Despite today being Big East Media Day, I want to take this time to preview the other four major conferences in college basketball. The Big 12 and SEC are loaded with tournament-caliber teams, while the ACC looks to be strong outside Duke and North Carolina, and the Big Ten looking for an end to the 25-year national championship drought.
Overall, college basketball is on the horizon and the excitement is hard to contain for many. Let’s preview the other four major conferences in college basketball.
ACC
Player of the Year: Cooper Flagg, F, Duke (2023-24 at Montverde Academy: 16.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.7 bpg)
Step aside, R.J. Davis. There is a new best player in the conference, and his name is Cooper Flagg. The five-star freshman was part of the United States Select Team. That team practiced with the U.S. national team to help them prepare for the 2024 Summer Olympics. He performed so well against the NBA’s best that future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant called him “a hell of a player.” Other coaches in the ACC, including Georgia Tech’s Damon Stoudamire and NC State’s Kevin Keatts, have already raved about the phenom, who has yet to step on the floor in a regular-season college basketball game.
All-ACC Team
R.J. Davis, G, North Carolina
Hunter Sallis, G, Wake Forest
Nijel Pack, G, Miami (Fla.)
Cooper Flagg, F, Duke
Ian Schieffelin, F, Clemson
Champion: Duke (2023-24: 27-9, finished second in standings, Elite Eight exit)
Tyrese Proctor is back in the backcourt and will be the leading guard on the team following Jeremy Roach’s departure to Baylor in the offseason. Replacing Roach in the backcourt will be Tulane transfer Sion James. Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown is expected to start in the frontcourt for the Blue Devils after being a force on both ends of the floor, including leading the league in steals. In the middle should be freshman Khaman Maluach, who made the roster for the South Sudanese national team for the Olympics this past summer. Head coach Jon Scheyer has a deep bench too, which includes Purdue Mason Gillis for championship experience.
Big Ten
Player of the Year: Oumar Ballo, C, Indiana (2023-24 at Arizona: 12.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 65.8 FG%)
Ballo has earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors the last two seasons and, with the help of his 7-foot-6 wingspan, made the conference’s all-defensive team. Illinois transfer Luke Goode compared Ballo to former All-American Kofi Cockburn, who played with Goode.
All-Big Ten Team:
Braden Smith, G, Purdue
Dylan Harper, G, Rutgers
Great Osobor, F, Washington
Dawson Garcia, F, Minnesota
Oumar Ballo, C, Indiana
Champion: Indiana (2023-24: 19-14, tied for sixth in standings, did not make the tournament)
Indiana made enough noise in the offseason to deserve the hype they are receiving. It is the first time since the 2012-13 season that they have been considered one of the best teams in the Big Ten pre-season. Sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako is back with the Hoosiers after earning co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors last season. Also expect forward Malik Reneau to contribute like he did last year, averaging 15.4 points per game. Indiana’s backcourt improved with the addition of Washington State transfer Myles Rice, who averaged 14.8 points per game and helped the Cougars go from 17-17 to 25-10 in the past two seasons.
Big 12
Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, C, Kansas (2023-24: 17.9 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 bpg, 54.8 FG%, 35.4 3P%)
Dickinson earned second-team All-America honors last season after averaging a double-double in his first season in Lawrence, Kan. He will be one of the preseason favorites for the Wooden Award (college basketball’s best player). Dickinson had 17 double-doubles last season, which ranked 12th nationally. With guard Kevin McCullar Jr. gone to the NBA, Dickinson could see his offensive production increase.
All-Big 12 Team:
Caleb Love, G, Arizona
Tamin Lipsey, G, Iowa State
LJ Cryer, G, Houston
J’Wan Roberts, F, Houston
Hunter Dickinson, C, Kansas
Champion: Baylor (2023-24: 24-11, tied for third in standings, second-round exit)
It is fair to say Baylor has its best team since winning the national championship in 2021. Three of their five starters are newcomers who will be able to produce right away. Roach will start in the backcourt along with five-star freshman V.J. Edgecombe. In the frontcourt, expect Miami transfer Norchad Omier to be one of the best forwards in the Big 12 after Final Four experience with the Hurricanes.
SEC
Player of the Year: Mark Sears, G, Alabama (2023-24: 21.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4 apg, 1.6 spg, 50.8 FG%, 43.6 3P%, 85.7 FT%)
Sears could be the best guard in the country this season after leading the Crimson Tide to its first-ever Final Four appearance. He flirted with the NBA Draft but withdrew to run it back with Alabama for a potential national championship run. He is elite in everything he does and would have won the SEC Player of the Year award last year if Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht did not exist.
All-SEC Team:
Mark Sears, G, Alabama
Zakai Zeigler, G, Tennessee
Grant Nelson, F, Alabama
Johni Broome, F, Auburn
Clifford Omoruyi, C, Alabama
Champion: Alabama (25-12, tied for second in conference, Final Four exit)
There is a chance that this season’s team might be better than last year’s, which is hard to believe. Despite losing starting guards Aaron Estrada and Rylan Griffen and starting center Nick Pringle, head coach Nate Oats might have a better starting lineup this season. The Crimson Tide will certainly miss Estrada, Griffen and Pringle, but they make it up by adding South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood and Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi. Along with them, expect guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and forward Grant Nelson to step up. Nelson had a breakout game against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament last year and has a chance to build off that.