Check out our entire college basketball season preview!
The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.
Let’s continue with the largest conference in college basketball, the Big Ten. This conference underwent massive changes, adding four new teams from the Pac-12 in Washington, USC, Oregon and UCLA. The expansion has not diluted the competitive level of the Big Ten, ranking third (same as last year) in KenPom preseason rankings.
Let’s check out our betting preview for the Washington Huskies. I give a huge shout-out to our newest contributor, Gus Kearns, for his extensive research on the Big Ten.
2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: Washington Huskies
Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Danny Sprinkle (1st season)
2023-2024 Record: 17-15 (9-11)
ATS: 17-15
O/U: 18-14
Projected Starters: G Zoom Diallo; G DJ Davis; F Tyler Harris; F Great Osobor; C Franck Kepnang
Seven seasons with the Huskies translated into only one NCAA Tournament trip for Mike Hopkins. The 55-year-old coach got tired of waiting for Jim Boeheim to retire at Syracuse and grabbed the opportunity with Washington, only to end his tenure with five straight seasons without March Madness. Enter Danny Sprinkle after two successful campaigns with Montana State and Utah State that boasted a total record of 53-17, and a first-round NCAA Tournament win over Big 12 staple TCU last season. Sprinkle built the core of this team through the transfer portal, assembling the eighth-best transfer class per 247 Sports. Make no mistake, this Huskies team has a lot of talent.
Great Osobor comes to Seattle with Sprinkle via Utah State. The 6-foot-8 senior from England lives up to his name, coming off a 17.7 PPG and 9.0 RPG season, where he added 2.7 stocks per game on the defensive end of the floor. DJ Davis is an explosive scorer from Butler and will be expected to guide sensational freshman guard Zoom Diallo (Washington Player of the Year). Sprinkle also has the benefit of one of my favorite players in the nation, 6-foot-11 center Franck Kepnang from Cameroon (1.7 BPG).
Key Player: Zoom Diallo
Osobor is an All-American level player, and Davis is a proven scorer. Harris and Kepnang are solid starters, but role players. Diallo is the massive upside play here, as a top-50 prospect. Washington is one of the few teams with the frontline to match a top Big Ten team like Indiana, and Kobe Johnson (UCLA) getting a Big Ten preseason Player of the Year vote over Osobor is blasphemy. Osobor will create perimeter opportunities, can Diallo take advantage?
Projection
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