runamokduck's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | Florida and Duke are 1a and 1b, in my mind; I value Florida's incredible retention more, but both should be crazy good |
| 2 | Duke | see above. I do think Duke has slightly higher upside than Florida, to their credit, due to their younger roster |
| 3 | Arizona | I think this team will largely be a redux of last year for Arizona: play fast, dominate the interior, and don't worry as much about the perimeter. it sure worked well before! |
| 4 | Illinois | Illinois's offense will probably be absurdly good once more this year. they are also remarkably tall at essentially every position |
| 5 | Houston | Dedan Thomas was a superb transfer portal acquisition. him + Sampson's always exemplary defense + some crazy rebounders = another really good team |
| 6 | Virginia | Ryan Odom is that guy. Virginia's retention with Mallory, De Ridder, Grunloh, and Lewis is sneakily excellent, and they should be even better than last year |
| 7 | UConn | Najai Hines in Dan Hurley's system kind of terrifies me. Machowski could be the next great UConn shooter, and Demary should be an All-American |
| 8 | Louisville | this roster is absurdly talented and deep. I'm a bit worried about too many cooks being in the kitchen, and I'd like to see Kelsey prove himself this year for me to really buy in |
| 9 | Michigan State | good lord, Jeremy Fears is absurdly good. so is Tom Izzo, shockingly (/s). Sparty should be superb once more, as you expect |
| 10 | Iowa State | Otzelberger is brilliant, and thus so is Iowa State much of the time, but the status of Lipsey is critical for this team and both its ceiling and floor |
| 11 | Miami (FL) | I'm going all-in on Jai Lucas. this is quite the well-balanced roster, and I think Acaden Lewis will be a huge transfer portal get for the Hurricanes |
| 12 | Gonzaga | this feels lower than I anticipated I would slot Gonzaga. Braden Huff is marvelous, and I think Xaivian Lee will bounce back in a big way, but I'm not quite as impressed at the moment |
| 13 | Nebraska | I bet this is probably higher than consensus for Nebraska. I *love* the shooting here, and I think Hoiberg has figured it out in Lincoln |
| 14 | Texas | talk about a dominant frontcourt! Vokietaitas and Punch are as good as it gets on a roster that is already loaded as it is |
| 15 | Michigan | I like Mike Boynton well enough, but he is clearly not Dusty May. that being said: this roster is still really good, and the defense should remain superb |
| 16 | Alabama | so long as he remains on his best behavior, Aden Holloway should absolutely thrive this year. Nate Oats added some frontcourt size to this roster, which I think will work wonders for them |
| 17 | St. John's | I'm actually a little bit skeptical of this roster, to be honest. the talent is absolutely there, but this feels a very volatile mix to me. I trust Pitino, though, as you should |
| 18 | Vanderbilt | this is absolutely Tyler Tanner's team, but the more I looked into it, the more I liked Vandy's transfer gets. Dak and Buyuktuncel, in particular, should be pivotal in the frontcourt |
| 19 | Arkansas | I really would be more inclined to rank Arkansas higher if I liked their frontcourt more. that being said... their guards and wings are tremendous, and their high-tempo offense should shine again |
| 20 | Texas Tech | if I knew for certain that all or most of Texas Tech's roster would be immediately available, they would easily be in the top ten, at least. there's too much uncertainty for me right now |
| 21 | Kentucky | all things considered, I think Mark Pope did a bang-up job in this offseason prior. Momcilovic is magnificent, and I am also a big Alex Wilkins believer |
| 22 | Kansas | Trey Kaufman-Renn, please get a job. I also don't really know about the lasting eligibility of Council or White. I'd like to see the energy around Kansas as a program return this season |
| 23 | UCLA | Mick Cronin has assembled a pretty solid roster, with Perry and Petty (which sounds like the name of a law firm) likely to be especially good |
| 24 | BYU | it's a little bit tough for me to get a good read on Kevin Young. he's not a bad coach by any means, but I have been a bit whelmed by him. anyways: Robert Wright III is a star |
| 25 | Purdue | this is a vote for Matt Painter more than for the roster, admittedly. I trust him to elevate this group into a top-25ish team |
Overall Rationale
ALSO CONSIDERED: Tennessee; USC; and Villanova. I normally try not to lose my mind and overreact to preseason results, but, well... it's difficult *not* to react to what we have seen from the Volunteers thus far. I think Tennessee will ultimately be alright, but Rick Barnes may suffer some migraines in the process of getting there. I really wanted to rank Villanova, though, and they are right on the cusp of this list. Making sure I had eligibility (relatively) straight when evaluating these rosters was perhaps the most challenging part of this. I do think this will be a season of decent parity at the top of the sport; while Florida and Duke are the clear two best teams to me and the top ten is relatively distinct in quality from the rest of the rankings, everyone else feels decently close together to me in terms of how good I believe they will be. In this time of uncertainty and legal chaos in the sport, though, we'll see what happens!