25 storylines to watch for in the 2024-2025 college hoops season

No one will ever duplicate what John Wooden's UCLA Bruins did in the 1960s and 70s. Winning seven straight NCAA tournaments and 10 titles in 12 years cannot happen in today's college basketball climate. So we all should be in awe about what Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies is trying to attempt this season: a three-peat.

Since Wooden's run, only Duke (1991, 1992) and Florida (2006, 2007) have won consecutive NCAA tournaments and both of those teams brought back nearly the entirety of their roster for the repeat. Both failed in their attempts for a third straight ring (Duke lost in the second round; Florida missed the tournament altogether) due to massive roster changes as starters ran out of eligibility.

UConn, however, has won their back-to-back titles despite having to reload their roster. Eight players from their first national championship team (three went to the NBA) did not return for the second title squad. Hurley reloaded with freshmen (like Stephen Castle), transfers (like Cam Spencer) and having hold-overs (Tristen Newton, Donovan Clingan) step into bigger roles. The Huskies must do so again as Clingan, Castle, Newton and Spencer have all left due to graduation or early entry into the NBA Draft and they've brought in transfers (Tarris Reed, Aidan Mahaney), freshmen (most notably Liam McNeeley) to compliment returnees Jaylin Stewart, Alex Karaban and Hassan Diarra).

At this point, you have to believe in Hurley's plan and the culture he has built in Storrs and that the expectations on that program have be heightened. That may not last forever, as we already saw Hurley entertain leaving for the Lakers job this summer, but as long as he's there they have a great shot to cut down the nets. 

We have dynasties on both the men's and women's side. South Carolina has won two of the last three national championships and three since 2017. They've been to four straight Final Fours and have gone 167-9 over the last five seasons (remember they were 32-1 in the 2020 season when the tournament was canceled). Since 2011-2012, Dawn Staley's fourth year with the program, the Gamecocks have gone to 12 straight NCAA tournaments, 11 Sweet 16s (including the last ten), six Final Fours and eight regular season SEC titles.

Like the UConn men's team (well, and the UConn's women's team) South Carolina just reloads now. Kamilla Cardoso may be in the WNBA now, but this team is the preseason No. 1 team and overwhelming favorite to win another national championship. Eight players return from the undefeated title squad, including Te-Hina Paopao, Raven Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley and Ashylyn Watkins (Watkins is currently suspended from the team due to legal issues). This team is deep and talented, and if they can find someone to replace some of Cardoso's defensive production then we could be looking at a UConn and Tennessee-esque dynasty. 

Caitlin Clark's effect on women's basketball may be studied and debated for years to come, but what is undeniable was the amount of eyes she helped bring to women's college hoops. Not only did viewership skyrocket while she was at Iowa (as the WNBA is seeing for themselves), but it forced both broadcast partners and the NCAA itself began to take care of this emerging sport and invest in its future.

Clark is no longer at Iowa. She's filling arenas in the WNBA, but college hoops really needs to take advantage on the attention she garnered. While she may have been the main headline, she wasn't the only story and women's college hoops needs to make sure they keep that going. Clark may have had WNBA games moved to bigger venues, but she wasn't in one of the most thrilling WNBA Finals in history that set ratings records. College hoops needs to make sure they stay on that path. They have stars in USC's JuJu Watkins, UConn's Paige Bueckers and LSU's Flau'jae Johnson ... not to mention the star-studded program residing in South Carolina.

Iowa may no longer be a Final Four contender, but they still have Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter while bringing in Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen. They begin the year unranked but can make a postseason run, albeit without head coach Lisa Bluder who retired after 24 years. Women's hoops is hot right now, and the NCAA needs to make sure they nurture what they have.

Kentucky had one of the more interesting summers a blue blood could have. After the Wildcats suffered another humiliating exit in the NCAA tournament, many fans were calling for the university to buy out head coach John Calipari. While that was sort of kicked around, it didn't happen. Then Calipari dropped a bombshell that he'd be moving on to Arkansas (more on that in a bit).  

