Even though the college basketball season has already begun, the season however is still very young and most teams have only played 7 games or less. With that being said, these are the teams you should watch out for this season and my pick of the team to win the National Title. 

First let’s start with the teams sitting toward the top of the AP Poll. The Kansas Jayhawks are regarded by many people as one of the best teams in the country. They are led by Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson. He’s a contender for National Player of the Year as lead Kansas in points and rebounds putting up 22 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.

Another team with a player in the NPOY race is the Purdue Boilermakers. Their star-studded player is 7 '4 big man Zach Edey. He’s also putting up monster numbers as he’s averaging 20.7 points and 10 rebounds per game. As a team, the Boilermakers have a year of revenge as last year, they became the 2nd ever 1 seed in March Madness to lose to a 16 seed that being NJ local college Fairleigh Dickinson. History, however, is on the Boilermakers side as the previous one seed to lose to a 16 seed (2018 Virginia Cavaliers lost to 16 seed UMBC) won the National title the next year. 

Our locals, on the other end, may not be the strongest teams in the country, but they are very scrappy and competitive. In Piscataway, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are trying to get their 5th consecutive winning season for the 1st time in 50 years led by their highest recruit to make an appearance for the team in Gavin Griffiths. They will have to overcome an early season loss to the Princeton Tigers. Speaking of the Tigers, Head Coach Mitch Henderson has his boys right where they left off last season where the Tigers made it to the Sweet 16. Another NJ college, Seton Hall and Guard Kadary Richmond, are trying to make it right back to the NCAA tournament under Head Coach Shaheem Holloway. St. John’s made a huge splash this offseason hiring legendary Head Coach Rick Pitino to be leader in charge. It has been a slumpy start for the Johnnies but with favorable matches coming, the boys in Queens should be winning more games. Finally, Penn State and 1st year head coach Mike Rhoades are playing very inspired basketball with breakout Sophomore Kanye Clary accumulating 18.7 points per game so far. 

Now, forget the teams here, or the teams in the AP Poll, let’s talk about teams that no one seems to care about but should when it comes time for March Madness. Out in the Mountain West, The Nevada Wolf Pack have used their high-powered offense to win many tough games this year. Led by 5th year senior Kenan Blackshear’s 19 points per game Nevada has already stunned Washington and more of these results are soon to come. Out of all high named college basketball players, the Drake Bulldogs Tucker Devries has scored more points than anyone a little less than a month into the season and Drake is sitting atop the Missouri Valley Conference. Finally, despite being ranked 8th out of 11 teams in the small Horizon League conference Purdue Fort-Wayne (different from the Purdue Boilermakers), not just one of the best teams in their conference, they might be out of the best mid-majors in the country. So far the Mastodons have an upset win over Depaul on the road and beat Andrews University by 96 points. 

Finally, my pick to win the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship is the Houston Cougars. Houston has been one of the best regular season teams in the country for the last 3 years but this year they have switched to a more competitive conference being the Big 12. I feel, with this more competitive schedule, they may not have the flashy regular season win numbers but would be more ready to win a National Title. What also helps Houston out a lot is they might have the most balanced team in the Country with LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp leading the offensive attack and J’wan Roberts and Jamal Shead playing defense with 3 steals a game so far.