5 Teams That Can Go Undefeated in 2011-12 College Basketball Season

Jay Bilas was recently asked if there were any true great teams in college basketball for the coming season, and this is what he said:

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I have said the last two years that there was not a single great team. I believe that the results in the NCAA tournament bolstered my point. I also believe that this year's NBA draft supported my point, as well. The last truly great team in college basketball was North Carolina 2009. This year, Carolina could be that team again. But, last year's champion came out of nowhere, so little should surprise us when the players are so much younger than they were years ago.

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I think there are a few teams, if they catch a lucky break, that can have clear sailing until March.

College basketball saw an unprecedented amount of players return to school even though they could have been high NBA draft picks. There will be some great basketball games as a result.

Great teams are also determined by the type of opponents they beat and there are a lot of good teams around right now.

Can any team go undefeated, or at least survive the regular season unscathed?

North Carolina Tar Heels

By now everyone knows North Carolina is the perennial favourite in college basketball next season, although UConn might make a late surge with the recent signing of Andre Drummond.

The Tar Heels start the season against a re-surging Michigan State, on an aircraft carrier. Hopefully that won't be too much of a distraction, no matter how cool it may sound.

Then they have an early tournament (iBN Sports Las Vegas Invitational) where UNLV may be the biggest challenge. UNLV has a new coach, so North Carolina has the upper hand as the Running Rebels get acclimated to Dave Rice.

Then there is Wisconsin in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. Wisconsin is always dangerous, especially to No. 1-seeded teams, but the Tar Heels are at home.

Then it's on to Rupp Arena for what is building up to be the game of the early season. Kentucky will more than likely be the No. 2-ranked team in the country, so this will be a great one-versus-two matchup.

The game will be a litmus test for both teams—experience versus youth. Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall will only be sophomores, but that's veteran in college basketball these days.

They have a few games that should be walk overs before Texas comes to Chapel Hill a few days before Christmas.

The ACC is not as strong as it used to be. Currently only Duke and Florida State pose any serious threat, but that can change with Maryland apparently just adding potential lottery pick, big man, Olexiy Len.

Duke comes to Chapel Hill early February, then the last game of the season is at Cameron Indoor stadium.

Talk about drama. What if the Tar Heels win all their games heading into the last game against Duke? 

Beating an arch-rival on their home court to go undefeated is the icing on the cake of a great regular season, but having an arch-rival spoil an undefeated season is unforgivable. 

Barring injuries, I think North Carolina has the third-best chance of going undefeated behind Ohio State and Kentucky. Winning at Rupp Arena is not out of the question but it is going to be a difficult challenge.

Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky has a loaded freshman class—four of them are 5-star recruits. A team would be lucky to get one 5-star rated recruit, much less four!

Anthony Davis is a potential lottery pick, so is Marquis Teague.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kyle Wiltjer added to Doron Lamb, Darius Miller and Terrence Jones equal a very talented team.

The Wildcats meet the Kansas Jayhawks very early in the season. Kansas is in a rebuilding year and the game is in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky has the preseason No. 1-ranked team coming to Rupp Arena Dec. 3. If it can beat North Carolina it will be a confidence boost for this young team.

Then there is a showdown with arch-rivals Louisville (Battle for the Bluegrass) on New Year's Eve.

Louisville has some talent and head coach Rick Pitino might be unhappy with John Calipari for borrowing his stadium for a Dominican Republic (Calipari coaches this team) exhibition game. This will add fuel to the fire of a very heated rivalry, but the Wildcats are at home.

Florida and Vanderbilt pose the biggest threats to Kentucky in the SEC.

UK meets Florida twice, home and away, but Kentucky has a clear advantage over Florida in the front court. Florida's Erick Murphy is untested, even though he is a rising junior, and Patric Young is foul prone.

Going to Vanderbilt is always a test for any team as it has a really unique court, but it will be extremely more so as the Commodores have some upperclassmen trying to prove themselves after another early NCAA tournament exit.

I would say Kentucky has the highest chance of going undefeated, behind Ohio State, if it can get by North Carolina.

