25 storylines for the 2023-24 college basketball season

First off, who are the real contenders to cut down the nets in Arizona next April?

It starts with Kansas, where Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson and Towson transfer Nick Timberlake join Dajuan Harris, Kevin McCullar and K.J. Adams for another strong Jayhawks squad. Jon Scheyer adds another sparkling recruiting class to Duke that will join up with Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor. Purdue brings back everyone, including reigning national Player of the Year Zach Edey, from one of last season's top teams with a lot of motivation (more on that in a bit).

Then you have the usual suspects: Michigan State, Gonzaga and Houston to tussle with Tennessee, Marquette, Arizona and last year Final Four teams, FAU and San Diego State. Oh, and defending champion UConn likes winning championships, too, and brings in a top tier recruiting class to build around Tristen Newton and Rutgers' transfer Cam Spencer.

There's also a chance someone makes an unexpected run (just look at last year's Final Four, for example). There's talent at Kentucky, North Carolina, Villanova and Baylor that if things break right could have them back in the thick of title contention. 

It should be a fun season.

We had one of the wildest NCAA tournaments in memory that gave us a Final Four where three schools were making their first ever appearance there. While champion UConn and Miami are Power Six schools, what will happen to San Diego State and Florida Atlantic this year? Can they make another run like Butler did in 2011 or will they fade away like George Mason after their 2006 run?

San Diego State has been a very solid program for some time and was ready to break out. The Aztecs have reached 10 of the last 12 NCAA tournaments and was 30-2 in 2019-2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the global pandemic. They've been a force in the Mountain West for over a decade and was trying to get an invite to the Pac-12 ... back when that was a thing people wanted to do. Brian Dutcher loses three starters from the team that played for the national championship but returns a lot of experience and production. This is a solid program and not a one-hit wonder.

As for FAU, they actually could be a lot like Butler. They return all five starters from a team that won 35 games last season, which is amazing since transferring to a major program was likely an option for several players. Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin and Nick Boyd lead the way for an Owls team that leaves Conference USA to be the favorite in a rebuilt AAC this season.

For the first time since 1969, Syracuse will not have Jim Boeheim on the coaching staff. After a 47-year career that included 1,105 wins, five Final Fours and the 2003 NCAA championship, Boeheim retired after the Orange's season ended in March. Boeheim, a Syracuse alumn, built the program into the power it has become.

Like fellow ACC schools Duke and North Carolina, Syracuse replaced their legendary coach with a former player making his head coaching debut. Adrian Autry, who played for Boeheim from 1990 to 1994, was an Orange assistant since 2011 and seemed like the heir apparent since 2017. He takes over a program that has missed the last two NCAA tournaments and hasn't finished better than sixth in the ACC in nine years. Syracuse has struggled with its identity since it moved from the Big East to the ACC a decade ago. Autry must inject some life back into the program.

As for Boeheim, his retirement is the latest in a sea change in the college coaching profession. Since 2021, legends and Hall of Famers like Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jay Wright and Bob Huggins (sort of) have left coaching as we have entered the new era of college athletics.

Trivia: Who was the last guy not named Jim Boeheim to head Syracuse's hoops program? Roy Danforth in 1976. 

In March, Purdue became just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed in NCAA Tournament history. The only other school to do it -- Virginia in 2018 to UMBC -- would avenge that letdown by winning the tournament title the following year. 

Could Purdue repeat that feat? Maybe. The reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey is back in West Lafayette for some unfinished business. All five starters are back from the Big Ten champs and they want nothing more to finally make a Final Four run. The Boilermakers have had their last two seasons end to 15-seed St.Peter's and 16-seed FDU and Edney didn't come back to school to lose to another double-digit seed.

Virginia's redemption will be difficult to replicate, but Purdue must be able to at least reach their first regional final since 2019, where they lost to Virginia on the Cavaliers' run to their NCAA championship. They had the team to do so last year and added a huge chip on their shoulder.