After attempting to court some of the biggest names in the sport (Dan Hurley, Billy Donovan, Nate Oates) the Wildcats landed on ... Mark Pope? Pope, a championship player in the 90s at Kentucky under Rick Pitino, had success and energized the fan base that viewed Calipari's tenure in Lexington as a departure to what that program is all about. The fans that liked Kentucky before it was a one-and-done factory and was about winning championships and not stocking up the NBA.

This will look different. Much of the roster that was set to play at Kentucky this past April has left and Pope had to bring in a completely new roster. It may take time for him to get the program operating the way he wants it and it won't be the instant boom that Calipari brought with him in 2009-2010. Big Blue Nation seems on board with that as they look for stability and a team they can fall in love with again. Remember, this very proud program has won just one national championship in the last 25 years. Pope wants to get it back to his playing days when they won two titles in three years (and lost in the championship game the year they didn't).

He's clearly won the initial press conference as he literally bussed in Kentucky greats from the 80s and 90s to a grand celebration of his hiring. But the work begins now. 

The other side of the divorce in Kentucky is John Calipari's departure to Arkansas. While it didn't actually come out of nowhere, seeing the long-time Kentucky coach leave a blue blood school for a program in the same conference was a bit jarring.

In 15 seasons at Kentucky, he won six SEC tournament championships, six SEC regular season championships, went to four Final Fours, and won the 2012 national championship -- Kentucky's only title since 1998. He unabashedly embraced the one-and-done culture which brought enormous talent to Lexington and created a factory to the NBA. The problem was that his Wildcats had won just one NCAA tournament game in his last five seasons, including embarrassing first-round losses to St. Peter's and Oakland, and they hadn't reached a Final Four since the 2015 team that famously lost their first game in the national semifinals. There was a large segment of the fan base that had turned on him and he, at times, clashed with the university and some of its boosters.

While it seemed like the marriage was on its last legs, no one expected him to be the one to willingly leave ... and leave for SEC rival Arkansas. Arkansas has had some previous success (most notably their 1994 national championship team) but struggled to replicate it in the decades since. Eric Musselman did take the Razorbacks to the Elite 8 in 2021 and 2022 (the first time since 1995), but he left for the USC job.

Like when he took over at Kentucky 2009, Calipari essentially gutted the roster and rebuilt it with his guys. The brought three of his former players from Kentucky (D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivišić), Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis, Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo as well as freshmen Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond III to join up with lone holdover Trevon Brazile. Calipari has stated that he wants a shorter rotation of players instead of the massive hauls of talent he regularly compiled at Kentucky. Only time will tell if this move was right for any or all parties involved, but this is one of the most interesting coaching developments in quite a while.

Two interesting games on Arkansas' schedule is on December 30 (a game against Oakland, the team that beat Calipari in his final game at Kentucky) and February 1st at Kentucky. Rupp Arena will be buzzing for that one.

The last three seasons at Louisville was startling bad. Chris Mack's final season (which was marred by scandal and eventually led to him parting ways mid-season) ended with a 13-19 thud. After Cardinals fans celebrated the hiring of former player Kenny Payne as his replacement, the program got historically worse. Louisville went an unreal 4-28 in 2022-2023 followed by a 8-24 mark last year. Payne sucked the life out of a once-proud program that has been looked at as a tier below the blue bloods.

Enter Pat Kelsey. Personally, I loved watching what Kelsey did at Winthrop and Charleston His final year at Winthrop saw him lead the Eagles to a 23-2 record and an NCAA tournament berth in 2021. He moved on to Charleston were he quickly turned around the Cougars program and had them in the NCAA tournament in 2023 and 2024. He is filled with energy and a belief in himself and his system. The entire roster was changed with 13 players transferring out and 14 players transferring in. Three of those players, Reyne Smith, Kobe Rodgers and James Scott, played for Kelsey in Charleston. Eleven of those players are seniors or guys playing in their fifth or sixth years of college basketball.

