| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|
| 1 |   UConn | I know they lost a lot, but a 2 time defending champ with the best coach in the country has earned themselves this relatively meaningless honor. |
| 2 |  Kansas | I think Kansas probably has the hype and will be preseason #1. Definitely have the talent, and Bill Self is still Bill Self |
| 3 |  Alabama | Maybe Bama is allowed to be good in basketball if the football team falls off |
| 4 |  Iowa State | Is this too high? Return a lot of production, the best pure point guard in Lipsey, and a suffocating defense |
| 5 |  Houston | LJ Cryer is my too early PoTY pick. Perhaps this team doesn't score enough for that to happen. |
| 6 |  North Carolina | |
| 7 |  Duke | I'm looking at this again. 7th? with Cooper Flagg? It's a lot of roster turnaround, but if the talent gels, watch out |
| 8 |  Baylor | Great transfer class |
| 9 |  Arizona | Welcome to the Big12. Hopefully some more regular season challenge = better March results |
| 10 |  Gonzaga | hm. is this team flying under the radar a little? good roster retention, Gonzaga roll until March again |
| 11 |  Creighton | I'm pretty high on Kalkbrenner. Should be a solid team |
| 12 |  Auburn | |
| 13 |  Purdue | |
| 14 |  Texas A&M | |
| 15 |  Tennessee | |
| 16 |  Marquette | |
| 17 |  Rutgers | I'm buying the hype. go rutger |
| 18 |  Arkansas | |
| 19 |  UCLA | |
| 20 |  Kentucky | |
| 21 |  Indiana | |
| 22 |  Texas | |
| 23 |  Xavier | |
| 24 |  Texas Tech | |
| 25 |  Cincinnati | |
