College Basketball Predictions

This weekend, college basketball sports betting enthusiasts will finally be able to watch their favorite teams return to action after an eight-month layoff. As a result of the NBA lockout, many freshmen that would have been drafted elected to stay in school and help their teams become the top dog in the nation. With only a few days left until tip off, here are a few predictions for the 2011 – 12 college hoops season.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the consensus top pick on the AP 25 preseason polls for this season. North Carolina will be returning essentially the exact same starting five that guided the school to the March Madness tournament eight months ago. Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Tyler Zeller and Kendall Marshall, are four of the most terrifying players in the entire NCAA. With several marquee freshmen coming off the bench, this could be the deepest North Carolina team since the beginning of the decade. On paper, with Duke losing several players to the NBA draft, bookie software agents will be taking UNC all the way to the Championship game.

A team that could pose a problem to the Tar Heels National Title aspirations is the Kentucky Wildcats. Coming within a win of the National Title game a season ago, the Wildcats will be led by Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones, otherwise known as the NCAA version of Shaq and Kobe. The big man little man combo was often overlooked last season, thanks to the depth the Wildcats showed. However, with several of their teammates leaving for the NBA, Jones and Lamb will be the centerpieces of Kentucky’s offense in 2011 – 12. Along with the additions of forward Anthony Davis and guard Marquis Teague, Kentucky should win the National Title.