mounting at places like Indiana and Maryland where fans take expectations to the next level. Mike Woodson has done a nice job getting Indiana back to the tournament, but after a subpar year last year, folks in Bloomington are now on the edge of their seats. In College Park, Kevin Willard enters the season looking to improve on a 7-13 disappointment during league-play last year. Willard grabbed Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel in the portal to help build some more winning habits.
Penn State is a team still led by Ace Baldwin, and I suspect Mike Rhoades will overperform expectations as he usually does. The true mysteries are Iowa and Wisconsin in my book. The Hawkeyes arguably have more to work with behind Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman. This same core of guys produced a 10-10 rollercoaster run last year, that ultimately ended in the NIT. Hawkeyes need to tweak a few things to win on the margins in this improved and deeper B1G. The Badgers are taking a slight step back in talent. Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit are still around and are great leaders. Let’s see what Cam Hunter’s comeback from Central Arkansas looks like and what Xavier Amos or John Tonje can deliver before declaring them an NCAA-level team.
The hype is coming in hot from Piscataway. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper have made waves with their commitment to play this year at Rutgers. It has already been an action-packed build up to the season. Seems like it may be a struggle with maturity for Steve Pikiell at some point, so I remain in wait and see mode, with tempered team expectations.
Regular Season Champion:
Purdue
Conference Tournament Location:
Indianapolis, IN
Auto-Bid Winner:
Michigan
Player of the Year:
Bruce Thornton - Ohio State
Newcomer of the Year:
Oumar Ballo - Indiana
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Purdue, Ohio State, UCLA ,USC, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Oregon (First Four)
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Purdue, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Maryland
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
8
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
A cornucopia of basketball powers have now combined to form the top tier of the Big 12. The blue blood of Kansas was always there. Today, the additions of Houston recently and Arizona this coming season along with the past two decades of sustained Baylor success, makes the top of this league unparalleled. Especially when you throw in a recently loaded Iowa State team. That gives the league as many as five anchors for the other 11 schools to go after and build resumes against. Fascinated to see how this computes when the Bracketology forecasting season of mid-January really begins to intensify.
Houston will open the season at the number two overall spot, with Iowa State coming close at fifth overall on the Big Board. Tremendous respect for the way Houston plays with physicality, and let’s not forget they won the regular-season crown a season ago. It is clear the defense, the relentless rebounds, and the toughness are converted into road wins, which is the hardest thing to do in college basketball. Cyclone Nation is buzzing after last season’s Big 12 Tournament Title and run to the Sweet 16. The returning roster features Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Keshon Gilbert. Four portal additions, including two quality bigs, make this roster old and ready to go deep in March.
Kansas, Arizona, and Baylor will be poised to make sure they are each in the hunt for a conference championship. The three powerhouses rarely lose at home, if ever, so it will come down to who can stockpile road wins. In Arizona’s case, it will be interesting to see how Tommy Lloyd’s offensive rim-to-rim system translates with Big 12 travel. They will be playing in mostly tougher environments and seeing some of the nations best defenses in this gauntlet of a conference.
Texas Tech is poised to join the top five projected teams, and Cincinniati is setup nicely to challenge. Grant McCasland enters his second season in Lubbock ready to improve upon last year’s run to the Second Round. JT Toppin comes into this program oozing with confidence and is just a Sophomore. The big man played a key role in New Mexico’s rise to the MWC Tournament title a season ago. Red Raiders are building perfect pieces around the trio of key returnees: Darrion Williams, Chance McMillan, and Devan Cambridge. In Cincy, Wes Miller and the Bearcat community are starving for a tournament bid. The depth and the maturity of the roster is deep this coming season and I believe they make it happen. Four seniors starting with Dan Skillings, Jr., Day Day Thomas, Simas Lukosius, and interior enforcer Aziz Bandaogo.
One of the most unique hires of the offseason came as a result of Mark Pope’s departure to Kentucky, That would BYU’s hiring of Kevin Young from the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Young should help further modernize the game and take advantage of BYU’s deep resources to acquire talent. This first roster is an intriguing one. We know Mawot Mag can play well and contribute from his time at Rutgers and really impressed that Young was able to secure the important veteran guard trio of Dallin Hall, Trevin Knell, and Richie Saunders.
