With roughly 80 days between now and the start of college basketball, the stories that will define the 2021-22 season are starting to take shape. That makes it feel like a decent time to take a peek ahead.
Which teams will be the best is anyone’s guess. That’s why they play the games, after all. Which teams will pack the most intrigue, however, is starting to become somewhat clear.
Today in I Got Five On it, we examine the five most interesting teams in terms of storylines as we head toward tip off.
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Florida Man: FutureCast for Indiana, Emoni Bates, more
2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2023 Rankings: Top 30
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KENTUCKY
LAST YEAR: 9-16, 8-9 in the SEC
REASON FOR INTRIGUE: You could place Kentucky on this list in almost any season. The Wildcats are as polarizing as teams come, and there’s never a lack of offseason news in Lexington. The fact that UK was forced to go into emergency-rebuild mode after failing to win double-digit games a year ago has made things even more captivating. The overhaul has been dramatic.
John Calipari started by adding 2,000-point scorer Kellan Grady from Davison via the transfer portal and hasn’t looked back since. He sprinkled in more shooting touch and high-major experience when CJ Fredrick left Iowa to join the Wildcats. There was also the addition of touted point guard Sahvir Wheeler, a former Georgia Bulldog that has already proven effective against an SEC schedule.
Calipari further addressed the point guard issues that plagued him last year by landing five-star recruit TyTy Washington, who took the prep basketball circuit by storm last year. Kentucky’s ability to almost totally scrap last year's roster and reload on the fly was one of the spring’s most compelling stories and adds further intrigue to a program that never lacks buzz.
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TEXAS
LAST YEAR: 19-8, lost in the NCAA Tournament’s first round
REASON FOR INTRIGUE: We here at I Got Five On It love a good heel, and Texas’ offseason antics will make it a villain to some. Still, every good storyline needs a bad guy. Stealing a smaller school’s star head coach a few months before hitting the big, red detonation button on that small school’s entire conference is certified supervillain behavior. The impending move to the SEC, Chris Beard’s eventual return to Texas Tech and the hostile Big 12 crowds the Longhorns will face all season are only small slices of the intrigue, however. Beard’s ultra-quick reshaping of the Longhorns’ roster since taking over in April has been Calipari-esque.
The transfer portal has yielded former Minnesota star and NBA hopeful Marcus Carr in addition to center Tre Mitchell, who was a certified star and the A-10 Rookie of the Year at UMass a season ago. The Longhorns also nabbed point guard Devin Askew from Kentucky and wing Timmy Allen from Utah. Beard made his name as the coach of a successful but plucky underdog forced to do more with less. Beard with a massive brand, unlimited budget and dying conference full of fans that hate his team could become the death star, and the story will be made better if he embraces the villain role in the year to come.
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MEMPHIS
LAST YEAR: 20-8, narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament
REASON FOR INTRIGUE: Penny Hardaway desperately needs to make the NCAA Tournament in his fourth season in order to silence his critics. He’s by no means on the hot seat, but whispers will certainly grow a bit louder if he manages to miss out again this season. The good news is that no program on earth is currently making more noise from a recruiting standpoint.
Hardaway has already landed five-star big man Jalen Duren, who was the No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2022 before reclassifying to 2021. The Tigers also seem like the overwhelming favorite to land Emoni Bates, who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school sophomore and was ranked in the No. 2 spot behind Duren in 2022 before also reclassifying.
The fanfare over the addition of freshman Josh Minot, a top-50 player in his own right, has been drowned out by the recent hoopla surrounding Bates and Duren. All of this equates to excitement for Memphis fans and intense pressure on Hardaway, who will certainly have the manpower to succeed at a high level this season. All eyes will be on FedExForum from the moment the season tips.
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GONZAGA
LAST YEAR: 31-1, national runners-up
REASON FOR INTRIGUE: Back-to-back national title game appearances is an unreasonable expectation for any program. Alas, here we are. The Zags are betting favorites (+600) to win the national title and will likely open the season as the No. 1 team in the country. This is supposed to be the year Mark Few gets over the hump and adds a national title to his long list of accolades.
Then again, last year was supposed to be that as well.
Standouts Drew Timme and Andrew Nembhard will return to Spokane. The addition of No. 1 overall prospect Chet Holmgren, a hyper-unique center with some guard skills adds intrigue, as he’s already in the thick of discussion to go No. 1 overall in next year’s NBA Draft. The 7-foot Holmgren’s quest to go No. 1 in the draft along with Gonzaga’s quest to cap off its decades-long journey from mid-major underdog to national champion will place Few’s squad directly under the microscope from the jump. The year ahead will be quite a ride regardless of how it ends.
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DUKE
LAST YEAR: 13-11, 9-9 in the ACC
REASON FOR INTRIGUE: Mike Krzyzewski’s swan song is reason enough to watch Duke this season, but the fact that the legendary coach’s final season will be a bounce-back effort makes things even more interesting. The Blue Devils missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995 a year ago, and there’s no question that Krzyzewski would like to go out on a much higher note.
Enter touted freshman Paolo Banchero, the No. 2 recruit in the 2021 class and a player some believe could be in the mix to go first overall in the NBA Draft. Five-star guard Trevor Keels will also see major minutes this year, helping to give the team a sharpshooter and a solid ball-handler. Five-star Wing A.J. Griffin will also be in the mix for major minutes.
The Blue Devils could very well start a trio of freshmen next season, as Coach K attempts to say goodbye to the limelight in a manner that suits his legendary career. The talented youth on the roster may just start to click at the right time, making Krzyzewski’s final Duke team extremely formidable come March.
