BlueGreenMikey's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | Return a lot of important players from a team that underperformed at the end of the season due to Self's being away. AND did good in the portal. Will be crazy if they don't have a easy 1 seed. |
| 2 | Purdue | They still have Zach Edey. That's just about enough to keep them up here. Didn't lose much. Plus, we all saw how Virginia responded to the UMBC loss. |
| 3 | Duke | I was really impressed by the way Duke finished last year. Jon Scheyer seems to have found a groove. They lost a lot, but they also brought in a lot. I'm cautiously optimistic on Duke post-K. |
| 4 | Marquette | The first three were easy, now there are tough choices. Of the teams I have in the next 4-6 slots, I feel like Marquette lost the least from last year and had the biggest ceiling. |
| 5 | UConn | I think the elevation of Mich. St. is a bit bonkers when you consider many are keeping UConn down despite being better last year, finishing better, and retaining about the same. Much easier to buy. |
| 6 | Texas | This is probably my biggest reach, but I think they survive the loss of Carr with the addition of Abmas, who might be better. Hunter/Disu will keep improving, and they seem to trust Terry. |
| 7 | Michigan State | OK, fine, I guess I'm putting MSU high too, but those first-place votes seem insane to me. Added some nice pieces, didn't lose a ton, but this team WAS middling most of last year. |
| 8 | Tennessee | Meh, I hate this pick being here, but I can't justify putting it lower. Tennessee will be great in the regular season and terrible in the tourneys. Does that make a Top 10 team or not? For now I suppo |
| 9 | Gonzaga | This is the trust-the-program spot. They lose such an insane amount of players that it's baffling that they may be able to replace them. Nembhard will have to be MUCH better, which I think he can do. |
| 10 | Miami (FL) | They didn't lose everyone from that great Final Four run, and they added some nice pieces. Now that he has it rolling, I'm not betting against Larranaga. |
| 11 | Arizona | Kriisa was the engine, but the engine coughed up black smoke, like ALL the time. Tubelis was an invisible star. Ballo will finally get a chance to shine, as will Boswell. Don't bet against Tommy Lloyd |
| 12 | Houston | Sasser was the engine, and he was a finely oiled machine. And Walker was a beast. I just don't see them being back at the promised land, with this roster this year. Still should be good in stacked B12 |
| 13 | Florida Atlantic | This team was a beast last year in the regular season and in the tourney, and it lost nothing. They should have no more than, what, 3 losses? But they're not better than the teams above them. |
| 14 | Saint Mary's | SMC lost both Bowen and Johnson, but they were better than Gonzaga last year. They just added less back to the reload. But SMC is for real, and Randy Bennett is always a tough out. |
| 15 | Creighton | I really wanted Creighton to be fun last year, but they just were not. They kind of lucked their way to the Elite 8, and they lost their engine. I see a drop off here that others don't seem to be. |
| 16 | Baylor | Baylor probably added the most stuff to their roster in recruiting that can go right now. Walter will be insane. Yes, losing George is a blow. But Baylor was great last year in a really ridiculous con |
| 17 | USC | A big piece of this is a bet that Bronny James will play. Plus, Collier is going to be really insane and Boogie Ellis is back. Fantastic team on paper. |
| 18 | Alabama | One wonders what this team would have done without the headache. Is Miller a great player? Yes. Should you want him on your team? Never. I think they dumped the right players & brought in nice pieces |
| 19 | Arkansas | I'm never quite sure what to make of the Muss Mess. These teams always seem like train wrecks, but they perform REALLY well sometimes. I think they brought in enough to replace Black. |
| 20 | San Diego State | SDSU underperformed most of last year until the tourney, where they finally showed how good they were. They lose a lot, but they return a lot and added some good pieces. |
| 21 | Colorado | Colorado was a much better team last year than their record reflects and just got REALLY unlucky numerous times. They improved on the roster and will be a tough out for anyone. |
| 22 | St. John's | This shouldn't work. It really shouldn't. But I think it will. What Pitino did with Iona was really interesting, and he basically remade the entire SJU team in one offseason. (Could be horrible too.) |
| 23 | Maryland | I like Kevin Willard as a coach, and this team is returning all of a good core that led them to some pretty good, unexpected success last year in a tough conference. |
| 24 | Kentucky | I almost had Kentucky out, but, I dunno, dare to go against Calipari one too many times. This feels like a rebuild, but I like what they brought in (more than my out teams especially) |
| 25 | Drake | This was a team that should have done damage in the tourney, but they got a crap seed and went up against a Final 4 team. Returning Tucker DeVries means you have to bet on Drake. |
Overall Rationale
Teams out but close to the Top 25 (in some general order): Texas A&M, Illinois, Villanova, UCLA, Oregon, Iowa State, North Carolina I really dislike preseason polls, just because I think too much changes in the offseason to really know what this season will look like. I don't like guessing, as opposed to what we do the rest of the time, which is evaluate results. These early polls (not just preseason, but the first few weeks where guessing fills in incomplete resumes) are always difficult. I do some mishmash of looking at who retained their players, who made noise in the transfer portal, who was good last year, who has a good coaching staff, etc.