The buzz around the program is palpable, but expectations are correctly guarded. Louisville won't likely compete for the ACC crown or be a national title contender but they will be relevant again and can certainly push for an NCAA tournament bid. This is the foundation that's being built by Kelsey (who grew up just up the Ohio River in Cincinnati) who will turn this program around sooner than later. 

In mid-October, Tony Bennett shocked the college hoops world when he abruptly retired as head basketball coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Just a week earlier at the ACC's media days, he showed no clues that he was anything by focused on his team and the upcoming season, but he apparently felt he wasn't the right man for the job anymore. He cited that he felt college athletics weren't in a "healthy spot" and he couldn't commit to what it takes to navigate in this new era of NIL and the transfer portal.

Bennett is the latest in a line of championship coaches who have recently retired from college basketball. He joins Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim, Tubby Smith, Steve Fisher and Mike Krzyzewski as championship coaches who recently hung up their whistles, but Bennett is by far the youngest and the only one to do so right before the season began (Smith did retire mid-season). While the debate will continue about the direction of college athletics, Bennett's retirement is a huge loss for the Cavaliers. Ron Sanchez, who left his head coaching job at Charlotte to become an assistant coach at Virginia, takes over.

Bennett led Virginia to 10 NCAA tournaments in his 15 years in Charlottesville (the 2019-2020 team would have qualified had the tournament not been canceled) and brought home the program's first national championship in 2019. The Cavaliers had only been to 9 tournaments in the 22 years before he got there. But it may be his biggest loss that may help define his career. When his team became the first No. 1 seed to lost to a No. 16 seed in 2018, he handled it with class and with a focus to not let that be their story. Their title run in 2019 proved just that. One of the good guys in sports finished on top.

As for this season, Sanchez should keep things moving as they've been practicing in camp, provided the players stay. NCAA rules allow for players a 30-day window to transfer if there is a coaching change, so there is a short term concerns there. The longer-term concern would be how this program will look without Bennett running things. Will his unique style of play continue? It also brings up if any other head coaches may follow him out the door and into retirement or to the NBA? Remember that one of the biggest rumors of the summer was UConn's Dan Hurley possibly leaving to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. 

There have been some very consequential coaching dominoes to fall over the years (remember 2003 when North Carolina fired Matt Doherty and hired Roy Williams; Kansas replaces Williams with Bill Self; Illinois replaces Self with Bruce Weber) but this was one of the craziest ones we've ever witnessed.

What started with a move that likely no one really noticed, SMU fired Rob Lanier as their head coach as they prepare for their move to the ACC. The ended up shocking many by ripping Andy Enfield from USC. USC would fill their vacancy with Arkansas' Eric Musselman. Then Arkansas absolutely stunned the college hoops world by backing up the Tyson chicken truck to John Calipari's house and pulled him from ... Kentucky? Kentucky then goes after BYU's Mark Pope. BYU ended the dominoes by hiring Phoenix Suns assistant Kevin Young. Lanier, by the way, took the head coaching job at Rice.

That's not the only big movement among coaches. Pat Kelsey left Charleston for Louisville ... and former Louisville head coach Chris Mack replaces him at Charleston. Former Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann is now the head coach at DePaul. Dusty May parlayed his success at Florida Atlantic into the Michigan job, replacing former Fab Fiver Juwan Howard. Don Monson, who was the head coach of Gonzaga when they ascended to the national stage 25 years ago is now the head coach at nearby Eastern Washington. Former Tennessee, Cal and Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin is back at Missouri State, where he began his head coaching career. There's also Doug Gottlieb at Green Bay, Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara at Siena, Danny Sprinkle at Washington, Darian Dvries leaving Drake for West Virginia, and Phil Martelli Jr., son of the former St. Joseph's great head coach, takes over at Bryant.

