Top 6 storylines heading into the 2024-2025 men’s basketball season

Heading into Week 1 of the 2024-2025 men’s basketball season, Andy Katz gives his top six storylines to look forward to.

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1. UConn three-peat? The Huskies are trying to make their first three-peat since UCLA won seven in a row from 1967-1973. The Huskies don’t have the rim protection without Donovan Clingan, the multiple lottery picks, but they have the depth, the ability to score and the drive to win a third straight title. Alex Karaban, Samson Johnson, Liam McNeeley, Solo Ball, Hassan Diarra, Jayden Ross and Aidan Mahaney should ultimately become the leaders of this team.

2. Are the top three freshmen competing for the top three picks in the NBA Draft? Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Rutgers’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper could all go 1-2-3 in June’s NBA Draft. Duke is a legitimate title contender at Flagg and has a loaded roster, while the Scarlet Knights will be on television. The two freshmen have elevated Rutgers into an offensive force – something that has been sorely lacking in Piscataway of late.

3. Will Alabama return to the Final Four? The Tide made their first-ever Final Four appearance in 2024, and Bama is a favorite not only to come back, but possibly to win. Alabama brought back Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Chris Youngblood and Jarin Stevenson. Add in Cliff Omoruyi, Houston Mallette and Derrion Reid and make the Tide the top contender in the country.

4. Multiple Big 12 Final Four teams? The Big 12 has always been one of the deepest leagues and should be the toughest to win this season. A case can be made for Kansas, Iowa State, Houston or Baylor to win the competition and compete for the national title. But expect Cincinnati, Texas Tech and Kansas State to enter the NCAA Tournament with decent seeds as well. The bubble is filled with the rest of the competition.

5. The SEC with the most bids? Alabama is a national title favorite, but the competition is the deepest ever. The SEC likely has NCAA tournament teams in Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. That’s 10 teams that also includes legitimate bubble teams from South Carolina and Georgia.

6. The race for National Player of the Year is wide open! For the first time since 2017, when Frank Mason III of Kansas won the award, there is no favorite. Will a freshman like Flagg, Bailey or Harper win? Will Sears, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson or North Carolina’s RJ Davis win? The race is wide open.