The0verlord-'s Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | Best roster, great (in season) coach |
| 2 | Illinois | Huge continuity from a Final Four team. Love the new pieces |
| 3 | UConn | Hurley. Great continuity and portal reload |
| 4 | Florida | NBA frontcourt. I'm not as high on the backcourt, but the frontcourt will rebound missed 3s |
| 5 | Michigan State | Fears is a beast. Big believer in the Izzo development track |
| 6 | Kansas | #1 freshman, plus multiple 5 and 6 years added late. Self's best roster since the last Natty |
| 7 | Arizona | Reloaded really well. I believe in Loyd |
| 8 | Houston | Similar to Zona. Good roster reload. Sampson WILL make this a top 10 team |
| 9 | Tennessee | Great offensive talent. I believe in Barnes on defense |
| 10 | Arkansas | Typical Cal. Stacked roster. Interested to see how he handles Mika |
| 11 | Louisville | 30 mil roster. Looks great on paper. I'm not that high on Pat Kelsey's coaching |
| 12 | Iowa State | Lipsey and Toure killed us (Purdue) last year. Love Otz |
| 13 | Texas | Sean Miller hype train. Cooked in the portal |
| 14 | Virginia | Great continuity |
| 15 | Alabama | Oats reloaded pretty good. Not sure about a Brandon Garrison frontcourt though |
| 16 | St. John's | Would be higher without injuries. Pitino will find a way to pull it out though. He always does. |
| 17 | Nebraska | Frager and Sandfort are dogs |
| 18 | Vanderbilt | Tyler Tanner |
| 19 | Gonzaga | Zags are looking good. Worried about PG play from Lee |
| 20 | Purdue | Loved what I saw in exhibition. Basically no drop off from starters to bench |
| 21 | Michigan | Not confident about coaching. Solid roster, didn't look amazing in exhibition |
| 22 | Indiana | Lots of talent. Looked great in exhibition. DeVries has to prove it |
| 23 | Kentucky | Rough exhibition. I like the roster, kind of out on Pope for the coaching |
| 24 | UCLA | Very high on Kusturica. Cronin not so much |
| 25 | Miami (FL) | Jai Lucas impressed me in the rd of 32. Much better roster on paper this year |
Overall Rationale
Ranking is difficult without games played. I did take into account exhibitions, since that's all we have to evaluate play. Roster and coaching evaluations are inherently subjective.