There is also the tragic passing of South Florida head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who died on October 24th due to complications from a surgical procedure. Abdur-Rahim, who was set to begin his second season with the Bulls, drew attention in 2023 when he took Kennesaw State to the NCAA tournament and nearly knocked off Xavier in the first round. 

The next big thing in college hoops is Duke's Cooper Flagg. The 6'9 freshman from Maine -- who doesn't even turn 18 until just before Christmas -- is set to be the face of college basketball this season. He's wowed recruiting experts, scouts and even Team USA's Olympic basketball team when he competed against them in practice sessions. He can basically do everything. Handles, shooting, athleticism, and a great defensive presence.

Flagg is the overwhelming favorite to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the fact he attends Duke means there will be ample opportunities to watch the next generational talent this year. 

It will be strange to watch late-night hoops from the West Coast and not see Bill Walton or the Pac-12 anymore. Walton, one of the greatest players in college hoops history, passed away this past May of colorectal cancer. In recent years he was an analyst for ESPN's coverage of Pac-12 basketball games and entertained (and sometimes annoyed) audiences with his long-winded stories and hyperbole during his calls. He was always fun and he loved bragging about the "Conference of Champions" and highlighting various places within its footprint.

That footprint won't be around this season. The Pac-12 famously fell apart during last year and watched 10 of its 12 teams -- including Walton's alma mater UCLA -- leave the conference for greener pastures. Only Oregon State and Washington State remain, but they will be playing this season as members of the West Coast Conference while they are attempting to rebuild the Pac-12 (currently they've added Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West and Gonzaga from the WCC to join in 2026).

In a sign of the times, UCLA will honor Walton with a tie-dye game in February against Ohio State, a new Big Ten conference rival. 

We've already discussed the major coaching news at Kentucky and Arkansas, but the SEC has other news as well. For starters, Texas and Oklahoma join the league. The Longhorns bring in super freshman Tre Johnson and a rebuilt backcourt while Porter Moser has struggled to get Oklahoma into relevancy. Unlike their counterparts in football, both the Horns and Sooners are entering the SEC with plenty of experience playing in tough competition as members of the Big 12 conference.

Of course, Alabama is looking to extend its dominance after its first Final Four run (a season after securing a No. 1 seed in the tournament) and returning preseason SEC player of the year Mark Sears and star center Grant Nelson while adding shot-blocking transfer Clifford Omoruyi. Tennessee will have a huge hole to fill with Dalton Knecht gone to the NBA.

The SEC is looking for its first title since Calipari's Anthony Davis-led team won it all in 2012 and their first appearance in the national championship game since 2014. The SEC has made strides over the past several years due to deft coaching hires and commitments to their hoops programs. It has paid off with programs like Alabama and Auburn reaching the Final Four in recent years and schools like Tennessee, Texas A&M and Arkansas making big leaps. They want another championship, and with the resources that have been provided for hoops in this league, it may come this season.

Remember, Alabama is a basketball school now. 

The Big 12 is going through another major change. Last year the league welcomed Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF into the league. This year, they watch Texas and Oklahoma bolt for the SEC while bringing in the Pac-12's Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. Arizona figures to be a contender right off the bat (similar to Houston last year) and brings in reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love, while the other three may finish near the bottom of a brutal Big 12.

The Big 12 has five of the top ten ranked teams in the preseason Associated Press poll. Kansas is the top team, while No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Arizona are behind them. Cincinnati is also ranked, while Texas Tech and Kansas State could cause some damage. This is the best conference in the country and while football has driven the recent conference realignment, the Big 12 has grown to be an even better basketball league. 

The Big Ten has had a bit of a split personality of late as the conference has been regarded as one of the best in the league and eating up a ton of NCAA tournament bids ... all while going the last 24 years without a team winning the national championship (Michigan State, 2000). The league grows stronger this season as four new members join up: UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington.

