Preseason Projections

College basketball is in for one of its most exciting seasons in a long time with the best crop of incoming freshmen in the one and done era along with a bunch of teams changing conferences.

Here's a look at who has the early pole position in their conferences:

A10: St. Louis/VCU. These two teams are head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. The Billikens might be a notch better defensively, but it's really 1A and 1B. Both will be in the tourney barring any catastrophic injury.

AAC: Louisville. The old Big East should be the defending National Champs for the taking. UConn, Memphis and Cincinnati will give them a fight, but Louisville is the front runner.

ACC: Duke. The new look ACC will have six or seven teams in the tournament, but the Blue Devils with No. 2 recruit Jabari Parker are the most likely to emerge on top.

American East: Stony Brook. The Seawolves are the best defensive team in the league, but will have to fight off Albany and Vermont for the autobid.

Atlantic Sun: Mercer. The Bears and Florida Gulf Coast will likely meet up in the title game for this conference's autobid. Rest of the league isn't very good.

Big 10: Michigan State. The Spartans are really good, experienced and deep. Should be in the top 5 all year and will be fighting for a No. 1 seed. Michigan and Ohio State will be there if Sparty slips up for any reason.

Big 12: Kansas. There's a reason why half a dozen NBA teams have thrown in the towel this season and that's Andrew Wiggins. Oklahoma State will be right there all year with the Jayhawks, but Kansas should have the talent to outlast the Cowboys.

Big East: Georgetown. The Hoyas are the slightest of favorites in the new Big East, but it's really a six-team race with Villanova, Marquette, Creighton, St. John's and Providence all having some chance of coming out on top.

Big Sky: Weber State. The Wildcats, along with Montana, are the only slightly above average teams in the league and should play for the autobid. This league is among the worst though and will struggle to get anything better than a No. 15 seed.

Big South: Charleston Southern. Another bad league with just one or two average teams. Will come down to the conference tournament and any of six teams could come out on top.

Big West: UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are solid on defense, but this league is a complete crapshoot. Seven teams could win this conference.

CAA: Drexel. The Dragons are the slight favorites in a four-team race that includes Delaware, Charleston and Towson.

Conference USA: Southern Miss. Memphis has moved to the AAC which opens up this league for the first time in about a decade. The Golden Eagles are above average both offensively and defensively, but five or six teams behind them are capable of pulling an upset in the conference tournament and stealing the autobid.

Horizon League: Wright State. This league sets up a three-team race between Wright State (best defense), Valparaiso (best offense) and Wisconsin-Green Bay (best balance). I'll take the defense in this one, but any of the three could be in the tournament.

Ivy League: Harvard. The Crimson won in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year and will be even better this year. Really tough to see them losing more than one or two games in the conference.

MAAC: Manhattan. The Jaspers are the best defensive team in a league with four or five really good offensive teams and that should be the difference in this conference.

MAC: Akron. Defense again the difference in this league. Akron, Toledo, Kent State and Ohio could all come out with the bid, but the Zips have the best offensive and defensive balance.

MEAC: NC Central. A really, really bad league. Might be the worst offensive conference in the entire country. Doesn't really matter who comes out, they'll be a No. 16 seed.

MVC: Wichita State. With Creighton's move to the new Big East, the Shockers are alone at the top.

Mountain West: New Mexico. Four team's will be right at the top. New Mexico, UNLV, Boise State and San Diego State should all be looking for a tournament spot come March.

NEC: Wagner. Good offense and good defense, the Seahawks are the only team in the conference with both.

OVC: Belmont. The Bruins are the clear front runner to get the bid again. The question with Belmont is if they'll finally win a game in the NCAA tournament.

PAC 12: Arizona. The Wildcats should win this conference by a game or two. Really good team that added stud freshman Aaron Gordon. The PAC 12 gets really murky after Arizona with a razor thin margin between teams No. 2-No. 8.

Patriot League: Boston U. The Terriers are newcomers to the league, moving from the American East last season and instantly become the top offensive team in the league, but everybody is pretty mediocre. Any of about seven teams could win the autobid.

SEC: Kentucky. The Wildcats have the best recruiting class in college basketball history and may have six first round draft picks. The season looks like a rerun of 2012, where the Wildcats cruised through the conference on their way to a title. Florida is the only team that is a legit threat to Kentucky in the SEC.

Southern: Davidson. The Fightin' Steph Currys are by far the best team in this league. Elon is the only team that might even be average, but the Wildcats might run through this conference undefeated.

Southland: Stephen F. Austin. Three average teams (SFA, Oral Roberts and Northwestern State) will fight for this league title. None of them really stand out on paper.

Summit League: Denver/NDSU. You can flip a coin between Denver and North Dakota State. Either team could be a March Madness sleeper in that No. 13-No. 14 range.

Sun Belt: Georgia State. The bracket always seems to fall apart in this conference and it's easy to see why. There are about eight or nine mediocre teams and one or two bad ones. The Panthers are by far the best on offense and that will get them the regular season title, but in a one and done spot, their defense could let them down.

SWAC: Southern. This is the worst conference in the country. Southern is okay. Texas Southern and Jackson State might not be awful. Everybody else is really, really bad. Pencil in whoever for a No. 16 seed.

WAC: New Mexico State. This conference has completely disintegrated over the past couple of seasons. The Aggies are a good team and probably have the best chance of any team in the nation to go undefeated in conference play. There is no bigger preseason favorite to win their conference than NMSU.

WCC: Gonzaga. The Bulldogs will win the league and make the tournament. BYU and St. Mary's will be on the bubble and may join them. Same as last year.