corndogshuffle's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga | Returns 6 of the top 8 scorers from a team that was the #1 overall seed last year. |
| 2 | Kentucky | Tschiebwe/Wheeler plus a top five recruiting class. Cal’s best teams have always combined freshmen talent with experience. |
| 3 | North Carolina | Bring back just about everyone from a team that almost won it all. |
| 4 | Kansas | I do not intend on betting against Bill Self. |
| 5 | Houston | I like their blend of talented freshmen and experience. They’ve been red hot in recent years. |
| 6 | Baylor | Another solid blend of talented freshmen and vets. Coach Drew has Baylor on a roll. |
| 7 | Tennessee | They also return a lot from a really good team and add freshmen Star power. |
| 8 | Indiana | IU looks to be trending in the right direction. Another team that adds five star talent to a strong returning core. |
| 9 | Duke | Would probably be higher if I had ever seen Jon Scheyer as a head coach. |
| 10 | UCLA | NBA freshmen + returning studs. Noticing a trend? |
| 11 | TCU | Return the top six players from a Round of 32 team. |
| 12 | Auburn | Another team that returns most of it’s core and adds a strong recruiting class. |
| 13 | Creighton | Look like the clear favorite to win the Big East. |
| 14 | Texas | Brought in a strong recruiting class to help out Allen and Carr. |
| 15 | Arizona | Coach Lloyd brought in a nice blend of transfers and high school talent and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re better than this. |
| 16 | Arkansas | Arkansas lost a ton but I think Coach Musselman is up to the task. |
| 17 | Virginia | Brings back everyone from a 21 win team. |
| 18 | Texas A&M | Nearly won the NIT and returns just about everyone. I think very highly of Coach Williams. |
| 19 | Villanova | Returns a really solid core. How good is Coach Neptune? |
| 20 | Oregon | Strong incoming talent and a solid returning core. |
| 21 | San Diego State | The MWC favorites return a lot from an NCAAT team. |
| 22 | Dayton | Look like the A10 favorites. Return the majority of scoring from a team that almost went dancing. |
| 23 | Alabama | Two 5 star recruits and good returning players. |
| 24 | UConn | Coach Hurley worked the transfer portal well and should have a top 25 team. |
| 25 | Wyoming | Nearly put Texas Tech here, but I wanted to shout out to one more mid major. |
Overall Rationale
A trend that should be fairly obvious - in the pre-season, I love teams that added talented freshmen to a strong returning core of players. Especially if that returning core experienced any measure of success last season. Next five: Texas Tech, Illinois, Xavier, Michigan, Saint Louis