We’re just three days away from the start of the 2018-19 college basketball season. College football will again take center stage today, as is always the case during this month, but we’ll continue our look ahead to some of the conferences for this season.
The beat goes on in the Missouri Valley Conference, where the names and faces may change but the conference is well-run and the basketball product is solid. Last season’s big story in the NCAA Tournament, Loyola-Chicago, won’t sneak up on anyone this year, as the Ramblers are a clear favorite to win the conference, be a ranked team and win a game or two in the Big Dance. Illinois State and Southern Illinois, the latter of whom is the only team in the conference to return all five starters, look like the best bets to push them, and don’t sleep on Bradley, who returns four starters from a team that made a big leap to 20 wins and a semifinal appearance in the conference tournament.
The Mountain West looks like it will be Nevada and everyone else, as the Wolfpack are loaded and rightfully in many preseason top 10 rankings nationally. San Diego State, who won the conference tournament last season, looks like the best challenger, with New Mexico, Boise State and Fresno State all a bit further back and UNLV and Wyoming being teams capable of surprising and impacting the race.
Top talent transferring up has been the trend in the Northeast Conference, but new young talent keeps emerging. Saint Francis U looks poised to continue their emergence in recent years, as they were picked comfortably atop the preseason coaches poll for good reason as they have the best backcourt and a lot of depth. Fairleigh Dickinson went on a late run and returns much of their core, while LIU, Wagner and Robert Morris also have a chance.
The Ohio Valley Conference figures to have a familiar look among its top contenders. Belmont and Murray State once again head the list of contenders, while Jacksonville State and Austin Peay should give them a run for their money.
Finally, we reach the Pac-12, and to put it mildly, the conference did not have a season to remember last year all the way through. This year, the conference looks wide open, though there are three teams that stand out as potential favorites. Oregon has the best incoming class in the conference along with holdovers like Payton Pritchard, Washington has Noah Dickerson and others back for Mike Hopkins’ second season at the helm, and UCLA could rival Oregon in terms of overall talent. Beyond them, USC looks like they might recover from the effects of the FBI investigation in a good place, while Arizona State, Utah, Oregon State and Arizona have a chance, with the Wildcats having a new look this year after big personnel losses.
Side Dishes
UCLA is taking an early hit from an injury standpoint, as redshirt freshman Cody Riley will miss about three weeks after hurting his jaw in practice earlier in the week. The school hasn’t provided any other details, but that will be a hit to their depth up front.
One noteworthy exhibition game was the first in the Dan Hurley era at UConn. The Huskies took care of Southern Connecticut, coached by UConn alum Scott Burrell, 96-64.
