College hoops is right around the corner, meaning it's time to build a portfolio of futures with time ticking toward March Madness.
While midseason futures center around buying teams on a dip, preseason futures are all about identifying continuity in players and coaching.
Entering the 2022-23 season, there may be no better case for that than the TCU basketball program.
TCU Betting Odds to Win NCAA Championship: 40/1
Head coach Jamie Dixon enters his 20th season with all five starters returning from a team that nearly pulled off the biggest upset of the 2022 NCAA tournament — vs. Arizona in the Round of 32.
Dixon has made the NCAA tournament 12 times in his career, but may have his best returning class yet.
Junior Mike Miles, who has a career path heading toward the NBA, played more possessions than any player on the roster and was the leading scorer for the Horned Frogs last season. After declaring for the NBA draft, the guard elected to return to Fort Worth to fortify the starting five.
Joining Miles in the backcourt is senior Damion Baugh, who owns one of the best assist rates in the nation.
10 scholarship players return to assist in another run through the Big 12 Conference for TCU.
Dixon was also able to bring in Rondel Walker from Oklahoma State, a former AAU teammate of Miles.
TCU gets an entire roster back that ranked 15th in adjusted defensive efficiency, harassing opponents at the 3-point line while ranking as the best offensive rebounding team in the nation.
Per ShotQuality, the Frogs were an elite defense against screens and in half-court sets. The highest offensive play that can be made is at the hoop, and TCU ranked ninth nationally in frequency of finishing at the rim.
A date with Providence in the Big 12-Big East battle from Schollmaier Arena is one of the few challenges the Horned Frogs will face before conference play begins.
Preseason futures have been hammered on TCU since Miles' announcement to return, but those numbers will continue to take money with a schedule conducive to racking up plenty of November and December wins.
The Frogs are already a projected Sweet 16 team, giving this number plenty of value in the futures market.
