25 Most Intriguing Questions in college basketball

Back by popular demand (or at least an absence of protest), I present my annual Most Intriguing Lists previewing the season in college basketball. We wrap up the series with the 25 Most Intriguing Questions to be answered this year:

1. What's with all the big guys? Reports of the center position's death have been greatly exaggerated. From 7-footer Frank Kaminsky at Wisconsin to the flotilla of 7-footers at Kentucky to Jahlil Okafor at Duke to Myles Turner at Texas, centers appear alive and well in college hoops this year. And don't forget the power forwards: Montrezl Harrell at Louisville, Chris Walker at Florida, Cliff Alexander and/or Perry Ellis at Kansas, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at Arizona, Jordan Mickie at LSU, and so forth. After years trending the other way, this season may well be played from the inside out.

2. Can the platoon system work at Kentucky? John Calipari is so loaded with talent that he's planning to play two platoons, substituting en masse. With trademark Cal grandiosity, this has been billed as the basketball equivalent of splitting the atom – an unprecedented experiment that could alter life as we know it. It doesn't have to work perfectly for it to work well enough – Kentucky will batter teams with its size and exhaust them with its depth, and unless chemistry fissures develop it will be very hard to derail these Wildcats. But in his heart of hearts, Calipari is a tight-rotation guy who prefers playing seven or eight. Don't be surprised if the platoon system is whittled down for certain games – and for postseason play.

3. How do Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim handle the off-court problems hovering over their programs? The ACC Hall of Famers are simultaneously facing unprecedented attacks on their programs as a whole and their reputations in specific. Boeheim and the Syracuse administration went before the NCAA Committee on Infractions two weeks ago to respond to allegations of major rules violations. Williams and North Carolina are under NCAA investigation as well and reeling from a stinging report on long-running academic fraud that involved more than 1,000 UNC athletes – including plenty of basketball players. It will be interesting to see if both men can block out the noise this season – and whether any decisions come down that affect this year's teams.

4. Can Tom Crean turn it around at Indiana?

Losses on the court and bad developments off it have created a negative snowball effect in Bloomington. Crean led Indiana's only outright Big Ten championship of the past 21 years all of 18 months ago. He also has a $12 million buyout at a school that isn't exactly killing it in football revenue. So there are good reasons why he should still be the coach at this time a year from now – but it would sure help calm down the angry mob if the Hoosiers overachieved and earned an NCAA tournament berth this season after missing the Big Dance last year.

5. Will casual fans tune out with the absence of star power? Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins widened the college hoops audience from the opening tip last year – and then Joel Embiid, Tyler Ennis and Aaron Gordon added to the freshman class curiosity. All those precocious talents are now in the NBA, and they left a star-power vacuum. Jahlil Okafor and a few other freshmen will garner some attention, but when Kaminsky is the biggest returning draw, that won't move the needle a whole lot outside the sport's core audience.

6. Are we ready for a faster game? The ACC experimented with a 30-second shot clock in exhibition games, with no audible screeching from the participants. A proposal to shorten the shot clock from its current 35 seconds could be made next spring, and anecdotally it sounds like there is fairly wide support for it from coaches. College hoops likely will never go to the 24-clock used by the NBA, but there does seem to be an understanding that picking up the pace would be a fan-friendly advancement. Stay tuned.

7. Will officials still call it tight? For a whole season? There was a concerted effort to crack down on defensive mauling last year, and it worked. Scoring was up, field-goal percentage was up, freedom of movement was up. Players and teams adjusted to the tight whistle. But there also was a backslide in conference play, and some subsequent inconsistency in how games were called in the postseason. The hope is that the cleanup continues this year and officials stay committed to limiting the amount of push-shove-hack-grab-flop-bogus-charge defense that goes on.

8. Is Kentucky the tallest team ever? The Wildcats were the tallest team in the nation last year, according to the stats at KenPom.com. Then they went out and added a third 7-footer and a 6-foot-10 small forward. The frontcourt rotation figures to be 7-0 Karl-Anthony Towns, 7-0 Willie Cauley-Stein, 7-0 Dakari Johnson, 6-10 Trey Lyles, 6-8 Alex Poythress and 6-9 Marcus Lee. The backcourt starters are 6-6 twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison, with 6-6 freshman Devin Booker coming in as a 3-point specialist. The only non-giant in the first 10 players is 5-9 Tyler Ulis, who ruins the curve. Biggest ever? Might be.

9. Does Louisville's arrival make the ACC the best league in America? With the Cardinals joining Duke, North Carolina and Virginia in the AP Top Ten, the claim is valid – for now. But the league cannot go a fifth straight season without a Final Four team and own bragging rights. The Cardinals made the Final Four in 2012 and '13, and Syracuse was there in '13 as well – but neither team was in the ACC at that point. As it stands, no ACC team has made the last weekend of the season since Duke won it all in 2010.

10. Speaking of droughts: Can Wisconsin break the Big Ten streak without a national title? Not since Michigan State in 2000 has the league won it all – and if the Badgers can't do it, no Big Ten team can. Michigan and Michigan State figure to take a step back this year. Ohio State has talent but lost its best players from last year. Indiana took a big step back last year and doesn't yet appear ready to leap forward. Neither is anyone else. Badgers or bust.

11. Can Arizona break through? The Wildcats have returned to prominence, winning 113 games the last four years. What they haven't done is return to the Final Four – a place they visited four times between 1988-2001 under Lute Olson, winning the national title in '97. Last year's 33-5 team seemed primed to get there, and then forward Brandon Ashley broke his foot and missed the last two months of the season. Even without him, Arizona came within a basket of getting to the Final Four before losing to Wisconsin. Expectations are high again this season – and even more than Wisconsin in the Big Ten, Arizona is carrying the banner for an entire conference.

