Today I have my massive NCAA men's basketball preview. I like to do this in one big chunk because I love college sports so much, and once I get going, I just cannot stop.

Now, a few things before I get into it. One, this whole FBI investigation can really throw a wrench in many of my predictions. Personally I do not think much will come of it. I have heard people call it the worst thing to happen to college basketball, and that it could be the death of the sport, but I don't buy it. Some teams might get some kind of sanctions, but I don't think it will crush college basketball. Also, I am once again not very well versed in the new players. I typically only watch Big Ten basketball, which some think is the worst form of college basketball, and with all the "one and done" guys, a thing I despise, it is hard to remember who is who anymore in college basketball. For example, I had no idea who Trae Young was when I did my preview last year. Then he blew up. So, I actually bought a college basketball magazine this year to do some research. It wasn't as helpful as I hoped, but I do know more now.

Two more things before I get into it. First, I know that I do not do a women's preview, and I always pick UCONN, and they haven't won it in 2 years, and they aren't the preseason number one team this year, but guess what? I'm picking them again. UCONN women's basketball is the Warriors or Patriots. They are the best. Second, and finally, I will do my men's NCAA basketball preview just like I do my college football preview. I will go through the power conferences, pick a winner, name a few "sleeper" and "surprise" teams. I will then pick my Final Four, my national player of the year, my title game and my winner. Again, this is all subject to change, and I will revisit all this at, or around the midway point of the season.

Okay, lets do it.

I'll start with the AAC, and yes, this is a "major" conference for college basketball. This is the conference that has Cincinnati, UCONN and Memphis. After that, not much else. Memphis has a ton of hype because they hired their prodigal son, Penny Hardaway as their new head coach. He is also getting big time recruits to come play there. Memphis may be better than anyone expects due to Hardaway's recruiting ability and staff. I don't know how good of a coach he can be, but if he gets top recruits, it won't matter. Cincinnati is always a solid regular season team, then they blow it in the tourney. They lost some key guys, but that doesn't matter. Mick Cronin is still the coach, they still have experience, and they will continue to be a tournament team. And then there is UCONN. They are in a regression right now. They, unfairly in my opinion, fired Kevin Ollie and hired Dan Hurley. This team will need time before we remember them as a perennial tournament team. Wichita State is also here, but they lost so much talent. They aren't going to be the darlings they used to be for awhile. Houston is a tournament level team, even if they lost their best player. I feel like this is a 2-3 team bid for the tourney. Cincinnati will get in and I feel like Houston is a near lock. After that, I would not be shocked if Memphis makes it. They have some real good incoming talent. In the end, Cincinnati will win the conference and probably lose on the first or second day of the tourney.

Next, lets move to one of the best conferences in college basketball, the ACC. This conference is loaded from 1-11, and there are 15 teams in the ACC. Duke is Duke. I loathe this team, and I do not get why Coach K gets a pass, but John Calipari doesn't, but he keeps pulling in top freshman. He has a class this year that is reminiscent of Michigan's Fab Five. He pulled in 4 of the top 20 recruits. He got RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, Tre Jones and Zion Williamson, the big get. This team is loaded with super talented 18-19 year olds. They don't play a whole lot of defense, and Reddish, Barrett and Williamson all play the same position. But, today's basketball is becoming more and more position less. I could coach this team to a sweet sixteen bid. UNC is back, has some returning key guys and has some incoming super talented freshman. Luke Maye gets picked on a lot because he doesn't look like a basketball player, but the dude can play. He is a very good shooter. Seventh Woods is finally going to get his shot to start. Cameron Johnson opted to come back. And then they got 2 great freshman, Nassir Little and Cony White. Roy Williams has the exact type team he likes, some vets with some young stars, and UNC will be a threat. Clemson is a solid bet to get in the tournament. They have a lot of experience. FSU lost some key guys, but they are now a team that is always a threat to get in the tourney, and maybe even win a game or two. Miami is good, but they lost Lonnie Walker after only one year. They have a good coach, they just need a little more talent. Louisville is one of the teams that will get hit by sanctions, but until then, they have some good players, and they got Chris Mack to leave Xavier and come coach this team. He is a great coach. NC State is a 20 win team and a tourney team. Notre Dame will be back in after a year away. Syracuse is still a team that confounds opponents with their zone, and that alone will lead to a tourney bid. Virginia Tech is a very good, top 15 level team. They will make noise. And even though they were the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed, Virginia will be back, and they still play that suffocating defense, and they have some shooters. They also lucked out when De'Andre Hunter chose to return to school. In the end though, I feel like UNC and Duke have the best talent. I want to pick UNC because they have veteran leadership, but Duke is so loaded, I just feel like they are going to win the ACC going away. Don't be surprised if this conference gets double digit teams in the tourney too.

