5 Storylines 20 Days Out From College Basketball: Pt. 2

Football season is very much still in full swing. The weather is starting to change and we are getting some perfect fall weather over the last week or so. However, basketball is right around the corner. In fact, the college basketball season officially tips off in just 20 days. Monday, November 7th will be here before you know it. Preseason Top 5 team Baylor is among the group that will tip off the season at noon EST with a huge slate of games to follow on opening day.

In honor of hitting the 25-day-out mark, we began by highlighting five of the biggest storyline surrounding the sport. Now, at the 20-day mark, it is time to release five more. Every five days we will release five more headlines and ultimately reach a total of 25 when the season begins on the 7th of November. As Jon Rothstein would say: And Here. We. Go.

Familiar Faces in Old Places

Thad Matta got his first head coaching job at Butler back in 2000-2001. Upon taking over he immediately went 24-8, won both the regular season and conference tournament championships in the old Midwestern Collegiate Conference, and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Matta parlayed his great Butler season into three straight NCAA Tournament appearances at Xavier and then 337 wins at Ohio State. Overall, the 55-year-old has won 74% of his games and never finished below .500. In his return to Indianapolis, he will be tasked with taking over a Bulldogs squad that went 14-19 last season and just 6-14 in the Big East.

When Thad Matta left Xavier, Sean Miller earned his first head coaching job in the 2004-2005 season. While year one wasn’t great, he then turned things up and went to four straight NCAA Tournaments including an Elite Eight trip in 2008 and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2009. That success led to landing the Arizona job where he would win 302 games at a .735 clip. However, after missing three straight NCAA Tournaments and major NCAA allegations, Miller and the Wildcats parted ways. Now, he returns to lead the Musketeers program for a second go-around.

Has the Big Ten Flipped From Overrated to Underrated?

Over the last two years, the Big Ten has seen 18 teams make the NCAA Tournament field. However, only three teams have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and nobody has reached the Final Four. Selection Sunday has been much kinder to the conference than the first weekend. The lack of postseason success has led some talking heads to wonder if the Big Ten is overrated.

Now, the preseason AP Poll has been released and only three Big Ten teams were included. Indiana came in at #13, Michigan at #22, and Illinois at #23. It was the first time since 1980 that the league didn’t have a team in the preseason AP Poll Top 10. So, is the Big Ten now underrated? Was this an overcorrection due to a recent lack of postseason success? Hitching the conference’s wagon to Indiana, who hasn’t finished above .500 in league play in six years, seems like a risky proposition. The Big Ten is still deep with talent and will likely put at least six teams in The Big Dance. However, another year with a deep run will lead to more questions about the overall legitimacy of the conference.

Loaded Maui Invitational Field

This season’s Maui Invitational will start off with game one featuring a preseason Top 25 matchup. #9 Creighton will take on #25 Texas Tech on November 21st at 2:30 p.m. EST to tipoff the event. #10 Arkansas, #17 Arizona, and #19 San Diego State round out the preseason Top 25 teams taking part in the event. The tournament out in Hawaii leading up to Thanksgiving will give us a great preseason look at how some of these teams will shake out. Is Creighton for real? Is Arkansas talented enough to overcome so many new faces? We will begin to answer some of those questions in Maui.

Is Virginia Back?

Head Coach Tony Bennett has built the Virginia Cavaliers into a heck of a program. From 2014 to 2019 they went to six straight NCAA Tournaments including a trip to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight before culminating in winning the 2019 national championship. Virginia won 178 games in those six seasons and had become one of the consistently best teams in college basketball.

However, that 2019 national championship win over Texas Tech is the last NCAA Tournament win the Cavaliers have earned. The 2020 Big Dance was obviously canceled, but then Virginia lost in the first round to #13 seed Ohio in 2021 and missed the tournament entirely a year ago. The national media still loves Coach Bennett, but a lack of postseason success will always eventually get people talking.

Virginia has a good-looking roster for the 2022-2023 season and will attempt to get back to winning in March. Coach Bennett returns his top six scorers from a year ago, added an impact transfer in Ohio’s Ben Vander, and has a Top 15 recruiting class that should help right away. This group will go nine or 10 deep with either proven returning players or high-level newcomers. Just how “back” the Cavaliers are remains to be seen, but expect to see them back winning NCAA Tournament games this season.

All Aboard the Muss Buss

After a trip to last season’s Elite Eight, the Razorbacks graduated five players from that team and saw All-SEC performer Jaylin Williams go pro. However, this will be anything but a rebuilding year for head coach Eric Musselman. Arkansas landed three five-star recruits, including preseason First Team All-SEC selection Nick Smith Jr., and was successful in the transfer portal. Add in junior guard Davonte Davis returning and you’ve got one of the most talented rosters in the Southeastern Conference once again.

Along with Smith Jr., fellow freshmen Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh will likely be thrown right into the starting lineup. Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile is one who is being counted on to really make a sophomore leap after flashing some potential last year for the Tigers. Jalen Graham (Arizona State), Ricky Council IV (Wichita State), Makhi Mitchell (Rhode Island), and Makhel Mitchell (Rhode Island) will also be transfers that help Arkansas right away.

It will obviously be tough to return to the Elite Eight, but Coach Musselman has the talent to compete with anyone in the country. An October charity scrimmage against Texas will give an early look as will their trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. It’ll be hard to deny the Muss Buss if they can succeed at a high level this year.