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All signs point to the Big 12 taking home a lot of hardware at the end of the men’s college basketball season. Kansas and Texas are two of the odds-on favorites to win the national championship. Players such as Kansas’ Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, Oklahoma’s Willie Warren, Texas’ Avery Bradley and Iowa State’s Craig Brackins are All-America candidates.
But there are other leagues and players out there, too. The SEC, for instance, wants to rebound from a below average year in which only three teams made the NCAA Tournament, especially with John Calipari taking over at Kentucky. The Big East, meanwhile, hopes it doesn’t regress with Villanova, West Virginia and Connecticut leading the way. It also boasts a national player of the year candidate in Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody. Michigan State is the best Big Ten team and hopes to make another Final Four run, while the ACC would simply be happy if ESPN is still at its beck-and-call come March. And, of course, all of the mid-major conferences are eyeing Cinderella’s glass slipper. Here’s a non-Big 12 look at this college basketball season:National championship contendersMichigan State: Last year’s runner-up returns a talented core, including guard Kalin Lucas and forwards Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe.Purdue: The Big Ten, surprisingly, has two legitimate title contenders. In his fifth year, Matt Painter has the Boilermakers in position to make a deep run with forwards Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson, as well as junior guard E’Twaun Moore.Kentucky: Yes, John Calipari might bring some baggage to Kentucky, but he also brings high-profile players. He landed the best prospect in the nation, guard John Wall, and the Wildcats return forward Patrick Patterson.North Carolina: The Tar Heels lost their top four scorers, but Roy Williams doesn’t rebuild, he reloads. Four McDonald’s All-Americans lead the incoming freshman class, including forwards John Henson, David Wear and Travis Wear and guard Dexter Strickland.West Virginia: Bob Huggins gave Kansas State a sniff of what it felt to be a basketball school. Now, in his third year leading the Mountaineers, Huggins has a Final Four-caliber team behind forwards Devin Ebanks, below, and Da’Sean Butler.Mid-majors to watchButler: Last year, the Bulldogs went 26-6 and entered the tournament as a No. 9 seed. This year, Butler is even more potent, returning all five starters, including forwards Gordon Hayward, last year’s Horizon Player of the Year, and Matt Howard.BYU: The Cougars are going for their fourth consecutive Mountain West Conference title and return senior guard/forward Jonathan Tavernari and junior guard Jimmer Fredette. The players will also have a heavy heart for coach Dave Rose, who was diagnosed with cancer this past summer.Dayton: A year after advancing to the second round, the Flyers return four starters, including junior forward Chris Wright.
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