The college basketball season is finally upon us! This season is poised to be one of the most exciting ever, with no real prohibitive favorites coming into the season. Among the top storylines this season include the question of how Duke and Villanova will look this season with their longtime legendary coaches (Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright, respectively) retiring, and if historic programs like Indiana, Michigan State and UCLA can get over the hump and win a national championship for the first time in decades. Gonzaga will also be looking for their first ever national championship after being so close year after year. Here’s the preseason poll favorites to win each of the 32 conferences and where our local schools were ranked as well.

America East: Vermont Catamounts

American: Houston Cougars

ACC: North Carolina Tar Heels (Pitt was 14th out of 15)

Atlantic Sun: Liberty Flames

Atlantic 10: Dayton Flyers (Duquesne was 15th out of 15)

Big East: Creighton Bluejays

Big Sky: Montana State Bobcats

Big South: Longwood Lancers

Big Ten: Indiana Hoosiers (Penn State was 11th out of 14)

Big 12: Baylor Bears (West Virginia was 9th out of 10)

Big West: UC Santa Barbara Gauchos

CAA: Towson Tigers

Conference-USA: UAB Blazers

Horizon League: Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons and Northern Kentucky Norse Tie for 1st (RMU was 8th out of 11)

Ivy League: Penn Quakers

MAAC: Iona Gaels

MAC: Kent State Golden Flashes

MEAC: Norfolk State Spartans

Missouri Valley: Drake Bulldogs

Mountain West: San Diego State Aztecs

Northeast: Merrimack Warriors (Saint Francis was 3rd out of 9)

Ohio Valley: Morehead State Eagles

Pac-12: UCLA Bruins

Patriot League: Colgate Raiders

SEC: Kentucky Wildcats

Southern: Furman Paladins

Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders

SWAC: Texas Southern Tigers

Summit: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

Sun Belt: Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns

West Coast: Gonzaga Bulldogs

WAC: Grand Canyon Antelopes

While our local universities may not be great on the court this season, it will be very exciting to see who comes out on top when early April rolls around. With that being said, here are some schools who Hampton students want to win it all this season.

Pitt: Nathan and Andrew Schivins, Alexander Paglialonga

Penn State: Garrett Gess, Emmy Schrom, Maria Nunez

Notre Dame: Kathleen Milon, Kaitlin Howe

Michigan State: Hannah Kirkpatrick

Duke: Maria Coleman

So, who do you think will win it all? Drop your responses in the comment section below.