Ty Musters up Enough Energy to Make Wild Guesses About Men's College Basketball

Artist depiction of Ty watching college basketball

To wrap up all my preseason basketball previews, I will finish off today with men's college basketball. Before I get into it, I do want to say, and I believe I said the same thing last year, but men's college basketball is becoming unwatchable. It is so watered down. The competition is so low rent, I might as well watch high school basketball. I don't want to do that.

The only thing that saved that dismal season last year was the incredible championship game. You know why that game was great, besides those 2 incredible game ending shots? Both UNC and Villanova were senior laden teams. Their best players were all seniors that had been playing together for four years. I'm over the whole "one and done" thing. I don't know who any of these new players are because they come into school for one season, then go pro. Skal Labiessere and Ben Simmons were supposed to be must watch TV last season. Labiessere and Simmons did not live up to the hype. Labiessere never asserted himself and became an after thought and Simmons seemed bored and disinterested. These were supposed to be the guys. There were also guys like Cheick Diallo, wasn't eligible until late in the season, and barely played after that. Brandon Ingram was fine, but never blew me away. Jaylen Brown led a floundering Cal team that got bounced in the first round of the tournament. I could go on and on.

All those guys are now gone to the NBA, so it doesn't matter anymore. That is my main problem with NCAA men's college basketball. The game has become a terrible version of posturing for NBA scouts amongst 18 and 19 year olds. It is a gloried McDonald's All American game. I'd much rather watch the D League anytime over men's college basketball now? That is a sad state of affairs. My advise, watch your team, because you should know the players on your team, but what is the point of watching all these freshman laden teams? The men's game has become dreadful.

Before I dig in, I got the majority of my information from cbssports.com, because when I went to do research, I literally had no idea who was supposed to win the title this year. I also do not know anything about this incoming crop of freshman. Every year I hear that this is the best class of freshman ever, but I'm sick of hearing that. Until we get a freshman as NBA ready as KD, I am not going to pay attention to any of these teams filled with "one and done" players because it is not good basketball, it's an all star game. All this from a guy who prefers college football way, way more than the NFL. I truly hate what men's college basketball has become.

Anyway, here is my preview of the upcoming season. As far as the ACC goes, I'm pretty sure that Duke is going to win the conference. They lost Ingram to the draft, but they return that prick Grayson Allen and I'm sure they have a slew of 5 star freshman coming in. Virginia, Miami and UNC will probably challenge, but they won't put up much of a threat, as Duke gets all the help from officials and they play a million home games. Duke will win the conference.

As far as the Big 12 goes, hasn't KU won it for a decade straight? They keep going after "one and done" players, and they keep winning the conference every year. Five new starters, but it doesn't matter, they will win the conference and I'm sure they will choke in the tournament. As far as teams that will challenge, I'm sure Oklahoma will take a step back since Buddy Hield is gone, Oklahoma State hasn't been relevant since Marcus Smart left, Kansas State is a joke, I guess Baylor is their only real challenger, but they probably have as many problems as their football program, so who knows what's coming to them, as far as sanctions and the like. KU is, once again, the Big 12 champs.

In the SEC, is there any other team that is any good other than Kentucky? Kentucky gets a new set of starters every year, they are all rated very high, and they have a great regular season, but since Anthony Davis left, they blow big games in the tournament. I'm sure that will happen again. Maybe Vanderbilt, LSU or even a team like Auburn challenge them, but I do not think it is very likely. Kentucky wins the SEC in a run away.

The Pac 12 is going to be Oregon's to lose. While they stink in college football, they have a good basketball team, or at least they did last year when they crushed Duke in the tournament and Coach K felt it was his place to yell at an Oregon player. They have a good team with bombers, and they do have some experience on their roster. Arizona and Washington could challenge, but Oregon should win the Pac 12. But, in all seriousness, I do not watch a lot of Pac 12 basketball because it is on way too late.

Villanova, the defending champs, should win what was formerly a great conference, but is now a shell of its self, the Big East. I don't see any real challengers, maybe Georgetown, but Villanova should dominate that conference all season. They did lose a few starters, but they have a good portion of the team back that won it all last year.

Now for the Big 10, the only conference I will watch. Michigan State or Indiana will probably win it once again. MSU is the perennial favorite, and I'm sure they have some blue chip guys coming in. Indiana is loaded with talent, but it is young, and they did lose Yogi Ferrell to graduation. He was the heart and soul of that team. Maryland has their star point guard back, but they lost a few big men and some older vets from a team that completely underachieved last year. I picked them to win it all last year, but they barely got out of the first round of the tournament. My team, Michigan, has a lot of guys back, but they went 21-13 last year. That is not a great record. They did make the tournament, but they played a terrible round one game, which they won, and then they blew a huge lead in their round 2 game. They have Zak Irvin back, but he hasn't been nearly as good as he was as a freshman. Derrick Walton is back, and he is tough and gritty, but I like Abdur Rahkman as a point guard better than Walton. He attacks the basket and finds the open guy better than Walton does. Michigan will infuriate me, but they will hover around the same record as last year, and hopefully, they can make the tournament again. Other than those teams, I do not know much about Big 10 basketball. Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska, amongst others, are all very average. I'm going to go with MSU because Tom Izzo is a much, much better coach than Tom Crean.

As far as some other teams that are outside of the power 5 conferences that should be good, we have teams like Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Rhode Island, VCU and Wichita State. Gonzaga is always good, even when they lose half of their starters. St. Mary's is supposed to be the best mid major team this year. They have a bunch of good players, and everything I read about them says they are supposed to be good. Rhode Island hasn't been good since Lamar Odom was there, but again, everything I read says that they will be good. VCU and Wichita State did lose a lot of vets, but they always have some other guys, that have been waiting their turn, that will produce.

As far as final four teams and the title game, I'm just going to take some shots in the dark. I'll say that Oregon, Villanova, Kentucky and MSU are the final four, but those are wild guesses. The title game will pit Oregon and MSU, and Oregon will win it all for the Pac 12, again, a wild guess.

The player of the year will be some random freshman that I have never heard of, or a senior that comes out of nowhere to have a great year, a la Buddy Hield last year. I honestly don't know.

Look, I think it is obvious how I feel about men's college basketball. It has become terrible, and nearly unwatchable. I wanted to do a preview because I love basketball that much, but I have little to no love for men's college basketball. It has become a meat market and a one on one game for 19 year olds to showcase their talents to scouts. No one wants to be Buddy Hield or Marcus Paige or Denzel Valentine anymore, and that is sad. All these young kids would rather be Brandon Ingram or Jakob Poertl, and that is truly upsetting. Men's college basketball is a joke, but hey, I will still watch Michigan and other games here and there. But, do yourselves a favor and just watch the NBA, it is so, so, so much better.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His lack of enthusiasm for his college basketball is no excuse to forget about the Head Editors dark horse final four team. Go Mizzou. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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