SnooBooks8063's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | Most talented team. Bring back Roach and Filipowski and Proctor. Freshman have major upside as well. Deep and talented |
| 2 | Kansas | Harris most steady PG. will get ball to Dickinson all season and Mccullar coming back is huge. |
| 3 | Michigan State | Loaded backcourt and Booker addition in front court will give them different dynamic than last year |
| 4 | Purdue | Zach Edey. Freshman backcourt now sophomores, less turnover issues |
| 5 | Marquette | Jokes makes the engine go. Talented scorers around him. Shaka |
| 6 | UConn | Clingan is beast inside. Newton coming back is huge for them. Castle and Ball will need to be impactful |
| 7 | Houston | Always great defense. May have best backcourt in the country |
| 8 | Texas | Max Abmas and Tyrese Hunter will give opponents nightmares. Dillon Mitchell breakout? |
| 9 | Creighton | Ashworth steady veteran who can really shoot it. Kalkbrenner elite rim protector and interior scorer |
| 10 | Arizona | Dynamic guards, Ballo inside- doesn’t have to share anymore. |
| 11 | Florida Atlantic | Not a fluke. Balanced and talented |
| 12 | Gonzaga | Nembhard part 2 and Hickman will be dynamic backcourt. No Timme but Watson still there and opportunity for Gregg or Huff to step up |
| 13 | Kentucky | Super talented freshman guards. Wagner and Dillingham get the pub, but Reed Sheppard gives much needed shooting |
| 14 | Miami (FL) | Pack is back. Larranaga always has Miami near top of ACC |
| 15 | North Carolina | Bring back Bacot and Davis, nice transfer adds. Elliot Cadeau is true PG. addition by subtraction?? |
| 16 | Tennessee | JJJ anchored defense. Two headed PG monster. Who will be go to scorerv |
| 17 | Alabama | Estrada and Nelson huge pickups. This team will score in bunches |
| 18 | Providence | Hopkins returns along with Devin Carter. Freshman Duel is supposed to be really good. |
| 19 | Illinois | TJ Shannon and Coleman Hawkins are top tier duo. Depth with Dainja and freshmen Hansberry and Lawhorn |
| 20 | Villanova | Justin Moore healthy and adding Bamba and Hart. Return Dixon as well. A lot of talent here for Neptune |
| 21 | UCLA | Mick Cronin can coach. Lose a lot but international recruits will have big impact, esp Aday Mara and Jan Vide |
| 22 | Maryland | Bring back Young, Scott and Reese. Freshmen Deshawn Harris-Smith and Jamie Keiser will bring explosiveness to offense |
| 23 | Texas A&M | Wade Taylor one of best guards in the country. Experienced team that will defend |
| 24 | Saint Mary's | Aidan Mahaney breakout. Lose Logan Johnson but defense will always be good for Bennett and Mahaney will run the show. |
| 25 | St. John's | Slick Rick. A lot of talented transfers. If it all clicks they will be better than #25 |
Overall Rationale
I look for guards first and foremost and also having good depth matters to me. With the top teams I want to be blown away by the top end talent (Zach Edey, Kyle Filipowski, Tyler Kolek) and how loaded a team is in their top 8.