College Basketball: 5 More Reasons Why Next Season Will Be One of the Greatest

With just a few more weeks before Midnight Madness, a new college basketball season will be upon us.

The season promises to be a great one with several elite players returning to their respective colleges, lessening the annual talent drain to the NBA.

Just as sure as I am that the UFC will not need any referees for the Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson fight this Saturday, this coming basketball season will be one of the most exciting for a long time.

Here are my five main reasons.

This may be your last chance to see a really competetive Big East.

The Big East was the best conference last year. This conference, helped by an expanded NCAA tournament, had 11 teams in the big dance.

Now Syracuse, a team that screams Big East, has decided to leave, along with Pitt.

Andy Katz reckons that these two teams may forgo the Big East's 27-month notice period and join the ACC next year.

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"The Big East is saying the right things by holding Pitt and Syracuse to the 27-month departure bylaw. But it's in the best interest of the remaining Big East schools to let the schools go so that they can figure out what the conference will look like in two or three years. Multiple lame-duck seasons serve no purpose."

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If the Big East holds both these teams to ransom, it won't be lame duck at all. It will be funny, though, and somewhat dramatic. There is always a reason for teams to beat each other but the schools remaining in the conference will have extra motivation to win big.

Nothing like a goodbye blowout.

Purists can enjoy the Big East as they know it for at least one more season. Katz reports that other schools such as Villanova are looking at other conferences. UConn is also looking to move on.

This may be your last chance to see a really competitive Big East.

Enjoying the Last Days of the ACC

If you love all things ACC, this may be your last chance to see a 12-member conference and enjoy the annual two-horse race between North Carolina and Duke.

Currently, there are only three teams that might be ranked in the preseason Top 25 polls: North Carolina, Duke and possibly Florida State.

The ACC is not the competitive conference it used to be, with Duke and North Carolina dominating.

If Syracuse and Pitt are able to obtain early releases from the Big East, the ACC will be better for it no doubt, as early as next year.

However, this season may be the last chance to enjoy this conference as it currently is.  

Kentucky's Annual Recruiting Haul

Say what you want about John Calipari, but seeing four top recruits playing together is as exciting as seeing three top NBA players team up to form a superteam.

When LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade decided to sign with Miami as free agents, the following NBA season became one of the most exciting since Michael Jordan retired.

Seeing a great team in action can only be a tribute to the James Naismith and his vision of how this game was to be played when he invented it, albeit with a few modern tweaks. 

Of course when great teams lose, it brings a lot more intrigue.

Kentucky has arguably its best recruiting class in John Calipari's tenure. Kyle Wiltjer, Michael Kidd- Gilchrist, Anthony Davis and Marquis Teague are all 5-star recruits.

Davis is the best power forward in the class, Kidd-Gilchrist is the best small forward and Teague is the best point guard. Wiltjer is a shooting forward in the Dirk Nowtizki mold.

Add Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb to that equation and this should get Calipari to his first legitimate Final Four.

Austin Rivers: Best Shooting Guard in the Freshman Class?

Okay, so he wasn't overwhelmingly great during Duke's summer tour of China and Dubai, but that doesn't mean he is any less talented.

Rivers is one of the most hyped recruits to ever attend Duke.

Had he gone with his original choice of Florida, he probably would have had an easier transition to college basketball.

However, he chose Duke, so there has been a lot more interest in the 6'4" scoring sensation.

Not everyone has his best interest at heart, but as soon as he puts on his JJ-Redick-like suit of armour, he will be fine.

Rivers will be depended upon to help Mike Krzyzewski become the coach with the most wins in Division I men's basketball.

However, he will get stiff competition from Florida's Bradley Beal and North Carolina's PJ Hairston as the top freshman shooting guard in this class.

The No.1 Pick in the 2012 Draft.

This past summer, dark horse Kyrie Irving was chosen as the No. 1 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers after spending most of the season on the bench recovering from a toe injury.

However, going into the season, he was an outside shot for a lottery position—much less the coveted first pick. In 11 games, he proved himself worthy of the pick.

Next year, the main contenders looking to hear David Stern to call their names first in Madison Square Garden are Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), Jared Sullinger (Ohio State), Andre Drummond (UConn), Anthony Davis (Kentucky) and Perry Jones (Baylor).

Players with an outside chance are James Michael McAdoo (North Carolina), Jeremy Lamb (UConn) and Terrence Jones (Kentucky).

At the moment, it is a crowded field but as the season progresses, each player will make their case.

Jared Sullinger will be in the mix—especially if he does trim down some—but right now it's a race between Harrison Barnes and Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis.

With the NBA lockout expected to continue into the unforeseeable future, no one knows which teams will be picking in the lottery.

This will be a factor as it is highly unlikely that the Cleveland Cavaliers or Minnesota Timberwolves will be picking another point guard with a lottery pick.

Swingmen are always coveted. That's one reason why Barnes might currently be the favourite. Especially if he could continue playing at a high level as at the end of last season.