Connecticut Huskies

They are the reigning NCAA champions. Kemba Walker was the heart and soul of the team, but when he left for the NBA, the Connecticut Huskies replaced him with two top 10-ranked, 5-star recruits.

Andre Drummond was originally the No. 2 prospect in the 2012 class but recently tweeted that he will be joining UConn this fall.

With the progress of Jeremy Lamb and the tough defense of this team, head coach Jim Calhoun hopes to rack up some victories and maybe even defend his championship as at least to the Final Four.

However, currently UConn has only 10 scholarships available for next season, meaning some current player may have to give up his scholarship if Calhoun hopes to provide Drummond a scholarship.

Normally it should be 13, but due to a low APR score, two scholarships were removed, and another was removed for a recruiting violation.

UConn's non-conference schedule looks really easy. The only test it will receive is from Florida State, expected to be ranked somewhere in the back five of the preseason top 25.

Just before conference play the Huskies do tackle an unpredictable Tennessee, though—unpredictable because no one knows what they would be like under a new head coach, Cuonzo Martin.

The big East was the most competitive conference last season. Eleven teams made it to the NCAA tournament. It does make sense to have a relatively easy non-conference schedule—ease the players into it.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh should be the top challengers for UConn, the favoured team to win the Big East right now. Just don't sleep on Louisville, either!

Luke Winn has Rosco Smith, Alex Oriakhi, Drummond, Shabbaz Napier and Jeremy Lamb starting.

DeAndre Daniels was another late signing; before Drummond commited, I was expecting him to start but maybe he might be better off the bench.

UConn biggest challenge of going undefeated is the slug fest of the Big East.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State won 24 straight games before running into a really determined Wisconsin team last season. Still, the Buckeyes only lost three games overall.

They do not have David Lighty's all-around defensive ability or Jon Diebler's 50 percent three point shooting back, but they do have some great prospects coming in.

Amir Williams will play center, allowing Jared Sullinger to play his natural position: power forward.

William Buford will look to prove himself as one of the best shooting guards in college basketball.

Shannon Scott, a rising freshman, will give Thad Matta options at point guard. Aaron Craft is still around and will look to contribute more this season.

They only lost two games in the Big Ten last season and their top competition has been weakened.

Purdue is without all-conference players JaJuan Johnson and E'tuan Moore. Wisconsin is without Jon Leuer. Michigan lost point guard Darius Morris.

However, Michigan State may be on a resurgence after finishing a disappointing seventh in conference.

At the moment though Ohio State is the favourites to win this conference.

Non-conference schedule include an early home games against Florida, then a few weeks later they host Duke in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. Then in early December they will travel to Kansas.

Duke is considered young, while Kansas got depleted by graduation and the NBA draft, and Florida has frontcourt issues, although it has one of the best back courts in the country.

Ohio State has a great chance to finish the regular season without a blemish due to its schedule.

Arizona Wildcats

Arizona is one of the most underrated teams going into next season. They have two 5-star recruits coming in to replace departed Derrick William's scoring.

Josiah Turner is ranked as the sixth-best point guard in the 2011 class, which is loaded with point guards. Nick Johnson is an effective combo guard.  Add these guys to a team that finished in the Elite Eight (lost to eventual champions UConn).

Early challenges in the schedule include Mississippi State or Texas A&M in the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Then the Wildcats play a young St. John's team in New York mid-November. If they prevail there they will get a test when they visit Florida.

Clemson and Gonzaga will be waiting in the wings. San Diego State is on the schedule, but it is not as good without Kawhi Leonard.

This Wildcat team may not survive the non-conference schedule with a perfect record, but they can go through the Pac-12 like a hot knife though cheese.

They have home and way games against two new additions to the Pac-10, now the Pac-12. Utah and Colorado are not expected to challenge Arizona, so that's four victories.

Washington is probably the only challenge for Arizona in conference.

If Arizona gets through its non-conference schedule intact, it could crash the party of North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State and UConn as the best teams in the NCAA tournament.

However, the Arizona Wildcats are the underdogs on this list.