UCLA's hoops history speaks for itself, while USC has been putting talent into the NBA, and Oregon and Washington has done alright for themselves. Travel, obviously, comes into play with the new conference setup as the former Pac-12 teams will have road trips into traditional Big Ten country and those Big Ten schools will start making west coast trips. For example, UCLA will be making three separate two-game road trips to the Midwest and East Coast this season. If you recall, the Pac-12 had a unique scheduling format that saw schools paired up for road trips and home stands (so UCLA and USC would travel up to play Oregon and Oregon State the same weekend).

What is interesting is the coaches of the four new teams. UCLA's Mick Cronin was born in Cincinnati, went to school at Cincinnati and coached the Bearcats for 13 seasons. Oregon's Dana Altman was born in Nebraska and was previously a head coach at Kansas State and Creighton before taking the Ducks job. USC's Eric Musselman grew up in Minneapolis and Cleveland and was recently the head coach at Arkansas. Those three are very familiar with Big Ten country (Washington's first year head coach Danny Sprinkle has spent much of his life and career in the west) and have some idea of what they are walking into. 

It's no secret that the ACC is in a bit of flux. Football powers Clemson and Florida State have been in litigation with the conference and there's been a narrative around that the ACC isn't the power that it once was. The conference has only received around five NCAA tournament bids over the last few seasons but has provided great tournament results. Over the last three seasons they've sent four different schools to the Final Four and last year locked down a quarter of the Sweet 16. The ACC, along with the Big 12 and Big East, has won the last nine NCAA tournaments and 14 of the last 16 champs (one of those other two champs, UConn, is now a member of the Big East).

But for whatever reason the ACC gets dragged for being less than the Big Ten (who hasn't won a NCAA tournament since 2000), the Pac-12 (which broke apart this year and hadn't won a title since 1997) and the Mountain West. Even in the Associated Press' pre-season poll, only two ACC schools made the rankings -- Duke and North Carolina.

The ACC does have this season's "It Player" in Cooper Flagg (more on him later) and arguably the top returning player in R.J. Davis ... and when the Blue Devils and Tar Heels are hanging near the top of the rankings then that's always a good thing for the league. The conference also added three new members: Cal, Stanford and SMU. While none of those three will walk into the ACC as powers (all were picked to finish near the bottom of the league) they do add a bit of excitement to a conference that now extends from Boston to Miami to the San Francisco Bay.  

Beyond Duke and Carolina, Wake Forest looks to be a strong contender to earn a tournament bid, Clemson and NC State look to build off their 2024 NCAA tournament runs, and Miami, Pittsburgh and Virginia trying to challenge for the top of the league. Will the ACC's attempt to secure more than five tournament bids from their now-18 team league work? Maybe not, but as long as the teams that do get in keep having success in the tournament then the league will continue to house title contenders. 

The Maui Invitational is one of the premiere holiday tournament events every season and this year is no exception. Here are the first round matchups: No. 3 UConn vs Memphis, Michigan State vs Colorado, No. 5 Iowa State vs No. 11 Auburn, No. 9 North Carolina vs Dayton. That's four teams ranked in the top 11 of the preseason Associated Press poll squaring off in this tournament. Yes, that means we have two top 11 teams facing off in the first round of this tournament.

It's also great to have this tournament settled once again in Maui. If you remember, the 2020 and 2021 events were held in Asheville, NC and Las Vegas, respectively, due to the pandemic, and the 2023 event was held in O'ahu due to the wildfires on Maui. Having the event back at the historic Lahaina Civic Center for its 40th anniversary is outstanding. The event has prided itself on having great teams competing it a cozy setting all while having fun on their trip to Hawaii (we always love the coaches wearing leis).