The Big 12 adds four new members this season while two schools will be playing their final year in the conference. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join the league and gives the Big 12 an interesting mix of basketball programs. Cincinnati has won two NCAA tournaments in the past and has been a routine participant of the Big Dance over the last several decades, while Houston went to the 2021 Final Four and was a No. 1 seed in last year's tournament. BYU has had its moments and was good for challenging Gonzaga in the WCC the last several years. UCF has only made the tournament once in the last 18 years.

Texas and Oklahoma are making their final rounds in the conference as they join the SEC next year. Next year? Well, the Big 12 will be welcoming Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah into the league to push its membership to 16 schools and adding one of the better programs in the country to add to Kansas and a surging Houston. The Big 12 has made a strong argument as college basketball's best conference. Will that continue with these changes?

The Pac-12 as we've known it for over 100 years will be gone by this time next year. As of now, the future of the league (essentially the name) is up in the air but if it even exists it will never be what it once was. UCLA's dominance during the John Wooden era will never be duplicated in college basketball. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton head the long list of the greatest Bruins ever. Cal's Jason Kidd, Oregon State's Gary Payton, Arizona's Sean Elliott, Arizona State's James Harden and Washington State's Klay Thompson are just some of the non-Bruins who made their mark in and outside the league.

Oregon won the first NCAA tournament and has been a tournament fixture under current head coach Dana Altman. Lute Olson built an elite program at Arizona. Pete Newell crafted his Hall of Fame career at Cal. Tara VanDerveer built one of women basketball's top programs. And don't forget Cheryl Miller, Cynthia Cooper and Pam and Paula McGee dominating at USC in the 1980s. Even though they've been in a championship drought, the Pac-12 has been a vital part of the history of college hoops.

The Pac-12 has been a fantastic conference for a long, long time and it is sad that this will be it's final season. Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington will head to the Big Ten next season; Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will go to the Big 12; Cal and Stanford will join the ACC. Oregon State and Washington State remain and are currently in limbo -- can they hold on to the name and make something out of it or do they let it die and join the Mountain West? As the league makes its final lap and attempting to win its first national championship since Arizona cut the Nets in 1997, I'm sure there will be a lot of memories shared and tears shed as one of college athletics' best conferences turns off the lights. 

The Big 12's additions aren't the only ones of note this year. The AAC raided Conference USA and added FAU, one of last year's Final Four participants. There are other moves in smaller conferences but we all know that there are big changes looming -- some already planned and some yet to be determined. 

We touched on the breakup of the Pac-12 and how that affects the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. The SEC will add Texas and Oklahoma while the ACC will also bring in SMU. There is also the issue of what happens to Oregon State and Washington State as they hold on to the value of the Pac-12 brand. How does that affect the Mountain West Conference (where national runner-up San Diego State resides?). Will Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina attempt to challenge the ACC's Grant of Rights and break away from the league? If so, will it begin the destruction of the ACC as we knew it? Also, Gonzaga has a wondering eye for a better situation than the WCC. 

As you know, these decisions are made with college football in mind and there is little consideration made for how it affects college hoops -- I know we are all excited about those USC-Maryland Big Ten games and Boaton College-Stanford ACC showdowns. As we saw with the Pac-12's demise these things can pick up steam quickly.

As football dictates these changes, basketball is greatly affected. That's why in 2024 we will see Arizona in the Big 12, UCLA in the Big Ten, Texas in the SEC, and Stanford in the ACC. It is also a reason where we could eventually see North Carolina-Duke's rivalry break up if the two schools don't land in the same conference.

As for the non-Big 12 conference moves, here are the rest:

AAC adds Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA. Conference USA replaces those schools with Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston. Campbell joins the CAA while Western Illinois joins the OVC. Hartford dropped down to Division III while St. Francis Brooklyn dropped the sport altogether. Le Moyne maked the jump from D-II to the NEC.  

He's back.

After an embarrassing exit from Louisville in 2017, Rick Pitino has spend the years since rebuilding his reputation and the trust needed for him to take over another big time program. After stops in Greece and a very successful stint at Iona, Pitino is back on the big stage and returns to a city and a conference he knows so well.

