2022-23 men’s college basketball predictions: D-I sleepers

Every 2022-23 men’s college basketball preseason list coming out right now will be naming superlatives. In fact, we did the same thing, with our picks for the top coaches and players across every Division I conference.

We’re going to choose something a little different for this next edition: the come-from-behind team that will surprise in each league this season, better known as the sleeper team.

The criteria for a “sleeper” team is usually too broad. Just because a team isn’t the favorite to win a conference doesn’t make it a sleeper. Can’t be that easy.

A real sleeper has to start in a place that makes its eventual rise — on paper, at least — improbable.

That’s why we made a few rules for our list of the sleeper teams of all 32 conferences in America:

• Any team picked to finish top three in its league’s preseason poll is disqualified.

• Any team that received a first-place vote (yeah, we know that’s not necessarily fair) is also disqualified.

• The selected team has to have something — a strong track record, a star or two, reliable coaching, impressive newcomers — to justify its sleeper status.

Here are our picks. Find other preseason coverage here.

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American Athletic Conference

Temple Owls
League poll predicted finish: fifth

Khalif Battle averaged 21.4 PPG through seven games before a 2021-22 season-ending foot injury. But he’s back and healthy. That bodes well for Temple’s shot at shocking the field in the AAC race.

America East Conference

Binghamton Bearcats
League poll predicted finish: fourth

Preseason all-conference selection Jacob Falko leads a squad that finished fourth in defensive efficiency in America East action in a 2021-22 campaign that included four losses in league play by four points or fewer.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
League poll predicted finish: sixth

Yes, Mike Brey has lost significant production from last season’s squad — see: the departures of Blake Wesley and Paul Atkinson Jr. But Dane Goodwin (13.6 PPG, 46% from beyond the arc), five-star recruit J.J. Starling and Co. will attempt to help the head coach capture his 17th 20-win season since he arrived at Notre Dame in 2000.

ASUN Conference

North Florida Ospreys
League poll predicted finish: seventh

COVID-19 disrupted the Ospreys’ 2021-22 campaign. But Jose Placer (14.7 PPG) and Carter Hendricksen (12.2 PPG) are back for a squad that showed some promise with a 7-4 finish in its last 11 games.

Atlantic 10 Conference

Davidson Wildcats
League poll predicted finish: sixth

A new McKillop — Matt, son of former coach Bob McKillop — is running things at Davidson, which will count on Foster Loyer (16.1 PPG, 44% from the 3-point line) and a handful of…