We touched on the Maui Invitational, but there are other scheduled non-conference games to circle on our calendars. The season opens strong with Baylor at Gonzaga, Baylor at UConn, North Carolina at Kansas, Kansas vs. Duke, Duke at Arizona, Auburn at Duke, Auburn vs. Houston, Houston vs. Alabama, Alabama at North Carolina, Alabama at Purdue, UConn vs Gonzaga, Duke vs. Kentucky, and Kentucky vs. Gonzaga. Gonzaga at San Diego State on November 18th will be a Pac-12 showdown in future years. There's also a weird late February showdown between Duke and Illinois in Madison Square Garden.

Here's something strange to say: UCLA vs Arizona on December 12th in Phoenix is a ... non-conference game?

As far as the women go, we get South Carolina facing off against UCLA, Iowa State and Duke in less than a two week period, plus a showdown with UConn on February 16th. UConn will also have USC, Iowa State, Notre Dame and North Carolina in non-conference play. USC-Notre Dame isn't just about football anymore, and the Irish also faces Texas along with their tilt with the Huskies. Kentucky at North Carolina isn't just a blue blood showdown on the men's side, either. There's UCLA-Louisville, UCLA-Baylor, Iowa State-Iowa, South Carolina-NC State, Duke-Maryland and Iowa-Tennessee in Brooklyn. 

The Pac-12 breakup was significant for the women's side of college basketball as well. The Pac-12's women's programs (most notably Stanford and USC) were among the most historic in all of women's athletics and its demise will change the entire landscape.

USC and UCLA instantly make the Big Ten a powerful league. Both are in the top five of the AP pre-season poll and the Trojans' JuJu Watkins may be the sport's biggest star. Ohio State and Maryland may have something to say about that, however.  

Texas and Oklahoma bring two top ten teams into an SEC that should be highly competitive. South Carolina is still powerful while LSU should be back despite losing Angel Reese. Flau'Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow are two of the league's top players. The Horns' Madison Booker -- the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year -- could be the best player in an all-star SEC.

The ACC adds Stanford, Cal and SMU. Stanford is one of the great programs in women's hoops, though that was with college basketball's all-time leader in wins, Tara Ann VanDerveer, at the helm. VanDerveer retired this offseason rather than move with the Cardinal to the ACC. Still, Stanford could challenge Notre Dame, NC State, Duke, Louisville, Florida State and North Carolina.

In the wide open Big 12, the league adds Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado and Utah -- the latter three all reaching the NCAA tournament last season. Kansas State is the preseason favorite, looking for their very first Big 12 title. 

In 2021, head coach Steve Pikiell led Rutgers to their first NCAA tournament in 30 years. He did it again in 2022. After a down season last year, Pikiell may have Rutgers as a team to watch in 2024-2025. Nearly all of the roster from a year ago is gone, but Pikiell has refilled it with a dynamic recruiting class and a nice haul of transfers. The names you need to know are Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.  

Harper is the son of former NBA player Ron Harper and the brother of Ron Harper Jr., who was a great player at Rutgers a few years ago. Bailey is one of the top recruits in program history with elite athleticism and skill set. Both are currently listed as top five picks in next summer's NBA Draft; to put that into context, Rutgers has had only two NBA Draft picks since that 1991 season (Quincy Douby in 2006 and Hamady N'Diaye in 2010) and they totaled 176 career NBA games. Two of them could go in the top three next year. Along with Dylan Grant and Lathan Sommerville the Scarlet Knights have the No. 4 recruiting class in the country.

They will be joined by a new backcourt of transfers Tyson Acuff (Eastern Michigan) and Jordan Derkack (Merrimack) as an entire new team. Rutgers begins the season ranked No. 25 in the AP preseason poll and many people will want to see Bailey and Harper perform.

With all of the noise over the transfer portal and NIL, one of the things that gets forgotten during this crazy time in college basketball is the effect of the extra season of eligibility given out due to the pandemic of 2020. To refresh your memory, the NCAA gave everyone who participated in the 2020-2021 season an extra year of eligibility due to what essentially was a chaotic season that didn't allow for a true athletic experience. It was one of the right things the NCAA has done in recent years and we have watched many players take advantage of that ruling to extend their careers an extra season.  

