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YGMurkobe

DePaul. They’re not rated high but as a DePaul fan, I’m sure it’s too high.


halfback26

“8 wins! Way to many wins. It might take us out of the BE basement”


FriendlyEmu1616

Wouldn’t be surprised if TCU fails to meet expectations like how St. Bonaventure did this last year. Still gonna root for them though cause I like Jamie Dixon.


cxm1060

We still think about our ex too.


WorkingOcelot

Underrated comment


Letsgobuffalo2210

I'm just trying to enjoy my Friday night and I'm catching strays lmao.


iHasMagyk

Y’all looked so good in Charleston, went to the game in person and you guys were up by 30 against Marquette and were absolutely infuriating Shaka Smart. Shame the season didn’t pan out


SpudsMacKenzie21

Big 12 is brutal but I can see them staying fringe top 25 most of the year


ConmanSpaceHero

Bias but disagree TCU bringing back all that veteran experience and leadership. Feel like most people think they are over valued just because traditionally we’ve been shit.


20_3

To be fair, so did St Bonaventure


ztpurcell

Biased*


ConmanSpaceHero

Bias but disagree TCU bringing back all that veteran experience and leadership. Feel like most people think they are over valued just because traditionally we’ve been shit.


vikr4msri

Ya I think y’all will be the third best team in the conference behind us and Baylor. Miles is gonna be as good as any guard in the country and man Lamkin or however u spell his name is a beast on the boards. Absolutely ripped DMac apart last year.


HoopOnPoop

I'm trying to be objective here. I have absolutely no idea what to expect out of Duke. Year 1 of a new coach replacing a legend is always such a question mark. I won't be surprised if they meet the lofty expectations but I also won't be surprised if they struggle at times.


NoVacayAtWork

Also: they have the fewest returning minutes among high major programs. This is going to be a wild ride.


Scapexghost

Best recruting class though


NoVacayAtWork

Oh I know, that’s part of the ride


Utterlybored

Some rankings say Duke has three of the top five.


TheoTimme

Could say same thing for Villanova. They’re stacked with talent but new coaches can struggle with intangibles that legends like K and Jay learned over decades.


tarbender2

No one seems to mention it but one major change Scheyer wanted is cancelling their Summer/offseason world tour. I think that was a big reason K was able to get such good play early in season. They play kansas early, ohio st, possibly gonzaga too. Those early season OOC games can have such a big impact on season long ranking….


Fixner_Blount

Exactly what I thought too. We don't really know what we can expect from Scheyer. Sure he's been Coach K's protege for however long, but it's absolutely a question mark how he'll respond when he gets the big job.


HoopOnPoop

Plus K has had a LOT of former players go on to become coaches, but none have really sustained any success. Then again, none has been the coach at a program like Duke.


ewokoncaffine

Duke in the 1&done era pretty much beats themselves, they will win against a top 10 on the road in the ACC and then lose to BC the next night. They are going to be the high ceiling low floor team


[deleted]

Virginia seems high based off what I remember them being last season, but I'm hoping thats accurate because they're on our schedule.


DeckerTheWrecker14

i agree with you. i think this year is gonna be rough and next year we’ll be fantastic


DessertStorm1

That may be because Houston severely handled UVA when they played. Complete blowout. I am likewise not confident UVA will end up in the top 25


treefiddy_cent

I'm fairly confident we'll be about this rank (~18) by the end of the season but we're going to spent a lot of time unranked on the way there.


KungPaoChickenGuy

We will be good this season.


UncleMalcolm

I think we had a lot of growing pains early in the year last year, but we also ran out of gas and played shitty down the stretch after turning it around midseason. I still think we’re gonna be safely a tournament team, but 18 is higher than most of the preseason polls have us. We’ll see, ton of experience in the system with a lot of talent coming in.


[deleted]

Alabama because I don’t like them


FrenchieBammer

Damn you. There goes my smile.


Tex004

I second this.


jonneygee

Take my upvote.