Pitino takes over a St. John's program that has missed on several other big name hires in the past. Since Lou Carnesecca retired in 1992, the Red Storm have received just eight NCAA tournament berths and none since 2019 under coaches Brian Mahoney, Fran Fraschilla, Mike Jarvis, Norm Roberts, Steve Lavin, Chris Mullin and Mike Anderson. Pitino is another big name hire, but he brings the kind of success that St. John's hasn't seen in a very long time.

Pitino returns to Madison Square Garden, where he once roamed the sidelines as head coach of the New York Knicks in the late 1980s. He also returns to the Big East for the third time. He was head coach of Providence College from 1985 to 1987 and at Louisville during their Big East tenure from 2005 to 2013. No pun intended, but he is the perfect storm arriving for a historic program that just can't climb back into relevance. He's already paying dividends recruiting high school kids as well as transfers and as long as he keeps the program clean then he could turn the Johnnies into contenders in the Big East. 

While maybe not the best incoming freshman in the nation, USC's Bronny James is likely the most well-known of the newcomers. What was supposed to be an exciting season for the Trojans turned scary in August when James suffered a cardiac arrest during a practice. James, the son of NBA superstar LeBron James, had successful surgery and plans to get back on the court at some point this season. When he does (if he does) he instantly becomes one of the most followed players in the sport. 

Kentucky's Big Blue Nation is among the most passionate fan bases in all of sports which is a great thing when things are going well, but can be a burden when expectations aren't being met. That's what is happening in Lexington right now as their Hall Of Fame coach is feeling heat from a sizable bloc of the fanbase. 

Cal's Wildcats haven't reached a Final Four since 2015 and hasn't won the SEC title since 2020. From 2010 to 2015, Calipari had Kentucky in four Final Fours, two national championship games and won the program's only national title over the last 25 years. They owned the SEC and owned recruiting. His embracing of the one-and-done culture was controversial, yet successful and the blueprint going forward that even the legendary Mike Krzyzewski began utilizing it. 

Since the 2019 tournament, however, Kentucky has won exactly one NCAA tournament game. They missed the 2021 tournament with one of the worst seasons in program history and notoriously lost to St. Peter's in the first round of the 2022 Big Dance.  This isn't what fans expect or demand from this program. But Calipari is going back to the blueprint. He brings in super freshmen Justin Edwards, D.J. Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw and Robert Dillingham to a team that has Antonio Reeves back and West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell into the fold.

One year ago, the North Carolina Tar Heels were riding high. They defeated their rival Duke in the Final Four ... ending Mike Krzyzewski's coaching career ... and entered the season No. 1 with nearly it's entire roster coming back. 

Then the season happen and it just went downhill. Not only did Carolina not win the national championship, they became the first modern preseason No. 1 team to miss the dance entirely. It was so bad the Heels turned down an NIT bid and began an overhaul of their roster that is emblematic of the transfer portal era. Of the main rotation players, only Armando Bacot and RJ Davis returned. Leaky Black exhausted his eligibility, Final Four hero Caleb Love bolted for Arizona, and most of the bench players transferred out of the program. 

Of course the transfer door opens both ways as the Heels brought in a lot of new talent that they believe compliment their star big man well. They also bring in freshman point guard Elliott Cadeau who tore up the high school circuit and looks to be the perfect playmaker to utilize all the talent Hubert Davis has assembled. While expectations aren't as grand as last season, they are always high in Chapel Hill and Davis has been getting some heat for his coaching decisions. How this season goes could be telling for the future of this program. 

For the third time in four years, the Maui Jim Maui Invitational will not actually be held in Maui. Due to the tragic and devastating wildfires on the island over the summer, the Maui Invitational will be played in Honolulu this season. While the Civic Center where the event has been played is still intact, the area can't logistically host eight schools and their fans at the moment. 

This year's event features Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, UCLA, and Chaminade

The event was held in Asheville, NC in 2020 and Las Vegas in 2021 due to the global pandemic.