The ruling, coupled with NIL and the transfer portal drastically changed how you build a program the last several seasons. Instead of piling up one-and-done players, you've been able to use experienced players who may not be NBA level talent but who stay in college (due to NIL earnings) and win that way. This season, Hunter Dickinson, RJ Davis, Caleb Love and Mark Sears are pre-season All Americans who will be enjoying their fifth year of eligibility ... and all four of them are on teams who have designs on winning a national championship. You also have Ryan Kalkbrenner at Creighton, who is one of the nation's top defensive centers. Another top center is Auburn's Johni Broome, who could lead the Tigers to an SEC championship. There's also Houston's J'Wan Roberts and LJ Cryer, Arkansas' Johnell Davis, Baylor's Norchad Omier and Indiana's well-traveled Oumar Ballo.

For the most part, this is the end of this exception to the eligibility rule. The players utilizing this extra year were all freshmen in 2020-2021 and nearly everyone who has entered college basketball did so after that year. There may be some stragglers remaining due to certain medical or redshirt issues, but this is the end of an era of college hoops.  

Indiana has really struggled to find the right guy after their bitter breakup with Bobby Knight in 2000. It isn't like they haven't tried everything: Kelvin Sampson, Tom Crean, Archie Miller and now Mike Woodson. What started out as a promising run in Bloomington for Woodson turned a bit sour with last season's 19-14 record. Three years in and the Hoosiers have just won one NCAA tournament game, his recruiting has been criticized and it just doesn't feel like Indiana is anywhere closer to getting back to the blue blood level it feels it should be. If Woodson suffers another mediocre season then it could be time to look at yet another change.

He's not to the only coach on the hot seat. Porter Moser parlayed a great run at Loyola-Chicago to the Oklahoma head coaching job, but it just hasn't worked out. In three years, the Sooners have just one NIT bid to show for it and now they head to a really good SEC. Maybe getting out of the Big 12 will help some, but unless he makes some noise then Oklahoma may need to reassess the job.

Kyle Neptune had the unenviable task of replacing Jay Wright at Villanova and it hasn't gone well. Aside from an NIT berth and a great title run in last year's Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, it just hasn't looked like Villanova basketball enough. Neptune is just 35-33 and may have one more year to show he's the right guy for the job. Penny Hardaway hasn't had the on-court success that his recruiting prowess should produce. He fired four coaches from his staff which is usually the last move before the head coach is replaced.

Bobby Hurley could be on thin ice with another bad season at Arizona State. The Sun Devils were picked to finish near the bottom of their new home in the Big 12. Another former Duke player-turned-coach on this list is Jeff Capel. I think Capel has done an okay job elevating this program from the mess he inherited, but he seems to have hit a ceiling in Pittsburgh. Johnny Dawkins (another former Dookie) could find his way out of UCF.

Ben Johnson (Minnesota), Dennis Gates (Missouri) and Wayne Tinkle (Oregon State) are digging themselves out of some tough times. If they can't turn it around, those programs could look to go in a new direction. 

Remember in February when Rick Pitino roasted his team and calling the season "the most un-enjoyable experience" he ever had coaching? The Red Storm were 14-12 and nowhere near being an NCAA tournament team. After Pitino's tirade, St. John's won six straight before losing by five to UConn in the Big East tournament. The Johnnies missed the dance, but the seeds of this season were planted then. 

Granted, most of that roster is gone (at least the core rotation players) so Year 2 is an opportunity to keep moving the program forward. The rebuilt roster will rely on Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond, Utah transfer Devion Smith and North Texas transfer Aaron Scott as well as a solid freshman class. Of course the season will come down to how Pitino works his magic and molds this team together while playing in a competitive Big East. Is this the year the Red Storm make that step and get back into the tournament or will we see a similar fate if last year -- figuring out how all these new parts fit together and hope it happens quicker than it did in 2023-2024.

