Previewing some of the conference winners, final four teams, and award winners in front of the 2013-14 college basketball season starting. Look for games to start on Friday night with some big early season matchups. Here’s how I see the major conferences playing out in the regular season:
B1G: Michigan State– Gary Harris is a conference POY talent; Keith Appling, Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson are back. MSU will win the conference, and then some.
ACC: UNC– The reason I went UNC over Duke is because the Heels have more proven players like McAdoo, Paige and Hairston, instead of relying so heavily on freshmen in what is a super-deep ACC with the addition of Syracuse, Pitt, and Notre Dame.
SEC: Kentucky– Are they young? They always are. Will they lose a few conference games? Yes. They’ll just lose fewer than anyone else in the SEC with the talent that they have.
Big 12: Oklahoma State– They have the best returning ‘big three’ in the country in Marcus Smart, Le’Bryan Nash, and Markel Brown. The conference is as deep as it’s been in years though.
Pac 12: UCLA– Seems like everyone is picking either Oregon or Arizona and almost forgetting about the Bruins. They get Jordan Adams back from a foot injury that kept him out of the tourney and still have Kyle Anderson running the show, now with Steve Alford at the helm.
Big East: Marquette– Davante Gardner is the best big guy in the conference and is a machine down low. Without Vander Blue, the floor should open up a little bit for the Golden Eagles. 
AAC: Louisville– They might be the easiest conference-winning pick, but watch for Memphis to get the Cards at least once. Russ Smith will make his bonehead plays, but the help around him is too much with three starters returning.
Team to Watch: St. John’s Red Storm– Remember when the Johnnies had the best recruiting class in the country? Well those guys are ready to make some noise this year, with Jakarr Sampson, D’Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene IV looking to challenge Marquette for the top spot in the Big East, and still relatively young at that. They’ve got some big games on the schedule, including an opener against the Wisconsin Badgers in South Dakota and a big one in the Garden against Syracuse.
Player of the Year: Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State– He shocked everyone by coming back to school instead of taking his top-5 pick wealth in the NBA, and it will pay off for the Cowboys. He is surrounded by a lot of talent and they’ll be battle-tested in the Big 12. He was the conference player of the year as a freshman and looks to build on his 15/6r/4a numbers from last season. He’ll be the best player on the floor in every game they play this season.
Final Four Teams: Oklahoma State, Louisville, Michigan State, VCU
If you have comments or different thoughts on how these categories and conferences will shake out, tweet them to me @DKnappyBoy
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