12. The proliferation of Sunday night basketball games – good thing or bad thing? This Sunday there will be 14 games starting at 6 p.m. ET or later. That will continue all season – especially when the NFL slate is over – as networks proliferate and fill a vacuum in the programming schedule. Fox, the Big Ten Network, the Pac-12 Network, CBS Sports Network, ESPNU – they're all jumping on the Sunday night bandwagon. That's great for fans who want to watch more college hoops, but good luck to the visiting teams getting their players to class Monday morning. It's one more encroachment on the academic calendar in a sport that taxes its athletes more than any in terms of missed class time.

13. Is there another Wichita State out there? Does Gonzaga count? Last year the Shockers captivated the nation with their undefeated run into the NCAA tournament, and divided the nation in debate over their No. 1 seed. If there is another program from outside the power-five conferences capable of such a thing, Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference looks like it. But even if the Zags live up to high expectations, their history of NCAA flameouts will have a lot of doubters waiting to be proven wrong come Big Dance time.

14. How instant can Bruce Pearl's impact be in the SEC?

The shameless showman will certainly spice up the proceedings immediately, and Auburn figures to be improved over the moribund Tony Barbee Era. The football-obsessed league has been Kentucky, Florida and a bunch of blah for several years, and that will change now. At the very least, a resumption of the Pearl-Calipari testosterone duel should be enjoyable.

15. Will it be weird watching someone not named Aaron Craft play point at Ohio State? Maybe at first, but not for long. Craft was a four-year starter in an era where there aren't nearly as many four-year players – much less four-year starters. And he had the ball in his hands all the time. Now he's gone, but the Buckeyes have a couple of quality backcourt options in veteran Shannon Scott and touted freshman D'Angelo Russell. The big loss will be for opposing Big Ten fans who loved to heckle the rosy-cheeked, high-energy Craft.

16. Which embattled coach is most embattled? Oliver Purnell's persistent employment with an abysmal record at DePaul is fascinating – and has to end sometime. Alabama is a football school, but Anthony Grant cannot afford a second straight losing season – especially with just one NCAA bid and zero NCAA wins in his first five years. An NCAA bid helped Travis Ford survive last year at Oklahoma State, but this team will be hard-pressed to get back to the Dance. Mark Turgeon of Maryland and Brian Gregory of Georgia Tech are in their fourth seasons at schools that expect to make the tourney – and haven't with their current coaches. Steve Lavin, you're on the clock as well.

17. Can Ben Howland get a job? This past offseason was a reality check for the former UCLA boss, who was not in near the demand he might have anticipated. There were enough concerns over his tenure in Westwood that even a guy with three straight Final Four appearances from 2006-08 was not a terribly hot commodity. Someone probably will hire him in 2015 – but it probably won't be at the high end of the game.

18. Will there ever be a solid third team from the SEC? They can have five good football teams in one division, is it too much to ask to find a running mate for Kentucky and Florida? If LSU, Arkansas don't step up into the top 25, it's not happening again this year. Nobody else need apply.

19. Who is the out-of-nowhere Player of the Year candidate to challenge Frank the Tank Kaminsky and Jahlil Okafor?

Figuring the Kentucky players will statistically be almost indistinguishable from one another, look west down Interstate 64 to Montrezl Harrell at Louisville. He likely would have been a top-20 pick last June but came back to polish his game, with positive early reviews of increased range and offensive skill. And let's face it, there will be plenty of extra shots available at Louisville with the departure of Russ Smith.

20. Can the Big East gain a toehold among the elite leagues? Villanova should give the conference one power team, a top-10 presence capable of making the Final Four. After that it gets iffy. Georgetown is hoping perpetual heartbreaker Josh Smith finally gets committed and plays a full, productive season – if that happens the Hoyas could have a strong year, though they'd still have to prove they can avoid an early NCAA flameout.

21. Can anyone beat Kansas in the Big 12? The historical answer is no, and that remains the smart answer now. Iowa State has the best shot, but would appear to be at a major interior disadvantage. Texas should return to high-end competitiveness, but dethroning the Jayhawks is asking too much. Oklahoma is good, but not that good. Ditto Kansas State. Tell Kansas to keep the scissors sharp for the inevitable net cutting.

22. How much Alford is too much Alford? UCLA has head coach Steve, sophomore guard Bryce and junior guard Kory. Bryce averaged eight points per game last year and will have an opportunity for a bigger role, while Kory is a limited-role walk-on reserve. Can Steve's dad, Sam, be far behind? He was an assistant to Steve at Iowa, after being Steve's coach in high school. The Bruins may not win the Pac-12, but they're likely to lead the league in nepotism.

23. How many games does it take Mike Krzyzewski to reach 1,000 wins? The Duke coach is 17 short now. Looking at the schedule, circle Jan. 28 at Notre Dame as a distinct possibility. That would factor in losses at Wisconsin Dec. 3 and Louisville Jan. 17. Taking on his most successful former assistant coach, Mike Brey, would make an interesting sidebar on a momentous occasion.

24. Which coach is the most likely to go Boeheim Nuclear this season? You remember the Syracuse coach charging the court, nearly tearing off his suit coat and being bum-rushed out of Cameron Indoor Stadium last year, right? That was the most memorable coaching tantrum of 2013-14. This year, early Vegas odds favor Wichita State's Gregg Marshall to go off during a road upset in the Missouri Valley Conference. It's been so long since he's lost a league game, he won't know how to handle it.

25. Can we book Indianapolis institution St. Elmo for Final Four weekend now? The shrimp cocktail is calling.

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