I guess the Big East is still a power conference, but it doesn't really feel like it. In reality, this conference is all about Villanova. Sure, Xavier is good and Butler is a tourney team, but after that, the rest of the conference is kind of meh. Xavier lost Chris Mack and some talent, but they got some quality transfers and they play tough basketball. Butler is on the rise, but they just are not at the top of this conference yet. Villanova is the team to beat, as they should be. Sure, they lost a ton of guys from last year's title team, but who cares. They still have Jay Wright, they still have guys that played crucial minutes for them, and they are one of the best teams in the country. They will win the Big East with ease. Real quick before I move on, it is a shame that Syracuse is not in this league, and that teams like St. John's, Georgetown and Providence are non factors. It is a real bummer. This is a three team league.

Next we have the Big 12. The Big 12, for what seems like the one millionth straight year, will be Kansas' league. I know they are one of the teams that could get hit hard by the FBI, but until then, they will dominate this league. They have one of the best big men in Udoka Azubuike, 2 brothers transferring in from Memphis and three McDonald's All Americans on this roster. They are stacked and they will dominate. Kansas State shockingly made the Elite Eight last year, and they return pretty much everyone from last year. They will be good again. WVU plays that suffocating press, Bob Huggins is a good coach, and they will win 25 games easily. TCU is on the rise due to Jamie Dixon. They also have a roster of talented players. TTU surprised a lot of people last year, and even with Zhaire Smith opting for the draft, they should be a tournament team once again. Texas lost Mo Bamba, but not much else. They should be back in the tournament again. The Big 12 has a lot of talent, but it doesn't really matter. Kansas, until further notice, will continue to win this league, get a high seed and, most likely, blow a game they shouldn't in the tournament.

Lets move to the Pac 12. Remember how they didn't win a single tournament game last year? I sure do, because I picked Arizona to win it all. This conference will be okay, and hopefully they will be much better in this year's tourney, but who knows. Oregon is going to be good again. They got one hell of a recruiting class coming in, and that should be more than enough for this team to get in the dance. Arizona lost a TON of guys, including number one overall pick Deandre Ayton, but they reloaded, and they should be a tournament team. UCLA got rid of the Ball kid, and Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes return. The only thing holding them back is how bad of a coach Steve Alford is. USC should be much improved. Same for Washington. And Utah got into the NIT, and if that momentum carries over, they should be in the big dance this year. ASU AND Cal had their chance, but that seems over now. I'm going to go with Oregon because of their incoming class, and they have the best coach of the top three teams in the conference. But, this conference will get 3, maybe even 4 teams in. Hopefully they do much better.

