| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|
| 1 |   Kansas | Right mix of youth and experience. Self excels with a dominant big. |
| 2 |  Purdue | They'll probably chew through the regular season and should hit the ground running. Computers love 'em. |
| 3 |  Duke | They need at least one of the freshmen to really hit but they have the core group who played well down the stretch. |
| 4 |  Tennessee | Should be a buzzsaw of a defense once again. No one will want to go to Knoxville. |
| 5 |  UConn | Danny has gotten more comfortable each year. Those are some killer personnel losses but I still like the roster. |
| 6 |  Creighton | Well-balanced line-up. Should cruise through the regular season. |
| 7 |  Marquette | I like the return to small-ball Shaka. Might feel like a better version of his VCU teams. |
| 8 |  Michigan State | They should be better than last year, but this is still a big jump. Probably better in Feb than Nov. |
| 9 |  Houston | Love the Cryer pick-up. Sampson has made this program reliable. |
| 10 |  Florida Atlantic | I think they were better than their seed, so I feel better about this than other surprise FF runs. |
| 11 |  Arizona | They've become reliably hard to guard for most teams. They need "Good Love" way more often than UNC got. |
| 12 |  Kentucky | I'm not overreacting to the Europe trip (I probably am) |
| 13 |  Arkansas | Another massive roster haul. Lots of options for Muss. |
| 14 |  Texas | On-paper is pretty awesome. If they keep the spirit of the post-Beard team could be way better than this. |
| 15 |  North Carolina | I think both parties from the UNC-Love divorce will walk away happy. |
| 16 |  Texas A&M | Strong, veteran, team. But do they have another gear? I'm not sure. |
| 17 |  Gonzaga | Nembhard is a great add, will need to adjust to the post-Timme era but it could be productive. |
| 18 |  Miami (FL) | A killer top 3 players with Pack, Omier and Poplar... I do wonder if they have the depth to grind out a full season though. |
| 19 |  Saint Mary's | Pretty much rinse and repeat from last year's tough team |
| 20 |  Baylor | Still think they are sneaky talented but haven't seen a lot of people talking about them. |
| 21 |  San Diego State | Some big holes to fill but they'll still be top 35 the whole season |
| 22 |  Alabama | Giving Oats the benefit of the doubt here even though they had a lot of turnover. |
| 23 |  Maryland | Kinda overlooked? I think they have all the pieces you would want. |
| 24 |  UCLA | In Cronin we trust. |
| 25 |  Virginia | Slowwwwwly talking myself into them after a pessimistic off-season. |
