CBS Sports reveals coach-led poll on men's basketball national title pick
Just four months ago, college basketball crowned Kansas and head coach Bill Self as national champions, defeating North Carolina in a thrilling game. Now, after a summer full of recruiting and pulling players out of the transfer portal, preparation for the 2022-2023 season has begun.
Even in the month of September, people are getting an idea of who could be cutting down the nuts come April 2023. In fact, CBS Sports surveyed 100 coaches throughout the sport to see who they thought would win the national championship at this point of the year.
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Three schools led the way, getting at least 20% of the vote. North Carolina, just a year after falling short, may be considered the runaway favorite — at least from the coach’s perspective. Overall, 11 different teams were listed.
Coaches predict 2022-2023 college basketball national champion
- North Carolina Tar Heels (37%)
- Houston Cougars (28%)
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (20%)
- Kentucky Wildcats (5%)
- Arkansas Razorbacks (2%)
- Creighton Bluejays (1%)
- Duke Blue Devils (1%)
- Kansas Jayhawks (1%)
- Tennessee Volunteers (1%)
- UCLA Bruins (1%)
- Virginia Cavaliers (1%)
Hubert Davis will be entering Year Two in Chapel Hill, with a loaded squad returning. Brady Manek will be the only real star lost from last season’s title appearance. Stars such as Armando Bacot and Leaky Black are back and hoping to go one step further in the NCAA Tournament.
Trio of SEC teams feature
No matter what kind of roster John Calipari has, Kentucky will always get a couple of shouts to win the national championship. However, this year, he returns with the National Player of the Year in Oscar Tshiebwe. Two On3 Consensus five-star prospects, led by point guard Cason Wallace, are on their way to Lexington as well.
But if you want to talk recruiting in the SEC, the discussion has to begin with Eric Musselman and Arkansas. The Hogs finished with the country’s No. 2 overall class, signing six top 150 prospects. Musselman hit the transfer portal hard as well, bringing in the Mitchell brothers from Rhode Island.
Tennessee was the final SEC team to receive a vote. Rick Barnes has been searching for a national championship over his three-decade-plus career. The furthest he has been with the Volunteers came in 2019, making the Sweet 16. Some great regular seasons have been put together in Knoxville. Now, it’s seen as the time to finish the job in the month of March.