The last three seasons at Purdue have been magical. In 2021-2022, the Boilermakers became the No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press poll for the first time in school history. The last two seasons saw the Boilermakers as a one-seed in the NCAA tournament (first losing a historic first round game before reaching the national championship game last season). All three years saw their 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey as the anchor of the team, with him winning national player of the year honors the last two seasons.

Edey is gone, leaving a massive hole in the program, but the Boilermakers will return three starters from that title loss to UConn. Braden Smith (an All-American) is the big returning player -- his 7.5 assists per game were 4th best in the nation -- alongside Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Those three will be tasked with continuing the success of the program as they lose one its best talents in history. The development of freshman Daniel Jacobson (who is 7'3) will go a long way to that goal. He won't be Edey, but they need him to be a rim protector who can be a problem for opponents on both ends of the floor.

Every program has to eventually replace a legend and Purdue is no different. Edey was such an important part of what they did and required so much attention that it allowed the other players more freedom. That's likely gone, so everyone needs to step up their games if they want to make another deep run in March. This will likely take a bit of time get all the bugs worked out, but this is a solid team who could do some damage by the time we get to the tournament. 

Maybe the most outside-the-box bit of news from the offseason came from Green Bay, when the Phoenix hired former Oklahoma State guard and current radio host Doug Gottlieb to be their head basketball coach. Oh, and I do mean current radio host. Gottlieb will keeping his FOX Sports radio gig while running the UWGB program. His contract allows him to do both jobs, provided the radio job doesn't interfere with his hoops job. Green Bay is to be his priority, and so far it has been working.

He's worked this summer to rebuild the Phoenix roster, including all the recruiting and coaching all while still doing his radio program. As we enter the regular season, it will be interesting to see if there are any conflicts between the two ... not only in time but content. There's travel, media commitments and finding time to prepare to host his show.  Coaching is basically a 24/7 job and finding time to devote to both employers seems daunting. 

Gonzaga is the lone mid-major to find themselves in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, and the Zags are in their final two seasons before they jump to the Pac-12. So who else should we watch out for?

Gonzaga's current conference rival Saint Mary's should be back as a thorn in the Zags -- and everyone's -- sides. Remember that Washington State is a member of the WCC this year and could cause some issues for those two. Grand Canyon (who will join the Mountain West in the near future) is rising fast and could be the next Gonzaga-type program. Tyon Grant-Foster is a guy everyone can root for. Speaking of the Mountain West, San Diego State, Colorado State, Boise State (all will also be off to the Pac-12 in 2026) and New Mexico will be tournament fixtures. Other names to know are VCU, Dayton, Princeton, McNeese, High Point, St. Joseph's, Bradley, Ohio, Towson, Weber State, and UC-Irvine.

College basketball is unlike any other sport because the NCAA tournament is the most random and unforgiving postseason event. The best team doesn't always win as match-ups, the three point shot and an out-of-character off night could dictate the outcome of March Madness. Some years we get heavy favorites making strong runs (like in 2024) and others we have a Final Four filled with newbies (like 2023). It rarely makes sense.

Having said that, the favorites on the men's side should be preseason No. 1 Kansas, who hopes to bounce back from an uncharacteristically off season, defending two-time champion UConn, surging Alabama, and Houston. Alabama's pace should scare everyone while Houston may be the most physical team in the country. The next tier would consist of defensive minded Iowa State, the super-talented Duke team, with Baylor, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Arizona and Auburn right on their heels. Creighton is a team that could be a sleeper.

On the women's side, it's all about South Carolina. The Gamecocks are clearly the best program in America right now and they're the favorite to win their third title in four years. Watch out for UConn, though. It's so strange to say that the Huskies are struggling when they've been to 15 of the last 16 Final Fours, but they haven't won a national championship since 2016 and have only been to the title game once since. USC is oozing with talent and they could dominate a new-look Big Ten (along with rival UCLA). Texas, Notre Dame and LSU are right there in the thick of things.