NCAA Basketball: 10 bold predictions for 2022-23 season

Mar 18, 2022; Greenville, SC, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo reacts during the during the second half against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /

Only 5 teams in the Big 12 will make the Big Dance and it’ll be clear who

There are two conferences that have emerged as the best in NCAA Basketball… the SEC and the Big 12. And a case has been made that from the bottom to the top, the Big 12 is better because their teams at the end of the standings are still top-100 overall. And that has some folks saying that they’ll get a number of bids to the NCAA Tournament, potentially as many as eight.

However, I’m just not buying it. Obviously, teams like Kansas and Baylor are once again national title contenders. Plus, Texas and TCU are top-20 teams with plenty of potential as well. The 5th team that should make the postseason is Texas Tech, assuming that they get Utah Valley transfer Fardaws Aimaq healthy in league play. But the top-tier defense and 3-and-D wings should keep them viable.

But what about the other five teams? New head coach Jerome Tang should have Kansas State competitive in the near future but the current roster is hinging on Keyontae Johnson, who hasn’t played in two full years, to be an All-Big 12 player for them, while being surrounded by lots of mid-major talent. West Virginia has a whole new look but with Erik Stevenson and Tre Mitchell as their best players on paper, they could have plenty of speedbumps.

Iowa State shocked the world, going from 2 to 22 wins last season but has little offense on the roster, now that Temple transfer Jeremiah Williams is out for the season with an injury. They now have major point guard questions.

The two with the best chance of making the NCAA Tournament are the Oklahoma schools. Oklahoma State returns the bulk of last year’s roster that wasn’t eligible for the Big Dance and also finished .500 overall. Unless they can find some production next to Avery Anderson, I’m not sure how they get better. And the Sooners will be relying on a pair of mid-major guard transfers (Grant Sherfield and Joe Bamisile) for the scoring offense. And now, they’ll be playing in arguably the toughest defensive conference in NCAA Basketball.

Those projected bottom-five teams may be good but I believe that the teams at the top won’t lose to them much. And without those marquee wins, it’ll be hard to have a resume good enough to go dancing.

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