NCAAM Best Bets: College Basketball 2024-25 Season Preview

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00:00It might feel crazy to say but November is tomorrow and then on Monday the start

00:11of the 2024-25 college basketball season tips off. We've got a full day slate in

00:17both men's and women's basketball on Monday. In what a year it is going to be.

00:25Some new changes at the top of the AP top 25 in the preseason. Kansas though

00:30nothing has changed. They are ranked number one entering the year 42nd

00:35consecutive. Last year did not live up to that preseason billing. They struggled in

00:40Big 12 play. They got bounced in the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. The

00:45two-time reigning national champs UConn is back. They're ranked third. They're

00:51looking for their third consecutive national championship. Something that

00:55has not been done since the John Wooden era of the early 70s at UCLA. Of course

01:01a lot changes in college basketball on the women's side as well. Caitlin Clark

01:05as you well know now plays in the WNBA but plenty of superstars willing to

01:10willing to fit into her shoes. And South Carolina returns a ton of talent looking

01:18for another national championship. Let's talk individual awards. The Wooden Award

01:22watch list coming out this week of course that is the national player of

01:25the year in both men's and women's college hoops. We had seen something that

01:30we hadn't in a long time last year. Zach Eady of Purdue winning a second

01:35consecutive Wooden Award. Becoming the first player to win back-to-back

01:38Wooden Awards. A national player of the year to claim since Ralph Sampson did so

01:43for Virginia in the early 1980s. But of course he is gone. I do really want to

01:48make this point. Let's show the odds. Let's talk about a few of these guys no

01:52doubt on the men's side. But of course mention something that is glaring. Hunter

01:56Dickinson of Kansas. Yep he's back for another year of college football.

02:01College basketball excuse me. RJ Davis back for North Carolina as well at the

02:05guard position. Mark Sears a veteran returns for Alabama. The Crimson Tide

02:10ranks second. The highest they have been ranked in a preseason AP top 25 in a

02:15very long time. Those are some familiar names and faces that are back in

02:20deserving of short numbers. One name that is a new entrance to college

02:25basketball who is not listed on our lovely sponsor the FanDuel Sportsbook.

02:30That is Cooper Flagg. He is going to be the number one overall pick in the 2025

02:35NBA Draft. There is a great chance he is going to win the Wooden Award for an

02:39outstanding Duke freshman class in John Shire in the Blue Devils this season. He

02:45is only 17 years old and oftentimes based on gambling restrictions and the

02:49legislation behind it 17 year olds or amateurs technically everybody in

02:54college hoops is an amateur still despite getting paid NIL money. But

02:58because Cooper Flagg is not of legal age he is not listed. We see it happen in

03:04college football. Ryan Williams the outstanding freshman receiver for the

03:07Crimson Tide is only 17. His props are not listed but they are on other

03:12sportsbooks. So it should be noted that Cooper Flagg is the favorite to win the

03:17Wooden Award in many other sportsbooks around the country. So just know that. Our

03:25producer Joe Frizzo digging this up and it's actually very very important and

03:30perhaps impactful betting information. Cooper Flagg turns 18 on December 21st

03:35about a month and a half in to this college basketball season. Will his price

03:40whatever it looks like shorter than what it might be on other sportsbooks right

03:44now longer if Duke struggles to start this year with a younger class. Will his

03:48price then be listed once he turns 18? Again I don't know. You can reach out to

03:54our lovely sponsors the FanDuel Sportsbook for some of those

03:57clarifying questions. Just thought it was worth noting. Let's go to the women's

04:02side of things. Again Kaitlyn Clark no longer there but plenty of talented

04:07players that will take over the mantle of superstardom this year including Paige

04:11Beckers who is back for UConn. Last year Fully Healthy led UConn to that final

04:17four game against Kaitlyn Clark. She enters the year as the favorite to win

04:21the Wooden Award of plus 125 but it could be a battle of those two best

04:25prices that you see because Juju Watkins made history last year as a freshman for

04:31USC. Plus 155 for Watkins. Historic performances only expected to be better

04:38this year for Southern Cal and the Trojans entering a new league in the Big

04:43Ten. If I had to bet one of those two prices I actually think I might look at

04:47Juju ahead of the bucket getter herself in Paige Beckers. Hannah Hidalgo that

04:53third shortest number at plus 850. She of course is the outstanding point guard

04:58for Notre Dame. Just to try to show it here if we can in terms of the women's

05:04basketball championship odds yep just checking South Carolina is the favorite

05:09entering this year at plus 155. They return a lot of people from last year's

05:15national title squad including the shortest number you saw there

05:18individually Malaysia Full-Wiley. Plenty of college basketball on the horizon

05:23but a football Friday tomorrow 8 a.m. Eastern here on SportsCenter.

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