It's never too early to project the conference player of the year races in men's college basketball. Every league features a collection of strong candidates. What do most of them lack? Consistency.
Between all the changes wrought by graduation and the chaos created by the transfer portal this offseason, not to mention major coaching changes and conference realignment, only two reigning conference players of the year have returned to the same teams and leagues they played for a season ago: North Carolina's RJ Davis (ACC), and Grand Canyon's Tyon Grant-Foster (WAC).
That's what makes this 2024-25 season so fascinating.