Equivalent-Yard3824's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | Shead is obviously a huge loss, but this was a deep team and Cryer/Sharp should help fill the gaps and Defense wins Championships |
| 2 | UConn | Keeping Karaban was huge, and bet against Hurley at you're own risk, he must be confident in guys like Diarra and Johnson stepping up if he turned down the Lakers gig. |
| 3 | Alabama | Getting Sears to stay and nabbing some key transfers like Rutgers big Omoruyi is huge, this team should remain the best offense in the country, and a better inside presence should bolster the D |
| 4 | Duke | Proctor will be the savvy vet presence to balance out the freshman phenom Flagg, but it's more than just Flagg, Kneuppel is also a beast and Gillis/Sion are huge transfer gets to balance out the youth |
| 5 | Kansas | The Big3 of Harris, Dickinson, and Adams is formidable, but I'm not as convinced that they've solved the depth problem of last year and still a lack of 3pt shooting on this team. |
| 6 | Gonzaga | Almost everyone besides big shot Watson back, plus a handful of feisty transfers like Ajayi and Battle and this team lacks the starpower, but might be one of the deepest Zags teams |
| 7 | Baylor | Scott Drew has a claim to being the best coach in CBB, he adds future lottery pick Edgecombe, transfers Roach and Omier to a solid core; I see why he turned down Kentucky |
| 8 | Auburn | Marquee SEC matchups between Aub and Alabama should be crazy with the best offense in the country going against arguably the best D in the country led by Johni Broome. |
| 9 | North Carolina | RJ Davis is going to be amazing and should win ACC POY, but losing three starters in Bacot, Ingram and Ryan leaves this team looking for RJ's backup dancers. |
| 10 | Iowa State | ISU returns two B12 POY candidates in Gilbert and Lipsey and the defense should continue to cause havoc, but there's too many question marks behind the top 2 on this team for me to rank them higher. |
| 11 | Arizona | NPOY candidate Love is a mercurial player and that bleeds into this team, with 4 new rotation players it could take time for this unit to gel and they lose the toughness of Ballo, Pelle, and Johnson |
| 12 | Tennessee | Zeigler should be one of the best PGs in the country and the defense will remain stout, can incoming transfer Dubar add enough offense to balance things out is the major question. |
| 13 | Purdue | Losing Edey and Gillis hurt, but Smith, Loyer and TKR all enter their junior seasons ready to run the show and don't worry they still have a 7'3'' guy on the roster |
| 14 | Creighton | Kalkbrenner aims for his 4th consecutive BE DPOY leading a stout defense, and on offense, they'll rain threes until you drown |
| 15 | St. John's | SJU enters the season with the best backcourt in the BE led by Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith, can they get enough offense from other pieces to avoid rockfights? |
| 16 | Indiana | Adding Ballo and Rice, getting a year two bump for Mgbako adding to last years breakout for Reneau and this is a put up or shut up year for IU |
| 17 | Clemson | PJ Hall and Girard are big losses but Schieffelin and Hunter return to lead one of the most experienced groups in the nation with their top 7 rotation players being Srs or Jrs. |
| 18 | Texas A&M | Buzz should continue to have his team feast on the O Boards, and returning 4 starters including Obaseki who joined Wade Taylor in the backcourt mid-season should provide consistency |
| 19 | Texas | Hard to give an accurate prediction for a team where 6/7 rotation players are newcomers, but Tramon Mark and Arthur Kaluma are proven contributors at bigname programs |
| 20 | Rutgers | Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are the real deal, but they'll need vet presences like transfers Derkack and Acuff to steady the court. |
| 21 | Texas Tech | A true 3 and D team, TTU returns 3 40% snipers and adds four solid transfers to give them a deep and defensively stout lineup |
| 22 | Marquette | Losing Kolek and Ighodaro is tough, but this team returns 3 starters and 8 rotation players including leading scorer Kam Jones who might be BE POY |
| 23 | Arkansas | Calipari brings the stars, but can they perform under the lights? Team is full of alphas like Aidoo, Brazile, Davis, Knox, Wagner, it'll be interesting to see how they play together with the 5* fresh |
| 24 | Wake Forest | Hunter Sallis skipped the draft and returned to Wake to bring them to the tourney, this team has the offensive firepower to lead them to the tourney and a star that can lead them even higher. |
| 25 | Dayton | Holmes is a huge loss, but that could make this team less heliocentric as they're littered with strong players like Smith, Cheeks, Santos, and Key. |
Overall Rationale
Preseason rankings are the hardest, you're banking on how players looked last season and trying to factor in off-season growth, incoming transfers, new freshman, and sometimes new coaches. Ultimately, it's a guessing game, but I tried to weigh all those factors to see who has the best collection of talent and leadership.