TSL5_CBB's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | Kansas stands out as the top team early for me because of the returns of Dajuan Harris and Hunter Dickinson, bringing in AJ Storr, and I buy that they won't have another disappointing season. |
| 2 | Alabama | Mark Sears and Grant Nelson are back, Cliff Omoruyi and Aden Holloway are in from the transfer portal, and Bama is one of the deepest teams in the country, they have solid guards, wings, and bigs. |
| 3 | UConn | The back-to-back champs had an eventful offseason in every way. But they were able to bring in Mahaney and Reed. Diarra and Samson Johnson will need to step up with Karaban to stay in the top 3. |
| 4 | Houston | The addition of Milos Uzan could end up being the most underrated transfer portal move of the off-season. The guard trio along with Cryer and Sharp makes for a scary team in 2024-25. |
| 5 | Duke | Cooper Flagg will be the best freshman in the country, and Sion James, Maliq Brown, and Mason Gillis will all be impactful for Scheyer and the Blue Devils. |
| 6 | Iowa State | The defending Big 12 Tournament Champs will hope to improve and make a Final Four this season. The Cyclones return nearly everybody and also added big man Dishon Jackson this offseason. |
| 7 | Gonzaga | The Zags may have had the best offseason in college basketball. They did a little bit of everything, adding scoring in Battle, defense in Ajayi, and return a solid backcourt in Nembhard and Hickman. |
| 8 | Baylor | Scott Drew added 2 key transfers this offseason, a floor general in Jeremy Roach and versatile Norchad Omier. Those two will make Baylor a championship contender in 2024-25. |
| 9 | Purdue | The loss of Edey is the elephant of the room, but this Purdue team has lots of experience. I expect Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and TKR to run the show and keep Purdue at the top of the B1G. |
| 10 | North Carolina | I have questions about the reinforcements in place of Armando Bacot, but I do not have questions about how amazing RJ Davis is. I don't see a team that looks better than UNC to round out the top 10. |
| 11 | Auburn | I believe Auburn perfectly fits the 11 spot at this point in the preseason rankings. The combo of Johni Broome and JP Pegues will be fun to watch in the SEC. |
| 12 | Tennessee | Could Rick Barnes pull it off again with more mid-major transfers shining in Knoxville? Chaz Lanier is already showing promise in the preseason, Tennessee could remain really good this season. |
| 13 | Arizona | Caleb Love is that guy in the regular season. Surrounding him with guys like Trey Townsend and KJ Lewis could really push the Cats into some really high-profile wins in the early season. |
| 14 | Indiana | IU is arguably a top 5 talented team in the country on paper. Will Woodson put this spectacular roster reshape into a true B1G contender is where the doubt is right now. |
| 15 | Texas | What is interesting about this Longhorn team is the construction of the roster really tailors to team basketball yet there are some big scorers that can work together. That is why I like Texas at 15. |
| 16 | Creighton | Kalkbrenner and Ashworth return for McDermott, who also brought in Pop Isaacs. Creighton could really be a roller-coaster of a team this season. |
| 17 | Texas Tech | JT Toppin was a major addition for Grant McCasland late in the transfer window. I don't buy a slump from the Red Raiders built on being sound fundamentally and having great coaching. |
| 18 | Florida | Golden brings in a Florida roster that should be able to handle the SEC (barring injuries!!!) with a solid backcourt of Clayton, Richard, and transfer Alijah Martin being the main part of the squad. |
| 19 | Kentucky | I'm a big fan of what Mark Pope has done in Lexington. He has defense in Butler and Oweh, shooting in Kriisa and Brea, and bigs like Carr and Garrison. It is a really well-rounded team. |
| 20 | UCLA | It would be shocking if Mick Cronin had another season as bad as this past season. Many transfers will mesh with the main core of Andrews and Mack and I would be very surprised if it doesn't work well |
| 21 | Texas A&M | Well...I guess THIS could be the season that Texas A&M starts off hot and maybe Wade Taylor IV catches fire, so I can't dismiss the scenario even if this team is inconsistent. |
| 22 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss just seems like a team this season to me that has an absolutely ridiculous regular season, but I'll start them off lower for now. Pedulla and Murrell are key for that to happen. |
| 23 | BYU | A Big 12 flare here in BYU, Kevin Young brought back most of this roster and more. Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings are already stellar, and that is massive for BYU's depth. |
| 24 | Cincinnati | My relatively "most surprising" ranking here, Cincy is all-around a solid team, I expect them to keep their head in the Big 12 race even late into the season. |
| 25 | Arkansas | Arkansas will round out my preseason top 25 here as there are so many doubts, but when you bring in an offensive fireball in Johnell Davis, you might as well be set being a top 25 team. |
Overall Rationale
It's a little surprising that only 1 SEC team is in my preseason top 10 considering how deep the conference is, but the Big 12 top to bottom is easily the best conference right now. 4 top 10 teams, 8 teams ranked overall, it looks really good here for the Big 12.The 5 other teams I thought about the most were Xavier, Miami (FL), Ohio State, Oregon, and St. John's.