undecided_mask's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | Great talent combined with the best coach in college basketball. |
| 2 | Purdue | Returning NPOY and young players gained more experience. |
| 3 | Duke | Kyle Filipowski returns to lead a stacked roster. |
| 4 | Houston | Very quality returning pieces with a defensive scheme that gives teams fits. |
| 5 | Florida Atlantic | Returning roster that won a lot of games and went deep in the tournament. |
| 6 | Marquette | Good recruiting, Smart has his system in place for a great team. |
| 7 | Alabama | Very good recruiting with an excellent coach. Is being overlooked due to the Brandon Miller situation being handled poorly. |
| 8 | Gonzaga | Mark Few with some great classes and transfers. |
| 9 | Creighton | Good returning talent and transfers. |
| 10 | Arkansas | Amazing transfer ranking and recruiting. |
| 11 | Miami (FL) | Returning Nijel Pack is huge. |
| 12 | UConn | National Champions, but lost too many important pieces to be ranked very high. |
| 13 | Arizona | Good roster that suffered an early exit. Are being overlooked. |
| 14 | Tennessee | Good recruiting and Rick Barnes knows how to get the most of it. |
| 15 | Baylor | Extremely good recruiting class with an excellent coach. |
| 16 | Saint Mary's | Three returning starters off a good squad last year. |
| 17 | Texas A&M | Buzz is a great coach who has a squad ready to compete for an SEC title. |
| 18 | Kentucky | #1 recruiting class will get you rewarded with a spot in the top 25. |
| 19 | Michigan State | Great recruiting class and returning talent, but a 21-13 record will hold them back for the preseason poll. Don't worry, they have plenty of opportunity to climb high fast. |
| 20 | San Diego State | A final four appearance means you deserve to be ranked, but losing 3 starters will hurt. |
| 21 | Texas | Good talent, great transfers. Want to see from R.T. with a full offseason first. |
| 22 | Illinois | Brad Underwood is a great coach and can lead this team to a respectable finish. |
| 23 | North Carolina | This team will benefit from the lack of pressure and is set to finish in the ACC's top 4. |
| 24 | UCLA | Cronin is an excellent coach with excellent talent to work with. |
| 25 | Maryland | Being heavily overlooked, but a 22-13 record your first season at a school is a great sign of things to come. |
Overall Rationale
I tried to rank based on where I felt teams deserved to be ranked. As games are played, contenders and pretenders will appear quickly, and adjustments can be made then. The previous season's success is important, I valued coach reputation (and prior regular season success), recruiting rankings and how I think a team can play significantly for a preseason poll.