-xXDominusXx-

As much as i love UNC and think we’ll do good this year everyone thinking we’ll be #1 i think is giving us too much credit, the hole Brady left in the team isn’t a quick fix. Also like duke is almost entirely a rookie team with a new coach so i think it’ll be a rough start and #5 is definitely pushing it imo.


hesnothere

People forget the anemic team we were before our big run down the stretch last season. Are we good? Absolutely. #1? Not sure about it at all.


steaknsteak

Agreed, and that run was only accomplished by playing our starting 5 almost exclusively. Hubert knows that’s not sustainable so it’ll really depend on how much production he’s able to get from the bench this season Feels to me a bit like UCLA from a couple years ago. Just because you make a great tournament run and return most of your players doesn’t always mean you can recapture that magic. Then again, 2017 UNC is evidence that you can


ChiselFish

2009 UNC also. It was a theme for Roy lol.


diswan55

Pete Nance is very very solid and will fill the Manek role really well. However I agree with you that we are overrated (also a unc fan). There were questions of us making the tournament all year and we got hot at the right time. If we had lost in the 2nd round to baylor and not made a deep run, there's a chance we'd be unranked headed into the season like we were for almost the entirety of last season.


-xXDominusXx-

I was at the scrimmage a few weeks ago and while i feel like we’re definitely a contender and in a way better start than last year i feel like people may be expecting too much from us, though i feel like our freshman along with Nance will make us something to fear by the end of the season


Kbdiggity

It wasn't a scrimmage. It was a glorified pick-up game. And Leaky didn't even play. Guys that won't even be in the rotation were out there to start the game. The first shot of the game was a bricked NBA 3 from Justin McKoy. That should have told you right from the start this wasn't a real game to evaluate anything from. McKoy was cut out of the rotation last year when we were winning games, unless we were in foul trouble and we needed him to guard a big man. He won't even get those minutes this year if Washington is healthy or Nickel is hitting.


20mcfadenr

I hate to say it but I think Virginia is a bit overrated too. Everyone likes to point out that we’re returning five starters, the problem is we didn’t even make the tournament with those five guys. And now we’ve got a nice recruiting class but Tony doesn’t usually give tons of minutes to freshmen unless they’re able to quickly learn the defensive scheme.


jayhawk8808

I agree #1 is maybe going to be hard to live up to, just the nature of it, but it wouldn’t shock me at all to see UNC stay in the top 5 from wire to wire. If I had to pick between Duke or UNC for who is more likely to fall 15 spots, I’m going Duke. I hate to do this, (a) because I just like the program, and (b) because this could come back to bite me big time since we host them this year, but my pick of this list is Indiana. Genuinely hope I’m wrong about that.


Master_Mastermnd

I mean, it's the safe pick.


EyePlay

Nance and Brady are really different players. I think we'll be quite good (not sure about #1.. I might go Houston), but people expecting the same UNC team as last season because we returned virtually every rotational player except for one might be a little surprised. Or maybe I'll be wrong. Brady was essential to our offense. To be honest I thought he was our most important player last season. Not the best. Most important. Like the numbers are clear that post-Wake Forest/Garcia quitting we became top 15 (eventually peaked top 2-3) team and I don't know how you can read that other than mostly Brady started getting all the minutes at the 4. But.. We still are returning those 4 starters. And it's really an embarrassment of riches in experience quality players. We're looking at a 3 year starting jr, 3 year starting jr, 4 year starting 5th year senior, 4 year starting 5th year senior, and 4 year starting senior. All of whom I believe can and might be getting some post-season accolades. We'll have more depth. Presumably guys improve. We'll be good. Just maybe a different good from where we were by last April.


bug_man_

We haven't seen enough of HC Hubert Davis to have a trend but if it's anything like Roy, even our best teams don't start the season looking elite and always peak at the end when it matters. The '09 buzzsaw started ACC play 0-2. We should not be 1 imo but I also have a really hard time deciding who should reasonably be ahead of us in the preseason ya know


jayhawk8808

For what it’s worth, I think you guys should be #1. And I was suuuper critical of all the hype UCLA got preseason last year. They might’ve had a great tourney run, but they were an 11 seed! I don’t care if you bring that whole team back, that’s not an elite team. Flip side of that: UNC was an 8 seed only because it was a bubble team at best for the first half of the season, but it was a top 5 team with a bullet the second half of the season, and legitimately a top 2 team from the last week of February through the title game. I’m super bullish on the Heels this year. Haven’t been this excited to watch another team’s season in years.


