It’s here! Jim’s ninth annual Peek at Futures has arrived, just in time for the season to tip off on Monday. Feel free to hurl any insults at his overly populated portfolio…

The eighth edition of Jim’s annual look at college hoops futures has arrived, just in time for the season!

The Creighton preseason hype train is rolling down the tracks, but the Bluejays were not even a top 25 team last year. How adept are we (preseason rankers) at predicting a leap into the nation’s elite for a team like Creighton?

Jim is BACK with his examination of college basketball budgets! Using data from the COVID-affected season of 2020-21, who are the biggest financial powerhouses in the college hoop landscape?

The matinee undercard in this epic Final Four was all about Kansas. Sorry, Nova nation.

Here’s Jim’s attempt at processing the insanity that was Duke and North Carolina on Saturday night. It lived up to everything we could have hoped for and then some, but in the end, the Tar Heels were the ones left standing.

The number one team in the country took care of business, but the WCC Tournament had no shortage of quality hoops. Jim was boots on the ground at the Orleans Arena with takeways on the key participants.

17 games over eight days taught Jim quite a bit - Gonzaga & Duke rock, Arizona is a title contender, Wichita State is unkillable, Johnny Davis is a freakin’ star. Detailed takeaways inside for all 13 Division I teams he saw in the past week…

The MEAC watched three teams exit this offseason, leaving a streamlined league competing for the precious NCAA Tournament bid. Powerhouses Norfolk State and North Carolina Central should be right back in the hunt, but Morgan State’s renaissance continues under Kevin Broadus…

The people have been clamoring for it: that’s right, it’s the 7th annual Quick Peek at Futures! This one is not as quick, though, because Jim went a little nuts this offseason…

The turbo-charged Bryant offense took the country by storm last year, but it was Mount St. Mary’s oversized, methodical style that earned the NEC’s auto-bid. Will one of those two reign in 2021-22? Plenty of challengers lurk if not…

The Flames keep burning at Liberty as the ASUN’s NCAA representative returns several key weapons. But OVC defectors Jacksonville St. and Eastern Kentucky will compete right away, and FGCU, Bellarmine, Stetson, and Lipscomb all have major reasons for optimism.

The Big Sky is loaded at the top with several strong contenders hoping to fill the vacancy left by Eastern Washington’s exodus. Will Southern Utah’s experience prevail over Montana’s developing roster and Weber State’s array of talent? Will another emerge to defeat all three?

After a year hiatus, the Ivy is a mystery box. Every team has two classes of players we’ve never seen before, and the ones we are familiar with haven’t hooped in 20 months. Still, the top four looks like the top four once again…

The Mean Green of North Texas stunned Purdue in March, and Conference USA has multiple teams with the talent to pull off a similar shocker in 2022. Two teams seem to have elevated themselves at the very top of the league, but there’s no shortage of challengers lurking behind them…

The Sun Belt loaded up with transfers and “extra year” super seniors, meaning the league should see a major resurgence from a relatively down 2020-21. Will the continuity of Georgia State prevail? Or can a transfer-heavy team like Louisiana or South Alabama take the crown?

The Bonnies have the most stability at the top, but an impressive tier of squads are intent on getting the A10 multiple NCAA Tournament bids this season. Richmond, SLU, and Dayton lurk most, but can a dark horse emerge from the talented but mysterious group below them?

After Wichita State’s surprising regular season title and Houston’s mega-impressive run to the Final Four, the American has to be feeling quite good about itself after 2020-21. The Cougars remain the favorite, but Penny Hardaway and Memphis are a legitimate threat, and the league continues to get deeper as a whole…

With a major infusion of talent this offseason via both freshmen and the transfer portal, the SEC looks posed for a huge year. How good can it be? And who will win the regular season among an imposing group of contenders?

It’s a similar story in the Big East: Villanova 1st, DePaul 11th…okay, now what? A few teams look more solid than others in that 2-10 range, but every school can talk itself into being an NCAA Tournament team if things break right. How do we see it sorting out?

With the decisions of Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels to use their extra years of eligibility, Villanova once again finds itself as a national title contender. The loss of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl will hurt, particularly offensively, but Jay Wright's system and the bevy of skilled perimeter players make Nova the clear Big East favorite.

Following an extremely disappointing campaign in Lexington, John Calipari loaded up the roster this offseason. Four high-level transfers and two 5-star recruits give the Cats a tantalizing ceiling, but will all of these pieces come together?

After Alabama burst onto the scene and won both the SEC regular season and tournament champioships, what will Nate Oats and the Tide do as an encore? Might we see even more success come March on the shoulders of a frighteningly dynamic perimeter group?

Tennessee’s stuck-in-the-mud offense undermined an elite defense last year, sending the Vols home in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. With another intriguing roster that blends productive experience and exciting young talent, can Rick Barnes strike a better balance this time around?

The Cougars lose two key pieces from their first Final Four squad since 1984, but Kelvin Sampson and the fellas are not going anywhere. The physical identity remains, and Sampson has elevated Houston to “perennial American favorite” over the past five years.

Losing to Tulsa twice may have doomed the Tigers’ NCAA chances, but they rebounded to win the NIT in emphatic fashion. With gobs of talent once again, can Penny Hardaway finally get Memphis dancing?

A roller coaster season (especially at the point guard position) coupled with a postseason ban left Auburn in a strange college hoops netherworld last year. After Bruce Pearl restocked the roster this offseason, can the Tigers regain national relevance?

The Muss Bus rolls on, again loaded with a potent lineup of transfers and veterans from last year’s squad. The Razorbacks put a scare in Baylor before the Bears went scorched earth at the Final Four, and with more length and perimeter weaponry, this Razorbacks squad is another legitimate national threat.

The Huskies were extremely solid in their return to the Big East, finishing in third and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Though James Bouknight is gone, UConn remains near the top of the Big East totem pole, and Dan Hurley should have his squad in the Big Dance for many years to come.

Mark Schmidt returns all five starters from his best team ever. Can the Bonnies make a March run as an encore to winning both the A-10 regular season and tournament crowns?