DCProf's Week Pre-Season Ballot

RankTeamReason
1 Alabama Deepest and most talented roster in county in my mind
2 Houston Brings back everyone besides Shead. Analytics Darling
3Kansas Nice infusion of transfers/frosh to compliment Dickenson & Harris
4 UConn Gotta give them respect as back to back champs
5 Iowa State Great defense and most nice offensive players too
6Duke Bit of leap of faith in freshmen class
7 Auburn Love Brohme and Baker-Mazara. Nice role players.
8 Baylor Well coached, nice blend of transfers, returning core, stud frosh
9Gonzaga Class of WCC and experienced
10Purdue Even without Edey probably the class of the Big 10
11 St. John's I like Pitino's new roster. Stud backcourt
12 Texas A&M Brings back a lot and Wade Taylor is legit
13Arizona Love can be hit or miss. A bit lower than consensus without Ballo
14 Arkansas As usual Cal has a very talented roster, how quickly can they blend together?
15North Carolina Not as high on this roster without Bacot as most are.
16 Marquette Bring back most of team but losing Kolak is a big loss
17 Tennessee Mostly new roster, faith in Barnes to rank top 20.
18 Wake Forest Sallis is a stud, Forbes good coach.
19 Indiana Benefit from addition of Ballo
20Xavier Like this roster a lot. Miller strong coach
21 Creighton Losing two players to NBA hurts a lot. Not big believer in Pop Isaacs
22 Cincinnati Strong well balanced team with good coaching
23 Texas Tech Like Toppen a lot
24 Michigan State Talented and good coaching. Might be addition by subtraction with departed players
25 Grand Canyon Best mid-major squad in my mind (not counting Gonzaga)

Overall Rationale

Others considered: Boise State, BYU, Texas, Illinois, UCLA, Rutgers, Kentucky, Ole Miss.