NCAA Basketball: Should Gonzaga, Houston, or North Carolina be No. 1 for 2022-23?

Throughout this 2022 NCAA Basketball, there have been hundreds of decisions made by players, coaches, transfers, NBA Draft prospects, and high school recruits that have had an impact on what next season’s landscape could look like.

At the very start of the offseason, Arkansas looked like the frontrunner to land the No. 1 preseason spot for the 2022-23 campaign. They had landed four impact frontcourt transfers, as well as five-star prospect Anthony Black, giving them the No. 2 overall recruiting class next to Duke. However, the loss of All-SEC center Jaylin Williams to the NBA effectively took them out of contention.

So who are the teams that have the best chances of being No. 1 to start out next season? At this point, three programs have become the consensus choices from national media. One is Gonzaga, who got all three starters (Drew Timme, Julian Strawther, Rasir Bolton) back at the end of the deadline for players to withdraw, as well as landing SoCon Player of the Year guard Malachi Smith from the transfer portal.

Another is Houston, which has a gluttony of guards of its own after leading scorer Marcus Sasser came back from the draft process. Their depth and experience give them an edge and possible case to be No. 1. But another team has emerged in the past couple of weeks in North Carolina, which landed Northwestern forward Pete Nance.

The Tar Heels may have the best starting lineup in the country but is that good enough to be the preseason No. 1 team for 2022-23? Here’s a closer look at the pros and cons for all three programs in contention.