koltonm23's Week Pre-Season Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | Mark Sears, shooters everywhere and Omoruyi at the 5 helps them clean up the paint |
| 2 | Kansas | Combo of returning talent and transfer talent with Self leading the way is obvious |
| 3 | Duke | Cooper Flagg, surrounding talent. They will be good. Knueppel x-factor. |
| 4 | Gonzaga | Didn't lose much from top-25 team last year and added a ton. Final 4 good. |
| 5 | Iowa State | Elite defense, 4 double digit scorers back and front court transfers are perfect fits. |
| 6 | Auburn | Headlined by Broome but solid core back and transfer guards should elevate that group from last year. |
| 7 | UConn | Lost a lot but Mahaney and Karaban are good 1-2. Hurley develops guys and there's young talent galore. |
| 8 | Indiana | Transfers combined with returning guys make them the #1 in Big 10 imo. Front court should dominate. |
| 9 | North Carolina | Davis is obvious, replacing Bacot not as obvious but the FR and transfers are uber talented. Different but still very good. |
| 10 | Houston | Shead is irreplaceable but defense and toughness keep them top-10 good. Offense takes a step back. |
| 11 | Creighton | Kalkbrenner an elite big, transfer guards should replace most of what was lost but a step below last year's team. |
| 12 | Arizona | Caleb Love with Bradley and Lewis who will take a step forward is a solid trio. Inside the transfers will make up for Ballo |
| 13 | Tennessee | Defense, toughness, but it's all on the transfers Lanier/Dubar to help offensively. |
| 14 | UCLA | Cronin loaded up on talent. They will defend at a high level and almost impossible to not improve offense with all the talent. |
| 15 | Baylor | On paper a ton of talent, Edgecomb/Roach/Omier all new but with Nunn/Love elite shooting team. Defense questionable |
| 16 | Purdue | TBD if they play small without Edey and what that looks like. Smith is elite and shooters everywhere but can they rebound/defend the paint now. |
| 17 | Marquette | Kam Jones may be an All-American, Shaka is developing guys and in a world of turnover there isn't much here. |
| 18 | Texas A&M | They played like a top-25 team to end the season, should be just as good if not better this year with development as the core is back. |
| 19 | Texas | Transfer talent is ridiculous, FR Tre Johnson very good. Talent is there, we'll see if Terry can bring it together. |
| 20 | Michigan State | Tom Izzo, young guys he has been developing and Frankie Fidler. More athletic than years past. |
| 21 | Xavier | Sean Miller has the horses to have a top-10 offense, expect that to happen. |
| 22 | Arkansas | It's Cal, there's talent everywhere, one has to assume he'll have them playing well. |
| 23 | Rutgers | FR duo is ridiculous, Piekell can really coach. Missing a 5 man but still going to be very good. |
| 24 | Cincinnati | Great mix of returning talent and transfers gives them more talent than last year, and they were close. |
| 25 | Kentucky | Talent is that of a top-25 team, up to Pope to bring it all together and get it done. |
Overall Rationale
Coaching/talent on paper/roster fits. This is a hard game pre-season with all the player movement but that's my best take.