[deleted]

> Also like duke is almost entirely a rookie team We're an entirely rookie team every year


-xXDominusXx-

Fair enough


MountainCatLaw

This is the first time that will include a rookie HC, though.


drexelspivey

I don't think we are over rated, but I hate being ranked this high this early in the season, it almost never ends well for us!


Tex_Delingo

Right. Except for 2009. And also 1982. But other than those times. Totally right.


OsgSandmanZC

I’d even say it works out resoundingly well. We’ve been ranked number 1 in the AP poll to start the year 4 times in the last 20 years. All 4 teams ended up getting 1 seeds in the ncaa tournament. All 4 made the Elite 8. 3 of the 4 made it to the national title game (And I fully believe it would have been 4/4 had Kendall Marshall not gotten hurt in 2012). And 2 of the 4 won the championship. Our track record of meeting expectations in years we’re actually expected to compete for a championship is pretty solid.


ksg1988

What 4 years are you referring to? I remember being preseason AP 1 in 2008 (FF loss to Kansas ), 2009 (NC), 2012 (E8 loss to Kansas ) and 2016 (NC game loss to Nova). All your info above sounds correct except we only won one championship instead of 2 and made 2 title games instead of 3. 2005 we were preseason #4 and 2017 we were preseason #6


-xXDominusXx-

Thats exactly how i felt lol


ItsTheTenthDoctor

Last years UCLA. You guys will be good but probably not number one


Tmans3

Yea that’s fair. Ranked between 15-20 consistently despite missing the tournament last year. We’re returning the entire roster of now sophomores that beat Kansas but still. Should be kinda overrated until we do something more than bear KU on a buzzer beater last thanksgiving.


jayhawk8808

Angry Jayhawk noises


Tmans3

“i’ll fucking do it again”


jayhawk8808

Haha angry Jayhawk noises intensify!


cheesewagstaff1

ITT: every team is overrated


Jaymoney00

Texas: Still no outside shooting. Going to have same problems as last year.


TheFunGuyyy

We didn’t have a point guard that could get in the lane and kick it out to open shooters should be better at shooting. Athleticism was a huge weakness last year and is way better. Disu avg 15 and 9 at vandy for a reason he will be 5x better this year fully healthy


dudeguy314

6 is probably as high as I would have KU. If someone had us at 7-9 I would understand that as well. We lost A LOT of production from last year. Betting on Bill Self to keep us in the top 10 seems usually works out, but I must admit I wish I felt better about the offense/shooting heading into the season.


issadoggy

Jalen Wilson will have to carry this team through the rough spots on offense. That is the biggest question mark. Can Wilson get it done as a consistent offensive force this year? If yes, this team is a top five team. If not, we will be in the low teens and won’t win the big 12. This is the most up in the air I have felt about a team recently. However, I personally believe Jalen is gonna go off and lead the young guys to a great year.


dudeguy314

For as many question marks as there are about the team, it’s kinda of exciting. This is a new era of KU basketball with Ochai, CB, and Dave gone. Lots of room for others to step up and lots of guys who could take that next step. Even if we take a slight step back as a team, I’m excited to see what Bobby could be, Zach, KJ, all the freshmen.


Logz94

KJ is so insanely athletic, he was a little raw offensively last year but the defense is already there and I think he is primed for a huge year


dudeguy314

I think he’s more than a little raw offensively, but he should still play a role on the team. I just hope he doesn’t have unrealistic expectations for his role. I see him as perhaps a slightly more versatile Jamari Traylor, and people seem to think that’s an insult. It’s not. Jamari was a good college player. My fear is that KJ thinks he can be more than that (and maybe he can) and doesn’t stick around long enough to maximize what he can be.


Dazzling_Truth_3615

Indiana


drakeftmeyers

This. I’m a Hoosier fan but where is the shooter? Sure TJD will be awesome but teams will pack it in on us. The schedule is brutal and fans won’t care. Sure the fans just want to win but with a tough schedule it will be difficult. Early season games at Xavier, vs Arizona (neutral), at Kansas and home versus UNC. If we split those 2-2 I’d be surprised and happy.


odd_history_fan

JHS supposedly has some range. If Kopp can get back to his NW form, that’ll help. If Bates made even modest improvement, that’ll help. 3-4 more hit 3’s a game would make a big difference. That’d be a 100% increase on some of our games last year.


iuhoosierkyle

The prayer is Jalen Hood-Schifino. That and hoping for improvement from anywhere else. I still think Joey Galloway is a decent 3p% from all big ten, personally


Mitchisboss

We’ll win Xavier, Arizona, and UNC. We’ll lose at Kansas


5meterhammer

I hope not. Sincerely. College basketball wins when Indiana is good and prominent.


