phatLhoops's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | Nate Oats is the 2nd best coach in college basketball, and almost every other year has put together a national title contender. Returning Mark Sears, 4 top 50 freshman, and quality transfers. |
| 2 | Duke | Cooper Flagg, Duke with one of the best NBA prospects is a recipe that is typically set for success. |
| 3 | Miami (FL) | Jim L. is an underrated coach. Jalil Bethea will push this teams ceiling, with a roster retooled with quality transfers. |
| 4 | North Carolina | UNC returns a NPOY candidate in RJ Davis, with 2 top 15 freshmen. This talent should allow UNC to be competitive at the highest levels. |
| 5 | Illinois | Brad Underwood is a coach who could win a national title. Combine that with 2 top 30 freshmen, and an experience roster I see Illinois rebuilding into a team with the discipline and size needed. |
| 6 | UConn | Dan Hurley and his assistants are on fire. They restock with talent Aidan Mahaney and Liam McNeeley, talent that should be molded into a high performing team. |
| 7 | Kansas | Bill Self reloads a roster that desperately needed depth with multiple high quality transfers who will hep serve as depth, or strengthen the starting line up. |
| 8 | Baylor | Scott Drew got revitalized NIL support this off season, bringing in Norchad and Jeremy Roach. Pair them with a rockstar in VJ Edgecombe and this team is more talented than the 2021 team. |
| 9 | Texas | Texas has several experienced D1 players like Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark. Pair that with Tre Johnson and I think Texas can compete to win the SEC. |
| 10 | Gonzaga | Mark Few resets a roster with many growing pains last year for the chance to try return to form for a whole season. |
| 11 | Arizona | Tommy Lloyd will look to push for conference titles. Caleb Love teaming up with Trey Townsend gives him 2 of the best players in the Big XII to try and win. |
| 12 | Kansas State | Jerome Tang looks to spin the wheel on finding star transfers and I think he's come up lucky. Achor Achor and Dug McDaniel could return the magic from 2 seasons ago. |
| 13 | TCU | Jamie Dixon reloads with a brand new roster featuring 3 15+ ppg scorers. This much talent in the Big XII can click for wins. |
| 14 | Arizona State | This is a brand new roster to support an underrated coach. Proven scorers like BJ Freeman and Basheer Jihad plus Jayden Quaintance gives this team enough talent win in the Big XII. |
| 15 | Tennessee | Rick Barnes has built Tennessee into a defensive juggernaught. Bringing in Chaz Lanier won't be a 1-1 solution but it should allow them to continue to succeed at the highest level. |
| 16 | Auburn | Bruce Pearl gets another season to work with Johni Broome. Broome has been comfortably dominating in the SEC, and with additional talent in JP Pegues Auburn should be an SEC contender. |
| 17 | Arkansas | Calipari brings in NBA caliber freshmen, and had a budget to afford one of the best transfer classes in the sport. This quality of coaching and player should result in wins. |
| 18 | Kentucky | Mark Pope gets one of the best transfer classes in the sport, including many of his own former players. Popes ability to win at BYU in the Big XII inspires confidence that he can build a team at UK. |
| 19 | Creighton | Greg McDermott is the second best coach in the Big East. Returning a stud like Ryan Kalkbrenner allows them to dominate in the paint, and pull defends off of guards. |
| 20 | Xavier | Xavier resets after a season plagued by injury last year. Zach Freemantle has the potential to be Big East Player of the year and shine for Xavier. |
| 21 | St. John's | Rick Pitino looks to reset after a rocky year 1. With a better defined roster and a star in Kadary Richmond, Rick shouldn't hate this team. |
| 22 | NC State | Kevin keatts returns much of the connective tissue on a Cinderella team. If any of the transfers or freshmen can shine, this team can return to that march level of play. |
| 23 | Purdue | Purdue resets much of its roster, but Matt Painter is still one of the best developmental coaches in basketball. A slew of true freshmen provide backup to help Purdue win. |
| 24 | UCLA | Mick Cronin resets his young roster and brings in new pieces to support a blossoming team. |
| 25 | Rutgers | Steve Pikiell brings in 2 NBA lottery picks. While his roster has a slew of new players, his defense system should translate into a dangerous team. |
Overall Rationale
I look at the quality of coaching in previous seasons, the top 5 returning D1 scorers for each roster, and any new D1 players coming to each roster. I think these 3 components show if a team has starting talent, has supportive bench talent, and are well organized for winning on both ends.