In last year's Opus, The Bilastrator told you that UConn's Shabazz Napier was the No. 1 clutch player The Bilastrator would want to take the last shot, that Mercer and Harvard were mid-majors to watch out for, that Stanford's Josh Huestis was an undervalued star and great defender and that Creighton's Doug McDermott was the real deal and would win the Wooden Award. You're welcome. I've said before: to have a guide like The Bilastrator's Opus is to have a DeLorean and a Flux Capacitor and the ability to visit the future and secure a sports almanac, then race to the past and bring Las Vegas to its knees.
There are few certainties in life and too few things the populace can truly trust. The Opus is one. It is the comprehensive journey through the future happenings in college hoops, a glimpse so exact the selection committee could meet today and call it a season.
What's here?
• National title and Final Four favorites.
• The Bilastrator's top tweets, college courses and coaches to hang with when Bill Raftery is around.
• Wooden Award picks and the Jimmy Chitwood picks.
• The best hoops analysts not named The Bilastrator.
• The best shooters, defenders, big men, point guards and every other category you can fathom.
• Much, much more ...
And the Opus predictions are not offered by The Bilastrator in verse, riddles or quatrains, but in an easily understandable form that will enlighten you to the subtle nuances of the greatest game ever invented. The Bilastrator offers this heavenly initiation to college basketball, and your expedition to unambiguous basketball proficiency begins (and will be completed) in one, glorious Opus. Congratulations on your official welcome to the highest intellectual capacity of the hardwood. Let us begin...
The Bilastrator's "won't miss" national title favorites
Kentucky Wildcats: John Calipari has two six-man units that would each be ranked in the top 25 if submitted as separate teams. Coach Cal took his team to the Bahamas this summer and experimented with a straight "platoon" system. That allowed his embarrassment of riches to play fewer minutes yet be more productive in those minutes. The Wildcats can come at you in waves, press, run and attack the rim and the glass. The platoon concept is brilliant in several ways. Most notably, it takes all of the discussion off of which McDonald's All-Americans will, or should, be playing and puts it all on the system itself. Kentucky might not be the best team with players 1 through 6, but nobody can match the Cats 1 through 12.
Wisconsin Badgers: The Badgers have a ton of experience back from Bo Ryan's first Final Four team. Frank Kaminsky is among the toughest matchup challenges in the country, and Sam Dekker was outstanding this summer. Those two could form the best frontcourt tandem in the country.