College Basketball Tip-off: Preseason Top 68 for 2021-22
Gonzaga leads the pack, but what other top contenders could challenge the Bulldogs?
The 2021-22 men’s college basketball season tips off Tuesday night with a lengthy slate of games across the country, highlighted by No. 3 Kansas against Michigan State and No. 10 Kentucky versus No. 9 Duke in a Champions Classic doubleheader at Madison Square Garden.
Before the 68-team NCAA Tournament field is set and March Madness begins, we have a full season to navigate and enjoy. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest opening-night storylines followed by how I’ve stacked up the top 68 teams in the country—not the programs I project to make the Big Dance on Selection Sunday, but the best squads heading into the new season.
Paolo Banchero’s debut: Expect college hoops fans to get familiar with Duke’s five-star freshman right away. The 6-10, 250-pounder is the potential top overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft (competition could include Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren) and possesses a lethal inside-outside game. In his final season as Blue Devils head coach, Mike Krzyzewski will have his best weapon since Zion Williamson.
Unranked Sparty: Michigan State is the lone Champions Classic participant that comes in unranked. Tom Izzo’s squad will face a Kansas team that returns four of its top five scorers from last season and adds Arizona State transfer Remy Martin. But the Spartans do have five-star freshman Max Christie, who will face a tough challenge in his debut. Gabe Brown’s 3-point shooting will be key for MSU throughout the year.
A UK bounce back?: The Wildcats struggled mightily with turnovers and poor 3-point shooting in 2020-21. Kentucky revamped its roster with transfers Oscar Tshiebwe (West Virginia), Kellan Grady (Davidson), Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia) and CJ Fredrick (Iowa). Freshmen TyTy Washington Jr. and Daimion Collins joined the program as well as John Calipari looks to bounce back from a disastrous 9-16 campaign—the program’s first losing season in 32 years.
The Bonnies and Belmont: Saint Bonaventure opens its season by hosting fellow New York program Siena. The Bonnies have their entire starting five back and should be a mid-major favorite in March. Meanwhile, Belmont boasts first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selections Nick Muszynski and Grayson Murphy, and the Bruins should be extra motivated after missing the Big Dance last season despite going 24-3 after falling to Morehead State in the conference title game.
The nation’s top returning players (outside of transfers Remy Martin at Kansas and Marcus Carr at Texas): Drew Timme, Gonzaga; Johnny Juzang, UCLA; Hunter Dickinson, Michigan; Kofi Cockburn, Illinois; Trevion Williams, Purdue; Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana; E.J. Liddell, Ohio State; Collin Gillespie, Villanova; Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse; Kendric Davis, SMU; Matthew Mayer, Baylor; and Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt
Other opening-night contests to monitor:
Louisiana Tech-Alabama
Oral Roberts-Colorado State
Cleveland State-BYU
Siena-St. Bonaventure
Boston University-Rhode Island
Belmont-Ohio
My preseason Final Four picks: Gonzaga, Michigan, Memphis and Purdue. The Bulldogs beat the Wolverines for the national title.
Finally, here is my preseason Top 68:
1. Gonzaga
2. Kansas
3. Michigan
4. Villanova
5. Purdue
6. UCLA
7. Texas
8. Baylor
9. Duke
10. Illinois
11. Memphis
12. Alabama
13. Oregon
14. Kentucky
15. Houston
16. Ohio State
17. St. Bonaventure
18. Arkansas
19. Maryland
20. Florida State
21. Xavier
22. Tennessee
23. USC
24. North Carolina
25. Oklahoma State
26. Colorado State
27. UConn
28. Arizona
29. Indiana
30. Virginia
31. BYU
32. Auburn
33. Belmont
34. Richmond
35. Rutgers
36. Michigan State
37. Texas Tech
38. LSU
39. San Diego State
40. Virginia Tech
41. Louisville
42. Loyola Chicago
43. St. John’s
44. Notre Dame
45. Mississippi State
46. Drake
47. Syracuse
48. Florida
49. Seton Hall
50. West Virginia
51. Wichita State
52. Oklahoma
53. Colorado
54. Washington State
55. Providence
56. Saint Mary’s
57. Buffalo
58. Saint Louis
59. UCF
60. San Francisco
61. Georgia Tech
62. Oregon State
63. Miami (FL)
64. Boise State
65. Ohio
66. Louisiana Tech
67. Ole Miss
68. UC Irvine
Follow me on Twitter @Miller_Dave & email me at david.matthew.miller@gmail.com