Steve Lutz has been to the past three NCAA Tournaments and Darian DeVries has been to two of the past three. Do not sleep on these guys! Oklahoma State and West Virginia were picked near the bottom of the league, but I think these two coaches are primed for overachievement. Especially DeVries, who gets one last ride with his son, Tucker.
Kansas State and TCU were both difficult to forecast. They begin the season on the outside looking in, but I’m teetering on both. TCU’s schedule is not the strongest, but Jamie Dixon will do another great job at his alma mater, curious to see if its enough for another bid. Jerome Tang had a huge first year in the Little Apple, and a step back last year. Now Tang brings in Coleman Hawkins and more to fix it. Will be a fascinating team.
Regular Season Champion:
Houston
Conference Tournament Location:
Kansas City, MO
Auto-Bid Winner:
Houston
Player of the Year:
Hunter Dickinson - Kansas
Newcomer of the Year:
Tucker DeVries - West Virginia
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona, Baylor, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, BYU (First Four)
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona, Baylor, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, BYU, Kansas State, West Virginia, TCU, Utah
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
8
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
For complete thoughts on the Mountain West, please refer to the MWC Media Day Preview here:
https://bracketeer.org/inside-college-hoops/2024/10/17/mountain-west-hoops-preview-2024-25
Regular Season Champion:
Boise State
Conference Tournament Location:
Las Vegas, NV
Auto-Bid Winner:
San Diego State
Player of the Year:
Tyson Degenhart - Boise State
Newcomer of the Year:
Jared Coleman-Jones - San Diego State
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Boise State, Nevada (First Four)
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah State, Colorado State
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
3
SEC
A consolidation of the best basketball minds have accumulated throughout the SEC footprint. The league is full of brilliant coaches and recent history has impacted meaningful basketball changes. Alabama and Auburn were annual afterthoughts prior to Bruce Pearl turning around the Tiger program. The Crimson Tide hiring of Nate Oats has not only led to a Final Four, but also a top-overall seed a couple of seasons ago. Home games in either venue are nightmares for opponents. The two programs typically build very challenging schedules as well. Sure enough, they are the top two to watch this coming season. Can you believe Johni Broome is back? And what about Mark Sears and Grant Nelson? - both decided to comeback at Bama.
In Knoxville, a mostly silent legend continues to grow. Rick Barnes’ leadership and staff got them to the Elite Eight last year and helped find a player in Dalton Knecht, who became the nation’s most lethal weapon on the court. This season, the Vols become more offensive and will need to establish a defensive identity again. The foundation is so secure however, I believe the Vols will be in the protected seed mix throughout the year.
The Arkansas/Kentucky drama had and continue to have no dull moments. You’ve heard by now that John Calipari parachuted to Arkansas, which free’d up the big job in Lexington for 1996 National Champion and rising head coach Mark Pope. These two programs both went big in the portal. Calipari’s Hogs will still have a hint of Lexington with it. DJ Wagner, “Big Z” Zvonimir Ivisic, and Adou Thiero all followed Cal to Fayetteville. Stars from Tennessee and FAU in Jonas Aidoo and Johnell Davis have helped form a loaded roster. At Kentucky, Mark Pope built a team his way. Elite shooters are littered throughout the roster. BYU managed to have a really high NET ranking last season due to a lot of high margins of victory in this system. Expect more of that to follow with even better players.
Chris Jans, Todd Golden, and Lamont Paris all entered the league with Matt McMahon at LSU and Dennis Gates at Missouri. They all head into year three in the league with mixed feelings. McMahon and Gates are looking to generate momentum and rebuilt/improved their rosters. Jans and Golden are looking to continue on the same track with incremental gains in the league standings and seed list for the NCAAs. Then we have South Carolina’s Lamont Paris, who won the Coach of the Year and came close to leading a stunning run to a league championship last year. With everyone overlooking them again, this Gamecock team will be dangerous. Fascinating group of coaches here with varying expectations.
In Athens, Mike White might have a sneaky great roster. If a recent exhibition game demolition over UCF is any clue, they look primed to put up a lot of points. Asa Newell will be featured prominently. The 5-star freshman stands at 6-11 and if he can quickly mature around an older set of teammates, this team can go deep and potentially earn their first bid since 2015.
