Thickrichchicken's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | Bill Self, excellent transfer portal class, great returners. Big question, can AJ Storr play with other stars or will he be too ball dominant? |
| 2 | Alabama | Replaced lost production with pure scorer Youngblood & PG Holloway. Sears is Sears. Cliff's transition from the slower Big 10 to the SEC and uptempo Bama will be one to watch |
| 3 | Houston | Kelvin Sampson is one of the most consistent coaches in basketball. Shead is a huge loss but Uzan is a good distributor. This should be a big year for LJ Cryer |
| 4 | Duke | Freshmen Flagg, Kneuppel&Maluach all poised to make an impact. Great job surrounding them with experience (Gillis is an underrated get). Do they have the guard play to unlock the talent's potential? |
| 5 | UConn | Lost a lot but I can't count out Hurley. Not convinced Mahaney isnt just a volume scorer.Mcneeley being good fast is key. Maui will be telling. If they start slow, Hurley may put it together by March. |
| 6 | Auburn | Pegues being good at PG would be big. Has Broome hit his ceiling? maybe. Either way I'm expecting Bruce Pearl to yet again put together one of the top rated teams on both sides of the court. |
| 7 | Iowa State | TJ Otzelberger continues to surprise me, he always does more with what seems like less, I am expecting another solid showing returning his top four scorers. Is the talent deep enough to make a run? |
| 8 | Gonzaga | Losing Watson is a bigger deal than what many give credit for. Battle is a solid addition & Ajayi has a chance for a special season if he can translate when facing tougher opponents. |
| 9 | Baylor | This feels a little low for Drew's squad after adding Roach, VJ, & Norchad but the depth in the frontcourt worries me not to mention losing their top 3 scorers and best rim protector Missi to pros |
| 10 | North Carolina | Bacot and Ingram leaving has UNC w/o elite rebounding for the first time in years. Davis will do his job but who else will step up? Cadeu? Lubin? A freshman? Is Cade Tyson everything we've heard? |
| 11 | Purdue | What does life Post Edey look like?How will Braden Smith function being the focal point of the opponents gameplan? Painter seems to need an overhaul of the playstyle. He should be able to adapt though |
| 12 | Creighton | Baylor & Alexander leave but Kalkbrenner is poised to step up even more while Pop Isaacs should fit right in with this offense. |
| 13 | Indiana | Great roster on paper, but can Woodson finally put it all together? Will they have the improved guard play they need? Ballo should translate well to Big 10 play but will starting three bigs hurt them? |
| 14 | Tennessee | Tennessee returns only 2 of their top 6 scorers including Aidoo and Knecht. They will rely heavily on Ziegler, and transfers Lanier and Okpara to take up the mantle in a tough SEC. |
| 15 | Arizona | Caleb Love is a rollercoaster, Trey Townsend is anything but that. If Townsend's game is able to translate to the Big 12 they should be in a good position to battle with a highly competitive Big 12 |
| 16 | Illinois | One of the more intriguing teams in college basketball. A lot of turnover at the top adding high level transfers and highly rated overseas recruits like Kasparas. Chance to be very good or underwhelm |
| 17 | St. John's | Year 2 of the Pitino Era (need I say more?). They add a bevy of highly skilled transfers and likely will compete for the Big East title. |
| 18 | Arkansas | Cal brings over some key pieces from Kentucky, brings Aidoo from in conference Tennessee, and an elite freshman class. This is an experienced group with young pieces too. Will it translate in March? |
| 19 | Texas A&M | They return Wade Taylor and add some good pieces in Phelps and Payne. The question is whether they can get out of their own way in the first month and a half of their season. Early gelling is needed |
| 20 | Marquette | Marquette avoiding the portal may be a dangerous move considering how much their conference has benefitted. On the other hand they return an all conference player a strong supporting cast |
| 21 | Wake Forest | Losing Miller and Carr hurts but returning Sallis and Hildreth while adding solid pieces around them should put Wake in a great spot to finally return to the Tourney. |
| 22 | Kansas State | If theres one thing Jermone Tang doesn't lack, its quality portal big men with Onyenso, Achor, and Hawkins. If Dug McDaniels can make plays for others this should be a very good team |
| 23 | UCLA | Mick Cronin will certainly have the players to do well this season, it comes down to whether he can galvanize a large portal class. Kobe Johnson should lead this team as an excellent 2 way player |
| 24 | Kentucky | Jaxson Robinson looks to be the go to guy among a quality Kentucky roster. Totally new makeup form what UK fans are used to, this is an experienced team with high aspirations. |
| 25 | Louisville | This team has impressive depth which is needed in a high paced full effort Kelsey system. The rosters ability to stretch the floor from 1-5, and go deep into their bench will pose problems for others |
Overall Rationale
The first top 25 of the season is based purely on speculation and expectation and in the era of the transfer portal it is harder to predict than ever. That being said many teams that did well last season were given somewhat the benefit of the doubt even if they lost a big piece or two. A coaches consistency played a large part in these unstable feeling times especially at the top of the rankings. Experience on a team is important to me in the preseason, maybe more-so than continuity these days since there is so little of it. I fully expect to be making drastic changes as early as week 1 or 2 of the season. What a fun exercise.