Five storylines to watch as March Madness begins

The men’s NCAA basketball tournament tips off Thursday afternoon, with the women set to follow suit on Friday.

It’s been a historic year in college basketball, with the rise of one the most-celebrated freshmen in recent memory, and the SEC’s ascent to the greatest collective season in the history of the sport.

March is unpredictable, and, as always, we’re standing by for upsets.

Here are five storylines to keep an eye on as the Madness gets underway:

Cooper Flagg’s pursuit of the greatest freshman season in men’s history

There’s a big question surrounding Flagg’s health after he was wheeled out of Duke’s ACC Tournament opener with an ankle injury last Thursday, but head coach Jon Scheyer claimed earlier this week he’s “full steam ahead” for the Blue Devils’ Round of 64 meeting with Mount St. Mary’s on Friday.

So, how about some big, personal stakes for the most-hyped prospect men’s college basketball has seen in years?

Flagg lived up to expectations as Duke cruised through the regular season, but can cement his place in college basketball lore with a national title – the Blue Devils’ first in 10 years – in three weeks’ time.

Where would that place him amongst the all-time great freshmen in history? At least right alongside Carmelo Anthony, who carried Syracuse to a championship in 2003, and Anthony Davis, who did it all for Kentucky during its title run in 2012. Statistically, each did it their own way – Anthony by averaging 22.2 points per game for an Orange team that entered that year unranked, and Davis, who averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and had an NCAA freshman-record 186 blocked shots.

Flagg’s impact in his first year has been immeasurable, leading the Blue Devils in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals – the first time in program history that a player has led in each category.

Can the SEC cap its historic season with a national championship?

There’s a saying that there are two seasons in the SEC – football, and spring football. But its shift towards becoming a basketball conference began two years ago and was cemented this season, with it sending a record 14 teams to the men’s tournament.

Auburn claimed the top overall seed in this year’s bracket on the strength of a dominant, start-to-near-finish regular season, but lost its final two games to Texas A&M and Alabama and then bowed out of the SEC tournament in the semifinals against Tennessee.

Head coach Bruce Pearl scoffed at the idea of panic setting in, but the reality is that Auburn is looking vulnerable at an inopportune time.

Florida has swooped in as the SEC’s biggest title candidate, having blown out Alabama in the conference semifinals and comfortably holding off Tennessee in the final. Still, the championship is open for a handful of SEC powers – Auburn, as well as the Crimson Tide and Volunteers, plus Kentucky, which was the last team from the conference to win a national title (with Davis in 2012).

The superstar era is still at its peak in women’s basketball, but can anybody beat South Carolina?

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese may have moved on to the WNBA, but we’re still in the thick of the superstar era in women’s college basketball.

Paige Bueckers is looking to lead UConn to its first national title since 2016, which would come eight days before the WNBA Draft, where she’s projected to go first overall. But there’s a roadblock in the Spokane Regional – namely, top-seeded USC, and star sophomore JuJu Watkins. Add in Notre Dame’s do-it-all guard Hannah Hidalgo, plus overall top seed UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and the landscape of women’s college basketball is as talented as it’s ever been.

But for all star power, there’s still the stalwart: South Carolina, behind legendary head coach Dawn Staley.

The Gamecocks looked susceptible in a 29-point home loss to Bueckers and UConn last month, but have reeled on seven straight wins since – including a 64-45 blowout over top-ranked Texas in the SEC final – to grab a top seed in the tournament for the ninth time in the past 11 seasons.

Canadian standouts

The men’s tournament doesn’t have a two-time Wooden Award winner like Zach Edey this time around, but there are still 20 Canadians on the rosters of competing teams.

Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard (Aurora, Ont.) is no stranger to March, having reached the Elite Eight with Creighton in 2023 and then the Sweet 16 with the Bulldogs last season. This year, he led the nation with 9.8 assists per game, including six in Gonzaga’s WCC title game win over Saint Mary’s that helped claim the eight-seed in the Midwest Region.

Freshman Will Riley (Kitchener, Ont.) is a likely one-and-done at Illinois, finding himself as a projected first-round pick in NBA mock drafts following a regular season where he averaged 12.5 points per game primarily as sixth man. Since cracking the starting lineup in the Fighting Illini’s third-to-last regular season game, he’s averaged 17.2 points alongside freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who’s likely to be a lottery selection in June.

The women’s side boasts a pair of freshman standouts in Michigan’s Syla Swords (Sudbury, Ont.) and Duke’s Toby Fournier (Toronto). Swords averaged 16.1 points per game for the Wolverines, earning all-Big Ten second team honours, and Fournier was the ACC’s Freshman of the Year, averaging 13.4 points off the bench for a Blue Devils’ team that nabbed the two-seed in the Birmingham Region.

Is it ever safe to count out Dan Hurley and UConn?

Last summer, Hurley turned down an opportunity to coach LeBron James and the Lakers, opting to return to UConn for a shot at a third straight national title.

The Huskies (and Hurley, for that matter) melted down in Maui in November and went 14-6 in the Big East this season, stepping aside as the power shifted to Rick Pitino and out-of-nowhere St. John’s. They enter this year’s tournament as an eight seed, drawing Oklahoma in the opening round with top-seed Florida potentially on deck.

Gone are last year’s super transfers, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer, as well as Donovan Clingan and Jeremy Castle, who went in the lottery of last June’s NBA Draft. Sophomore guard Solo Ball has been a revelation and freshman standout Liam McNeeley has been impactful, but there’s no hiding the fact the Huskies aren’t as good this time around.

If there’s reason for optimism, or at least open-mindedness, there’s this: UConn won a national title as a seven seed in 2014, and overcame seven conference losses before winning as a three seed two years ago.

If there’s a program and a head coach that won’t roll over this time of year, it’s UConn and Hurley.