Key Injuries and Sidelined Players in College Basketball
RedCup Intern
Posted On October 24
How does the injury bug affect the balance of power in each conference?
Pac-12: A healthy UCLA team is the Pac-12 frontrunner, but injuries skew those chances. Shareef O’Neal’s heart condition and Alex Olesinski’s broken foot hurt their frontcourt depth, while Tyger Campbell’s ACL leaves them without a true point guard, thus moving Oregon to contender number-one.
Big-12: Silvio De Sousa is willingly sitting out due to an ongoing, pay-for-pay recruiting probe. But, Kansas ties a 14-year sovereignty over the Big-12. Nothing will change that from continuing.
SEC: Missouri’s Jontay Porter is sidelined for an ACL and MCL tear and Auburn’s Anfernee McLemore is still recovering from a gruesome, Gordon Hayward-esque ankle injury. But there’s no change here, Kentucky still crowns the conference ladder.
Big-East: Villanova is still king, and St. Johns is making a play for the throne. No injuries or eligibility concerns.
ACC: Florida State’s Phil Cofer is out with a broken foot, and Frank Howard is battling a nagging foot injury. When the dust settles, Duke is still the alpha dog, but Florida State will have hiccups without their super senior.
Big-Ten: Wisconsin returns Kobe King and D’Mitrik Trice from their 2017 injuries, which will put them in a vast contention pool.
Image Source: https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-loses-jontay-porter-to-season-ending-knee-injury/article_1dcf4317-430b-504f-b903-6120a03c9ec3.html
