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10 bold predictions for the 2022-23 college basketball season

We’re now just days away from college basketball’s return!

Check out our list of 10 bold predictions for the 2022-23 season.

In no particular order:

Kentucky will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2015
It feels like a Final Four or bust season for the Wildcats. They’re up to the challenge. On the heels of a 9-16 season and last year’s loss to St. Peter’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky is primed to return to college basketball’s most hallowed stage. John Calipari returns the National Player of the Year in Oscar Tshiebwe as well as the SEC’s leader in assists in each of the past two seasons in veteran point guard Sahvir Wheeler. It’s the first time that the reigning National Player of the Year has returned to college basketball since Tyler Hansbrough returned to North Carolina for the 2008-09 season. Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins, and Lance Ware also return as veterans from last season’s team that earned a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. Five-star freshmen Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston as well as a pair of transfers — Antonio Reeves (Illinois State) and CJ Fredrick (Iowa) — will add more length and athleticism on the wings. Kentucky is loaded. Its season will end in Houston.

Duke will finish no higher than third in the final ACC regular season standings
The Blue Devils have loads of talent. They do not have a great deal of experience. That puts them at a disadvantage over the course of a 20-game conference season in the ACC. North Carolina — the number one team in the ROTHSTEIN 45 — returns everyone from last season’s team that lost in the national title game to Kansas except for Brady Manek while Virginia returns all five starters from a team that reached the Postseason NIT and adds an impact newcomer in Ohio transfer Ben Vander Plas. Duke will be a very dangerous team in its first season under Jon Scheyer, but the Blue Devils won’t finish in the top two of the ACC regular season standings.

Creighton will win the Big East regular season title and earn one of the top eight seeds in the 2023 NCAA Tournament
The Bluejays have never won an outright Big East regular season title since joining the Big East in 2013. That’s about to change. Greg McDermott will coach arguably the most talented team that he’s ever assembled at Creighton thanks to an elite starting five featuring four returning starters in Ryan Nembhard, Trey Alexander, Arthur Kaluma, and Ryan Kalkbrenner along with South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman. Folks in Omaha should have Final Four dreams — it’s within this team’s reach. Creighton will be no worse than a two seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

The Big Ten will have fewer teams in the NCAA Tournament
This league has had nine teams reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. Don’t expect that type of volume in 2023. 15 of the Big Ten’s top 20 scorers from a year ago are no longer in this conference. This league is very much an unknown commodity entering the upcoming season, which should lead to a sporadic level of production during the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Big Ten will have less than nine teams in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Purdue’s Zach Edey will average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds
The 7-4, 295 pound center averaged 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds last season in just 19 minutes. With Trevion Williams no longer in West Lafayette, Edey’s usage is set to spike. As usual, the Boilers will have plenty of other options up front with guys like Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, and redshirt freshman Trey Kaufman-Renn, but none of those players are as physically imposing as Edey. The Yao Ming of college basketball? You better believe it. Edey will take things to another level in 2022-23.

Despite the loss of Keegan Murray, Iowa will qualify for the 2023 NCAA Tournament
No one expected the Hawkeyes to hear their names on Selection Sunday a year ago after losing Luka Garza, Joe Wieskamp, and CJ Fredrick, but Iowa won 26 games and the Big Ten Tournament title. Fran McCaffery quietly replenishes talent at an elite level and Murray’s twin brother Kris is primed for an All-Big Ten first-team caliber season. The Hawkeyes also have several other players — Tony Perkins, Ahron Ulis, Connor McCaffery, Patrick McCaffery, Payton Sandfort, and Filip Rebraca — who had major roles on last year’s team. Iowa will find a way into the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

UCLA’s Tyger Campbell will be an All-American at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season
The 5-11 Campbell has been an All-Pac-12 first-team selection in each of the past two seasons. It says here that this year he’ll take his game to another level. An improved outside shooter, Campbell proved last season that he’s more than just a table setter as he shot 41 percent from three-point range as a junior after shooting just 25 percent from long distance as a sophomore. With UCLA set to regularly play dual point guard lineups thanks to the additions of freshmen Amari Bailey and Dylan Andrews, Campbell should be significantly fresher on both sides of the ball. Over the past two seasons, he’s averaged 11.2 points and 4.9 assists while leading the Bruins to back-to-back appearances in the Sweet 16 and a berth in the 2021 Final Four.

TCU will enter 2023 with a perfect record
The Horned Frogs are one of three teams in the ROTHSTEIN 45 (Virginia and Dayton are the others) who return all five starters from last season. That gives them the type of returning experience that they need to hit the ground running out of the gate. Jamie Dixon’s squad will not play a true road game until Jan. 4th at Baylor, which will be its second Big 12 conference game of the season. The closest thing that the Horned Frogs have to a true road game in the tilts prior? A game against rebuilding Utah in Salt Lake City at Vivint Arena, which is not on campus. All of the other games in November and December are manageable. There’s a home game against Providence in the Big East-Big 12 Battle, a neutral site matchup with SMU in Fort Worth, and the Emerald Coast Classic during Thanksgiving Weekend with Cal, Iowa, and Clemson. TCU will be a favorite in all of those games. The Horned Frogs — who open Big 12 play at home against Texas Tech on Dec. 31st — should be 13-0 entering 2023.

Two teams from the Mountain West — San Diego State and Wyoming — will advance in the 2023 NCAA Tournament
Both were in the bracket a year ago and both are expected to return next March. It says here that both San Diego State and Wyoming will at least reach the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Both teams are currently ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45 and both have loads of returning experience. The Aztecs have seven players in their rotation — Nathan Mensah, Jaedon LeDee, Matt Bradley, Darrion Trammell, Adam Seiko, Aguek Arop, and Keshad Johnson — who are in at least their fourth year of college basketball. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ returning nucleus isn’t getting as much attention as San Diego State’s, but it features five of Wyoming’s six returning scorers from last year’s team that lost to Indiana in the First Four.

Two teams from Conference-USA will qualify for the 2023 NCAA Tournament
Like San Diego State and Wyoming, both UAB and Western Kentucky are currently ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45 while North Texas has been a mainstay atop the Conference-USA standings over the past few seasons. Any of these three teams would have to be near flawless in November and December to put themselves in at-large consideration for the NCAA Tournament, but don’t rule it out of the realm of possibility. UAB returns a star in Jordan “Jelly” Walker as well as several key pieces from last season’s team that won Conference-USA in Trey Jemison, KJ Buffen, and Tavin Lovan. The Blazers also added two impact transfers from power conference in Eric Gaines (LSU) and Javian Davis (Mississippi State). Western Kentucky meanwhile, brings back four starters — Dayvion McKnight, Luke Frampton, Jairus Hamilton, and Jamarion Sharp (led the nation in blocked shots) — from a 19-win team while adding three impact additions in transfers Emmanuel Akot (Boise State), Dontaie Allen (Kentucky), and Khristian Lander (Indiana). The 6-8 Akot started on a Boise State team that won both the Mountain West regular season and conference tournament titles.

Leftovers