Most sports fans are currently focused on the college football season or the NFL, but it’s not too early to start thinking about college basketball.
Teams across the nation have already started practicing, and those programs will begin to play exhibition games and scrimmages soon.
The betting odds have already been set at BetOnline for winning the national title, and that’s a bit that is always an option. While there are some good arguments about what teams are the best in 2023-24, you can also debate on conference pride.
With that in mind, here is a look at the top five college basketball conferences heading into 2023-24.
Bet on the Kansas Jayhawks to win the National Championship at +900 over at BetOnline!
SEC
The SEC tends to go as the Kentucky Wildcats go, even though Alabama and Arkansas have been terrific of late. Kentucky is at +1000 at BetOnline to win the National Championship this year, and they are good enough to keep this league in the conversation all season long.
The problem with the SEC at times is that some schools are too focused on football, and the fan bases tend to forget about basketball. While that doesn’t really impact the play on the floor, it does lower the expectations or excitement for this league.
Big East
The Big East Conference should simply get more respect than it does because there is great basketball played in the league every single year. The UConn Huskies just won the national championship out of this conference, and other programs have had recent success as well.
While the Big East doesn’t always have a ton of star power when it comes to players or teams, these teams just play a terrific brand of basketball every single year. You could actually make the case for the Big East to be higher on the list, but it’s a league that does have some down years at times.
ACC
When it comes to the ACC, Duke, and North Carolina are the two programs that seem to carry the banner for the league each season. Duke is at +1200 to win the national championship this year, and North Carolina isn’t far behind at +3300.
You can make the case that there are some bad teams in the ACC that should impact this ranking a bit, but it’s hard to argue with those two programs at the top. Teams from the ACC also tend to do well in March Madness, and the league gets bonus points for that.
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference continues to put 9-10 teams in the NCAA Tournament every single year, but those teams don’t tend to have any success. Just last year, Purdue was a number 1 seed and was bounced in the first round of March Madness.
Purdue is going to be just as good this season, and teams like Michigan State and Illinois are also going to be in the mix. The reason that the Big Ten Conference is the second-best in the country is for the simple fact that about eight teams could end up going on a deep run in March.
Big 12
If you have been paying attention to college basketball over the last ten years, then you shouldn’t be surprised with this top pick. Not only is the Big 12 Conference extremely deep, but teams from this league also tend to perform well in the NCAA Tournament.
The Kansas Jayhawks are the current betting favorites to win the National Championship at +900 at BetOnline, but they might not even win their own league. Teams like Texas and Kansas State are going to be loaded again this season, and Houston is now also a member of this conference.
You can make a case for other conferences to be in positions 2-5, but the Big 12 Conference is clearly at the top.