Next we have the SEC. From 1-9, the SEC is good. After that, not so much. Kentucky is the cream of the crop. They had an "off" year for them last year. But, Coach Cal has one of his better classes coming in, and even though he is a poor X's and O's guy, he can recruit, and his talent will win out. Tennessee won the conference last year, and they have most of their team coming back. They are now a legit threat. Ben Howland has a solid squad, and a great back court in Mississippi State is back. Auburn is good, even if I think Bruce Pearl is one of the most overrated, and biggest cheaters, in all of coaching. LSU has a stunningly good class, and if they find a way to coalesce, they will be good. Florida has gotten to a point where I'm surprised when they don't win 20 plus games. Vanderbilt has that weird court which gives them a great home court advantage, and they have a pair of incoming freshman that appear to be real good. Missouri got one of the Porter brothers to stay, the better one in my opinion, Jontay, and they should make a return to the tourney. I actually think that, with Michael Porter Jr off to the NBA, they will play a lot freer on the court, which will lead to good things for them as a team. And Texas A&M has their 2 top scorers back, and if they hit shots like last year, they could easily make the tournament. What it all boils down to is Kentucky. Coach Cal is pumped about this team, and that is usually a good sign for them. Tennessee, Mississippi State, Auburn and LSU will be tough, but Kentucky is a cut above them all. Kentucky will return to being the SEC champs.

I'm going to end the power conference talk with my conference, the Big Ten. I adore the Big Ten because, as you all know very well by now, I love the University of Michigan. The title game was a let down last year, but the run to it was sure fun. But, they lose a lot of key guys from that team. Mo Wagner left early for the draft and Duncan Robinson, and my favorite player, Muhammed Ali Abdur Rahkman, both graduated. But, they do return a good chunk of talent, and John Beilen might have his best class coming in since he got Mitch McGary, Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and Trey Burke. They also return Charles Matthews and Zavier Simpson. They also get Jon Teske back, who was good in back up duty to Wagner. Jordan Poole can still shoot, and Isiah Livers comes back after being a starter his entire freshman year, where he was one of their better defenders. Two of the freshman coming in should see time right away as well. I'm curious to see how Beilen does with this squad, and early games against Villanova and UNC should be good early season indicators. But, I like this team. The only problem, Michigan State is going to be very good again. Sure, Miles Bridges is off to the pros, but much like Missouri's case with Porter Jr, I think MSU will benefit without him. They also have a very good class coming in, and they have vets. Tom Izzo should have been fired, and the program should be shut down after all the offseason stuff, but that didn't happen, and this basketball team should be one of Izzo's better ones in the past couple of years. Purdue is also very good, and while they lost their best big man, who is a disgusting human being, they get Carsen Edwards back. He is Big Ten Player of the Year level good. He is an exceptional scorer and plays hard defense. Matt Painter has also proven to be a good regular season coach. Indiana got the top point guard in the country to commit, and he alone will vault this team back to the tourney. This is Archie Miller's biggest coup since he started coaching. Nebraska has a load of talent coming back. That might be weird to say, but they will be good this year. I feel like an NCAA tourney bid is a foregone conclusion. The University of Ohio State lost their 2 best players, but they are a tough team and will play hard. Wisconsin should be much improved from last year, especially with Ethan Happ back. Maryland landed 3 top 100 recruits, and in this era of college basketball, that should be more than enough to get in the tourney. And Minnesota, while returning a good chunk of players from a team that started out red hot, then cooled way off, are very inconsistent. They should still be a tournament team. This conference will come down to MSU, Purdue, Indiana and Michigan. Also, Nebraska might have a say in the end. But, even though they should not even be able to field a team, I'm picking MSU to win the Big Ten.

As far as teams outside major conferences, SLU is due to return to being the top team in the A-10, Gonzaga might have one of the best teams in the country, and will definitely own their conference, Nevada is better than Gonzaga, and are coming into the year a top 5 team, I'm curious to see if Loyola-Chicago, who returns everyone from a Final Four team, can repeat their success and I'm going to keep my eye out for Harvard and San Diego State.

As far as my Final Four, and it needs to be stated that I'm going off my assumption that no real teams will get hurt by the FBI thing, I'll go with Kentucky, Kansas, Nevada and UNC. The title game will matchup UNC and Kansas, and I am going to go with UNC. They have better depth, more experience and better freshman, in my opinion. My player of the year will be, lets see, I'm sure it will be a freshman, I'll go with Zion Williamson. Everyone loves him, he is all over social media and he plays for Duke.

Okay, there you have my massive 2018-19 NCAA men's basketball preview. The season starts soon. Time to get excited.

One more thing, Go Blue.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.