Several big time programs have scheduled pre-season exhibition games with proceeds going to wildfire relief efforts. Among those games is Kansas-Illinois, Michigan State-Tennessee, South Carolina-Wofford and Hawaii-Saint Mary's. 

Every offseason we have a rash of new head coach hiring across the country. We already mentioned Rick Pitino at St. John's, Georgetown's Ed Cooley and Adrian Autry at Syracuse, but another big change happened as West Virginia. Bob Huggins is no longer the Mountaineers head coach after an offseason that featured a controversial radio interview and then an arrest for drunk driving. Interim head coach Josh Eilert will helm the program for the season and try to keep everything calm. 

Chris Beard found a new gig quickly after his ouster at Texas as he will be walking the sideline at Ole Miss. Former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry takes over Notre Dame after Mike Brey's retirement. Former Stanford standout Mark Madsen takes over for rival Cal. 

Kim English leaves George Mason to take Cooley's place at Providence. Damon Stoudamire takes over Georgia Tech and embattled former LSU head coach Will Wade resurfaces at McNeese State. Paul Mills leaves Oral Roberts after a great run and lands at Wichita State. 

I touched on the Pac-12 going 26 years without a title, but the Big Ten has also had a dry spell ... going 23 years since Michigan State won the conference's last national championship back in 2000. Unlike the Pac-12, the Big Ten has had multiple chances to win it all ... due to the amount of bids the league keeps stacking up but how close they've come to doing it. Since the Spartans' title, Indiana ('02), Illinois ('05), Ohio State ('07), Michigan State ('09), Michigan ('13 and '18) and Wisconsin ('15) have all reached the title game but fell just short. 

Does the Big Ten have the juice to end the drought?

There are always feelings when a coach leaves a program for another job. There are harsher feelings when he leaves for another program in your own conference. That's where Ed Cooley's move from Providence College to Georgetown comes in.

Cooley, who was born and raised in Providence, reinvigorated the Friars' program over the last 12 seasons. He took the Friars to seven NCAA tournaments and won the 2021-2022 Big East regular season championship. He spurned offers from bigger programs because he wanted to stay home. Providence was family.

Which is why many fans felt stung when Cooley would leave his home and take over the Georgetown program. With Patrick Ewing's firing all but a formality at the end of the season, rumors began circulating towards the end of the 2022-2023 regular season and hit full force during the Big East tournament in New York. Cooley was, well, cold when asked about the rumors ... hedging on the future of the Friars program. Three days after a listless loss to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Cooley left for the Hoyas.

Fans have been angry ever since. They felt that he had agreed to take the job before the season ended, which coincided with the team losing five of their last six games of the season (the lone win was ironically over Georgetown). He quit on the program. He quit on his family.

The thing about taking another job in the same conference is that you're going to have to come back. That will happen on January 27th when Cooley brings his Hoyas into Providence and Amica Mutual Pavilion will be packed with angry fans ready to scream at Cooley. In a vacuum, this game may not be the most riveting on the schedule, but with the kind of animosity surrounding everything, it deserves to be circled on the calendar. 

One of the things fans will notice right off the bat is the new numbers available to players. For years, the NCAA only allowed the numbers 0 through 5 on a jersey (so the largest available number was 55) but that all changes this year. Now players can wear any number between 0 and 99, which will take some getting used to. So now you will see guys wear the number 6, or 17, or 48, or 99 on the floor. 

Like the new numbers on the players' backs, there will be a few rule changes that make affect the way you're used to watching games. The biggest one ... which likely be a talking point as the season moves along .., is the block/charge call. If a defender isn't set before the offensive player plants his foot for his jump, it will be called a block. That should stop the rather dangerous practice of sliding underneath guys who are already in the air to draw a charge.

Other rules:

*Officials will also be able to review calls made for basket interference or goal-tending at the next timeout instead of stopping the game.

*If a coach asks for a review for an out-of-bounds play in the final two minutes and the play is upheld, the coach will be charged a timeout.

*The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after offensive rebounds.  

*You can call a timeout when airborne if the player has possession.