As the NCAA basketball season turns towards the conference portion of the schedule, here are 5 storylines that fans should keep their eye on.
The college basketball season is over a month old. Contenders have emerged, pretenders have retreated, and eyes are finally on the court rather than the courtroom.
Certain storylines have already dominated this season. Villanova reminded everyone why they’re the most stable program in all of college basketball. Some freshmen rose to Wooden Award status, while others have dealt with significant injuries. Arizona has failed to live up to the hype, while their in-state rival Arizona State has exceeded all expectations.
The Big Ten has already started conference play and the rest of the nation will do so soon as well. Before the new year, however, it’s worthwhile to look at the stories and games over the next couple of weeks that could change perceptions prior to conference play.
Here are the five storylines to key into for the rest of December.
1. The last big nonconference game
For the most part, teams are playing out the nonconference stretch against overmatched opponents over the next two weeks. There is one exception to that trend, though.
On a Friday afternoon – with conference play already in full swing for much of the nation – the Louisville Cardinals travel to Rupp Arena to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Cardinals are a good, but not great, team led by Deng Adel. Coach David Padgett is still trying to get some legs underneath himself after taking over the job so close to the beginning of the season.
This isn’t the same Kentucky Wildcats’ team people are accustomed to either, though. While they’ve only lost once this season, none of their wins have carried the same dominance John Calipari’s teams have tended to over the years. Kevin Knox is good as advertised, but the rest of the freshmen are still learning.
Outside of a game between North Carolina and Tennessee, there simply aren’t many intriguing nonconference games left. A rivalry game between two NCAA Tournament contenders should solve that problem.