by Sanaa Doweary
College Basketball is starting and the season is already becoming competitive. November 5th was the starting date for basketball games. 353 D1 basketball teams nationwide are starting to play this week on many networks.
Predictions for who is going to win the Final Four is all over the charts. According to CBS Sports, Michigan State is no. 1 for CBS Sports Top 25. The Virginia Cavaliers won March Madness last year, but will they win again?
The season goes on till March, for the March Madness. There are 32 conferences, with only 68 teams allowed in the playoffs. The starting date for March Madness is March 19, 2020.
According to ESPN, the top 5 conferences are ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and Big East. These schools include major teams like Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky. Kentucky is a recurring prediction to be in the Final Four.
Seton Hall is a team that is coming up in the charts, climbing the ranks in the top 25. They recently lost their star player, Myles Powell, to an ankle injury. He recovered quickly, and ended up dropping 37 points in the Michigan vs. Seton Hall game.
ESPN predicts that the player of the year will be Cassius Winston. Also, the newcomer of the year will be Cole Anthony.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Duke beat Kansas by only 2 points. The score was 68-66, but the surprising thing was that Duke was ranked No. 4 and Kansas was No. 3.
Another thing, Cole Anthony dropped 34 points on Tuesday. Bleacher Report stated it is a record for a freshman debut. He had 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal. He plays for UNC.
One college player is actually from York, PA. The 6’6 forward, Melik Martin, goes to Monmouth University. The school is a D1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic conference.
He is a junior and has been playing for 3 years. Melik graduated from York Catholic, but also played for many AAU teams, longest was York Rens for 3 years.
Monmouth has made 4 March Madness appearances, but has not made it to the Final Four. Their leading scorer is Ray Salnave from Elmont, New York.
As the basketball season continues, the games get more aggressive as the players have a goal of making it to the Final Four.