With the season finally kicking off, we offer our predictions for the season, including conference and national champions, as well as player awards. Almost surely to be proven wrong, these picks will provide some comic relief come Selection Sunday.
ACC
Champions—Schield: NC State Zak: Duke
POY—Schield & Zak: C.J. Leslie (N.C. State)
A-10
Champions:—Schield & Zak: Saint Louis
POY—Schield & Zak: Kwamain Mitchell (Saint Louis)
Big East
Champions—Schield & Zak: Louisville
POY—Schield & Zak: Peyton Siva (Louisville)
Big Ten
Champions—Schield: Michigan Zak: Indiana
POY—Schield: Trey Burke (Michigan) Zak: DeShaun Thomas (Ohio State)
Big 12
Champions—Schield & Zak: Kansas
POY—Schield: Pierre Jackson (Baylor) Zak: Rodney McGruder (Kansas State)
Mountain West
Champions—Schield & Zak: San Diego State
POY—Schield & Zak: Jamaal Franklin (SDSU)
PAC-12
Champions—Schield: UCLA Zak: Arizona
POY—Schield: Andre Roberson (Colorado) Zak: Solomon Hill (Arizona)
SEC
Champions—Schield: Kentucky Zak: Florida
POY—Schield & Zak: Kenny Boynton (Florida)
National POY:
Schield: Leslie Zak: Doug McDermott (Creighton)
Freshman of Year:
Schield: Ben McLemore (Kansas)
Zak: Marcus Paige (North Carolina)
Defensive POY:
Schield: Jeff Whithey (Kansas)
Zak: Aaron Craft (Ohio State)
Cinderella team:
Schield: Middle Tennessee State
Zak: Butler
Sleeper teams:
Schield: Colorado, Iowa State, Alabama
Zak: Texas, Notre Dame, Cincinnati
Overrated:
Schield: Arizona, USC
Zak: Michigan, Kentucky
Final Four:
Schield: Michigan, NC State, Kansas, Missouri
Zak: Kansas, Louisville, Ohio State, Indiana
National Champions:
Schield: NC State over Michigan
Zak: Indiana over Kansas
Wait… USC is overrated?
Yeah, many people seem to be under the impression that USC is a team that could go to the dance this year. I think they’re in the bottom fourth of the PAC-12 with Utah and Oregon State.