The NCAA basketball odds makers have opened the Indiana Hoosiers as this year's favorites, but what are the other top programs in the nation doing to improve their chances of winning a NCAA Tournament title this year?
NCAA Basketball News & Notes- May
2
It has been
almost a month since the Kentucky Wildcats cut down the nets in New Orleans as this season’s
NCAA national basketball champions. While things on the surface appear to be
quiet heading into the summer months, behind the scenes there are always some
interesting developments that could have an impact on a program’s chances to
win its regular season conference title or even make a long run in next year’s
NCAA Tournament.
The following is a look at this week’s more prominent news and notes that could end-up having a major impact on a team’s NCAA basketball odds to win their conference and national title next season.
Early ‘Futures’ for next season’s
championship
Next
season’s Final Four will be staged in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome and we
already have an early peak at which teams have the best chance to get there according
to the ‘futures’ NCAA basketball lines that have been released for several of the major programs
in the country.
The Indiana
Hoosiers have been opened as the ‘odds-on-favorite’ at +700 to bring home a
national title in 2013. They are coming off one of their best seasons in recent
memory with an overall record of 27-9 and a trip to the Sweet 16, where they
ran into eventual champion Kentucky; a team they had actually beaten earlier in
the season. With the return of Cody Zeller and Christian Watford, the Hoosiers
will now have their top-five scorers from the 2011/2012 season on their roster
for next season.
The
second-favorite at +800 is the Louisville Cardinals, who made it all the way to
this year’s Final Four before bowing-out to in-state rival Kentucky. Coach Rick
Pitino remains confident that with the returning talent from last season’s
30-10 squad along with the possibility of landing a few more high-profile
recruits, the Cardinals will be in prime position to make an even deeper run to
a title in 2013.
Even though
their entire starting five left early for the NBA, you can never count Kentucky
out of the mix at +1000. Coach John Calipari has done it before and with a
national title hanging around his neck, has been able to recruit an another
strong group of players looking to make a one-year stop-over in Lexington on
their way to the NBA, including the nation’s No.1-ranked player Nerlens Noel.
Abromaitis denied a sixth year
When Notre
Dame forward Tim Abromaitis went down with a torn ACL in the third game of the season,
so did a good portion of Notre Dame’s chances to win the Big East as well as
the national title. The team went on to post a very respectable 22-12 record,
but it bowed-out of the NCAA Tournament in its first game with a loss to
Xavier.
Given the amount
of time that Abromaitis missed, he took his case to the NCAA in hopes of being
granted a sixth-year of eligibility, but that request was denied. He has
already stated that he would not appeal the decision. The 6-foot-8, 236-pound
power forward will finish his career at South Bend having averaged 13.7 points
and 4.8 rebounds over the course of five seasons.
Butler headed to the Atlantic 10
The Butler
Bulldogs, who gained national attention for going to back-to-back NCAA Tournament
Finals in 2010 and 2011, have announced that they will be leaving the Horizon
League after this season to join the Atlantic 10 for all sports starting July
1, 2013. Butler will be filling the void left by the departure of the Temple
Owls, who decided to join the Big East Conference starting in 2013 as well.