Equivalent-Yard3824's Week Pre-Season Ballot

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Houston	Tugler, Sharp and Uzan return as starters from the RU team, and two high profile Freshman in Harwell and Cenac complement them; I expect Sampson to have them ready
2	Purdue	TKR and potential Naismith candidate Braden Smith highlight a deep roster, a lot rides on the success of new big man Cluff
3	Florida	The reigning champs lost a lot of firepower in Clayton, Martin and Richard, but Hough and Condon in the frontcourt and additions of Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee round out a talented team
4	Duke	Famously, the entire starting 5 got drafted, but in their place are expected Sophomore leaps for Ngongba and Evans, solid vets in Maliq and Foster, and a new crop of Freshmen in the Boozer Twins, anot
5	UConn	Hurley returns more than usual this year as only McNeely left for the pros leaving key rotation pieces like Ball, Karaban, Reed and Stewart, while adding Georgia transfer Demary Jr, Malachi Smith from
6	Michigan	Dusty May lost the duo of Wolf and Goldin but hit the portal hard adding Cadeau, Landeborg, Johnson, and Mara; a lot rides on how well Yaxel's size and skill translates to a power conference
7	Kentucky	Pope had to rebuild the roster twice in two years, this time only retaining Oweh, Quaintance and Dioubate are the big high-profile transfers, but the guard play is a little suspect for now.
8	BYU	We've seen teams with high profile Freshman flounder, like LSU with Simmons, or Rutgers last year, but with Saunders and Keita returning there's enough consistency around Dybantsa to be excited
9	Illinois	One of the most international rosters in the nation, Boswell and Ivisic return to give consistency, while Petrovic a former pro slots in to replace Jakucionis and Stojakovic adds an elite shooter
10	St. John's	5 of their main 6 from last year are gone, but Ejiofor returns with POY expectations, a slew of freshmen and transfers round out the roster, but trust in Pitino to figure out a solid 6-7 man rotation.
11	UCLA	With maybe the biggest transfer portal coup, Dent comes to UCLA with Naismith potential, if he can add offensive firepower to the traditional Cronin defense, look out
12	Arizona	Perfect CBB combination of returning vets in Bradley, Awaka, Dell'Orso, Krivas, and added freshman firepower like Peat, Burries and Aristode
13	Louisville	Pat Kelsey proved less is more last year, pulling all the right strings to bring a rag tag group into the tournament, he'll look to do the same with a strong crop of new transfers and freshman
14	Tennessee	Losing Chaz and Zeigler is hard to replace but additions of Gillespie and star freshman Nate Ament should help keep the Volunteers afloat
15	Iowa State	Lipsey and Momcilovic headline the returnees, but how Otzelberger replaces the remaining pieces and gel together that swarming defense are still question marks
16	Gonzaga	Returning Ike and Huff gives this team the solid floor needed to stay competitive in the national landscape, whether Smith, Miller, and Grant-Foster can form a dynamic enoguh backcourt is the question
17	Texas Tech	JT Toppin has naismith aspirations and Christian Anderson remains a great compliment, some work in the portal like landing Bamgboye should keep them among the top of the B12
18	Alabama	A bit of a retooling year for Bama with departures of Nelson and Sears as well as some others to the Portal, but this should be a better defensive squad than we've seen and the same speed and athletic
19	Kansas	Four major rotation pieces are gone, but maybe addition by subtraction with Dickenson, Darryn Peterson will draw the headlines but he's surrounded by veteran talent and a HOF Coach
20	Arkansas	The razorbacks found their groove in the tail end of the season, Wagner is back alongside some new recruits like Darius Acuff, might be similarly bumpy but expect the talent to win out
21	Michigan State	Returning four starters from an E8 team should have MSU feeling confident, Ward should be an immediate impact freshman, and Fears should grow into one of the best PGs in the nation.
22	Ohio State	Returning 3 of the top 4 scorers and adding a bevy of veteran transfers has them looking to get back into the tourney
23	Vanderbilt	One of the bigger surprises of the 24-25 season, Vandy has had to retool, returning just 2 starters, but Nickel and McGlockton should provide a steady floor for the additional transfers to add to.
24	Auburn	Bruce is gone along with a lot of last season's incedible roster, returning is Pettiford one of the most electric guards and Keyshawn Hall should compliment him on offense.
25	North Carolina	The inside improves with freshman Wilson and transfer Veesar locking down the paint, can they get enough at the guard position from the collection of veterans like Trimble Evans and Young

Overall Rationale

Next 5: Wisconsin, Oregon, Creighton, Missouri, NC State Honorable Mention: USC, Baylor, Miss St, Texas, SDSU, Cincy, Ole Miss