Flat-Astronomer287's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | Florida is returning a very strong and proven lineup, Aberdeen is a strong addition to the 1 seed from last year. |
| 2 | Duke | I'm very high on Blackwell as a transfer to bolster Duke's rotation. The only thing keeping them from #1 is a lack of a superstar. |
| 3 | UConn | Am I giving them too much credit for an impressive exhibition win? Maybe, but Dan Hurley has another national championship caliber squad. |
| 4 | Arizona | Caleb Holt has the potential to be a massive star for Arizona. This ranking would be even higher if RJ Godfrey wasn't stuck in eligibility limbo. |
| 5 | Illinois | I'm slightly low on Illinois, mostly because the losses of Wagler and Boswell will hurt their defense. Still, they have a loaded, (and eastern european) team. |
| 6 | Texas | After a "cinderella" run last year the longhorns are retooled and significantly more talented, I expect a deeper run than last year. |
| 7 | Tennessee | Rick Barnes has an all transfer lineup that seems very strong on paper, I think the vols are going to have an explosive offense. |
| 8 | Louisville | Another all transfer lineup, this time for Louisville, I'm very optimistic about the pairing of Shelstad and Bidunga. |
| 9 | Michigan State | Fears Jr. is my player of the year pick for 26-27, but the frontcourt of Ward and Bonke is questionable against strong competition. |
| 10 | St. John's | Tounde Yessoufou is the reason I have this team top 10, he will be the Johnnies' star, and this team could be elite on offense. |
| 11 | Arkansas | Arkansas may have gotten too weird with this team, but they have a likely top 5 pick in Jordan Smith, and a good coach, so I have the razorbacks slightly higher than the norm. |
| 12 | Gonzaga | Braden Huff and Gonzaga are an easy team to get excited about, I'm high on the Lee-Wiggins backcourt pairing, as well as the overall defense. |
| 13 | Kansas | Kansas has the prospective #1 pick, high scoring transfers, and a returning star in Council, what's not to like? |
| 14 | Virginia | I have questions about UVA, mainly their shooting, and overall skill outside of Thijs De Ridder. |
| 15 | Miami (FL) | Miami seems fairly solid, Jai Lucas's second season will see him with a stronger roster than last year. |
| 16 | Iowa State | Despite Toue's injury and roster turnover, the coaching of Otzelberger and the skill of Lipsey give me confidence in this team. |
| 17 | Houston | I'm...not high on Houston, the low NIL budget can be seen in this roster, they are going to be heavily reliant on JoJo Tugler, and Thomas Jr. is their only real scorer. |
| 18 | Texas Tech | I could be even higher on Tech, the talent is definitely there, but I am unsure what this mix of transfers will look like as a collective. |
| 19 | Michigan | I would have my wolverines around the top 10, but McCoy going out is very unortunate, the backcourt is strong, but this team is going to struggle a lot compared to last year. |
| 20 | Alabama | Legal issues aside, Alabama has some strengths on the roster, I just question the massive turnover, and lack of guards. |
| 21 | USC | USC is not top 20 because of the lack of great players, but I think the team will find a rhythym and KJ Lewis will be strong. |
| 22 | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt has a strange roster, but not necessarily a bad one, so based on Tanner's production and the bigs I have them ranked. |
| 23 | Missouri | Not sure how Mizzou missed the AP Poll, they have a strong group of freshmen and a star in Bryson Tiller. |
| 24 | Kentucky | This will be a fun team, with all the talent I had to rank them top 25. |
| 25 | Nebraska | The basketball monkey is off the cornhuskers back in terms of winning a tournament game. They will shoot the ball well. |
Overall Rationale
Preseason rankings are tricky because I ended up basing a lot of things around how strong I thought the lineups would be. So most of my non-consensus picks (Houston low, St. John's high) were based around perceived talent gaps. I couldn't get there with BYU and UCLA for those reasons, and I also considered Purdue and Saint Louis for the last few spots. Expect these rankings to change pretty quickly once we start getting to the games.