RetMaestro's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | a top 5 recruiting class with thr addition of the nation's best transfer Hunter Dickenson, KU will be easy to hate again but should be favorites to win the title baring injuries. |
| 2 | UConn | Won a natty, lost a lot of talent, brought a lot of talent in. Feels more reload than rebuild so expecting them to win the Big East or at least be top 2. |
| 3 | Duke | another year, another stupidly talented recruiting class |
| 4 | Houston | I'm pretty dour on teams joining new conferences but Houston has been nothing short of dominant of late and With Cryer joining via transfer im more optomistic than I normally would be |
| 5 | Marquette | Only notable loss is Prosper and adds some decent depth, only question for me is "will Shaka Smart come backdown to earth or will he maintain his shock success?" |
| 6 | Purdue | Edey is hear another year and that alone means they'll be able to cause a ruckus. Hopefully the shooting improves around him otherwise Painter and Co are looking at another laughable tournament exit |
| 7 | Creighton | Creighton hasnt lost much and added a couple of good transfers that should have immediate impact while adding some depth through recruiting. |
| 8 | Gonzaga | |
| 9 | Arizona | |
| 10 | Michigan State | I see what Izzo is putting down and I'm not buying. Sure they'll be good but they're riding off of brand name and Izzo's past glory right now. |
| 11 | Florida Atlantic | New conference but half of the new AAC is CUSA anyway, notably managed to keep the core of the final four team together so hopefully the run wasn't some fluke and FAU builds off their great end |
| 12 | San Diego State | Losing Kashed Johnson to the portal will hurt a lot. Ideally SDSU wont miss a beat with Dutcher running a tight ship with a lot of buy in yet i suspect they'll fall off sadly. |
| 13 | Miami (FL) | Miami had moments of brilliance last season but also had moments of complete collapse (FSU game). Their recruiting wasnt anything special but they did manage to steal FSU's best player |
| 14 | Kentucky | |
| 15 | Tennessee | |
| 16 | Baylor | |
| 17 | USC | |
| 18 | Alabama | |
| 19 | Texas | Last season was awkward for sure but they managed to rally behind interim Rodney Terry. The transfers of Shedrick and Abmas should allow Texas to win on talent compared to most of their peers. |
| 20 | Xavier | |
| 21 | Arkansas | |
| 22 | Wisconsin | |
| 23 | Saint Mary's | |
| 24 | Maryland | |
| 25 | UCLA |
Overall Rationale
god willing im wrong and Duke sucks. Basically I looked at incoming/outgoing transfers in conjunction with returning production. and recruiting with the almighty VIBES for some. Tell me Xavier with Miller doesnt have a vibe of a top 25 team.