The NCAA basketball season is in full swing but it’s never too late for some end of season predictions for how this college basketball will play out when it comes to results in April. From the All-American teams to the National Player of the Year as well as the potential Final Four teams and the team expected to cut down the nets. Despite the differences in thoughts by some, there appears to be a consensus in which team will stand tall at the end of the Final Four in Glendale.
Def Pen Sports NCAA Basketball gurus Austin and Mark broke down the field for these awards and potential champs.
2016-17 NCAA Basketball Predictions
All-American Team:
Mark:
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin
Josh Jackson, Kansas
Thomas Bryant, Indiana
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Austin:
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Monte Morris, Iowa State
Thomas Bryant, Indiana
Grayson Allen, Duke
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
There is some crossover here with each of us agreeing on big years from Markelle Fultz and Thomas Bryant to relatively young guys with each being a freshman and sophomore respectively. Both of us agreed the All-American team would be heavily guard-oriented with only one big on each roster.
National Player of the Year:
Mark: Lonzo Ball, UCLA
Austin: Josh Hart, Villanova
Mark expects big things out of UCLA’s freshman point guard. He comes into college with the reputation as an excellent passer. I went with Josh Hart who should have an even better season than the one he had last year as the leading scorer on the national champion Wildcats team last year.
Final Four:
Mark: UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin
Austin: Kansas, North Carolina, Louisville, Duke
Less commonality here with both of us choosing the Jayhawks as our only shared team. Kansas with their guards may have the best backcourt in the country so no surprise both of us went that way. Mark saw Kentucky and Wisconsin in the Final Four, two programs that reached back to back Final Four before both missed out last season. I have two teams from the ACC in Duke and North Carolina, how fun of a Final Four game would that be with the two rivals meeting with a berth in the title game on the line.
NCAA Champion:
Mark: Kansas
Austin: Kansas
We didn’t lie to start off this piece. We both picked the same team to cut down the nets in April. Mark and I believe that Frank Mason and Devonte Graham will be a big reason why the Jayhawks hold up the trophy at the end of the year. Those two guys two-way potential is going to win a lot of games for this team. With March being all about guard play it is hard to go wrong picking the team with the best guard tandem to win it all.