Speaking of offense, Ole Miss is loaded with a roster full of scoring. They put on a clinic recently against Illinois during a Charity Exhibition matchup. Odd to say about a Chris Beard coached squad, but finding the defensive identity may be the biggest challenge left to solve. The good news here is this team will expose inferior opponents and have enough ability to make good teams look bad (like Illinois).
Texas and Oklahoma enter the league for football reasons, but it is throwing Rodney Terry and Porter Moser into the fire. This league has a ton of depth, the Horns and Sooners just add to that. Texas is positioned with a terrific roster and now need to learn best practices on navigating the SEC footprint. Moser’s Sooners got left behind as one of the last teams out last season, and now have a few challenges roster-wise. Will be a hard year for both, but difficulty also presents opportunities.
Regular Season Champion:
Auburn
Conference Tournament Location:
Nashville, TN
Auto-Bid Winner:
Tennessee
Player of the Year:
Johni Broome - Auburn
Newcomer of the Year:
Jaxson Robinson - Kentucky
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Missouri
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
10
WEST COAST CONFERENCE
Stu Jackson has had a full plate since becoming the league commissioner in mid 2023. The league is dedicated to putting Basketball first, but continues to be impacted by football funding. The prize of the league’s economic fortunes, Gonzaga, will be gone by 2026. Now, Grand Canyon will also not join after turning its back on the WCC for more money in the Mountain West. Based on the fate of Saint Mary’s eventually, the conference may be down to eight squads. And that includes Seattle U., who isn’t part of the league quite yet.
Here is the good news. A two-year deal with Oregon State and Washington State keeps the league healthy for these next two seasons and adds extra excitement to a league that can sometimes follow the same patterns each year. On the Palouse, more change is coming with the WSU program turning to David Riley to run the program. Riley remains one of the youngest head coaches in D1 hoops and had a ton of regular-season success at Eastern Washington. Oregon State still is under the watchful eye of Wayne Tinkle and he is excited about this opportunity to get his program on track. The Beavers were struggling in the PAC-12, but this WCC move should allow the program to regenerate some buzz that can impact NIL and recruiting in the near future.
The league of course belongs to Gonzaga until they exit. The Bulldogs have nearly everyone back from a team that went on a torrid run late in the year to get off the bubble, up to a five-seed, and blitzed both McNeese and Kansas in the NCAAs. With Graham Ike, Nolan Hickman, and Ryan Nembhard, this team will be unflappable. Plus the extra depth added with Khalif Battle and Michael Ajayi will help a lot with situational scenarios.
Saint Mary’s looks to maintain a string of three consecutive five-seeds in the NCAA’s bracket. The Gaels have completely dominated the NET ranking scheduling and using advanced scouting to bring in quality opponents, who they can run away from in most cases. It is not uncommon to find the Gaels sniffing the top ten of the NET by February. I believe more of the same is coming behind reigning WCC POTY Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen. Jordan Ross is poised to bring dynamic scoring and athleticism that this program can use to offset the losses of Joshua Jefferson and Aidan Mahaney. The Gaels also added Paulius Murauskas from Arizona and Ashton Hardaway from Memphis to help with quality depth.
In Santa Clara, the frustration continues with metrics like the NET. Despite owning a brutal annual schedule, the Broncos seem to get overlooked by the model or suffer an untimely personnel problem. This year, Santa Clara has the most opportunity in the conference to build an at-large profile. The Broncos have nine strategic non-conference games including two true road contests at Nevada and McNeese (both are in the preseason bracket).
On the Hilltop, the Dons program continues to progress. Had the opportunity to see the team practice lately and Marcus Williams is ready to guide this team. He has other terrific guards in Malik Thomas and Ryan Beasley. Chips Newbury will be such a key frontcourt leader and shooter, and the additions of Carlton Linguard, Jr. and Jason Rivera-Torres have the program on great footing. The key is finding a way to beat Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s or both at least once.
Regular Season Champion:
Gonzaga
Conference Tournament Location:
Las Vegas, NV
Auto-Bid Winner:
Gonzaga
Player of the Year:
Ryan Nembhard - Gonzaga
Newcomer of the Year:
Elijah Fisher - Pacific
Forecasted At-Large Teams:
Saint Mary’s
Forecasted At-Large Contenders:
Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, Washington State
Forecasted Bids to Begin the season:
2