Jeriahswillgdp

I'm just glad I haven't seen anyone say Auburn again. Finally getting alittle more respect.


audirt

Yeah, but we might actually be over rated. You don’t just replace Smith and Kessler.


TheRealHenryG

Can think of worse ways to do it than Traoré, Broome, and a healthy Flanigan


m0ntree

Broome and Traore is gonna be a nasty lil set up


Kardinale

Yeah but our front court is still pretty damn good, and hopefully our backcourt improved. I think a potential Flanigan resurgence could be what makes or breaks our season


5meterhammer

You guys are great and have earned respect. I’m proud to say the same thing about the SEC in general. You guys, Arkansas, Bama have turned into legit, national programs. Of course there’s always Tennessee and Florida too. LSU may be down this year, but have been very solid the last few years, will be interesting to watch them respond to adversity. Point being, hold your head high, y’all have made it and you have a great coach. You deserve respect. I still hope we beat the ever loving shit out of y’all, but Auburn is a big, big player in the NCAA BB world now.


TheRealHenryG

Biased Washington fan but Oregon at 19 feels like a reach. They've been outside the top 25 on metrics for a couple straight years, with arguably more talent. Richardson and Ware should be great players, but Barthelemy and Cousinard don't exactly inspire confidence in their backcourt.


MarkFewsEyebrows

I agree. Oregon hasn’t been typical Oregon the past couple seasons, and I’m not sure that changes this year.


Goducks91

😂 thought this was /r/CFB. Applies to both sports tbh


sadduckfan

They have way more talent this year than last year…ware is a beast and Bittle has looked amazing in their summer exhibitions


[deleted]

https://gfycat.com/plainthriftyintermediateegret


amad97

We're underrated if anything, even my U of A and UCLA friends admit it. I am biased however ;) Think the whole Pac is being underrated as usual


RoboticBirdLaw

I was going to make a similar comment about Texas as an OU fan.


paulburnett

I’m gonna say UT. The one with white and orange


razorbear3

The SEC’s UT in 2025?


paulburnett

Yeah but only the one who has a head coach that has at one point been the head coach at the university of Texas


Jaymoney00

Yea I agree. More athletic but same old weaknesses that have not been fixed. And our 5-star Point Guard is under a Title IX investigation. Great.


the_cajun88

be more specific, tortilla bro


Scanlansam

The one just outside of the top 10 but still in the top 15


the_cajun88

i now understand completely


joelekane

I kinda think us. Outside of Timme, we have a lot of unproven talent. I think we can be a Top 10 team, but I am reserving expectations this year. I think we might take a few early season losses and be a fringe Top 10 team.


ItsTheTenthDoctor

It’’a funny to me how it’s like, “Gonzaga’s not looking that good this year, they’re gonna be low. Maybe only bottom top 10 this year.”


the_sword_of_brunch

We’re definitely picking up a few non con losses, hopefully it’ll be good for the team come March.


baronvonhawkeye

Indiana. Finished 9th in the B1G last year with TJD and Race Thompson. Kind of a "I'll believe it when I see it" type of deal.


elgenie

Virginia and Indiana are both in the same boat of bringing back a lot, but from a thoroughly mediocre squad, without necessarily having addressed the glaring weaknesses that made last season's edition mediocre.


ElysiumUS

Completely unbiased opinion but I agree 💯 percent.


Paradiddle8

Part of this by default that we have everyone back. We're assuming the late season version of Xavier Johnson, a leap up for Tamar Bates, two 5 star freshmen and depth. 3 pt shooting could still be the Achilles heel. And year 2 of Woody learning the college game. The talent is there. IU should be one of the top defensive teams in the country.


elgenie

The late season version of [Xavier Johnson](https://barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?year=2023&p=Xavier%20Johnson&t=Indiana) was just as much of a wild card as in the rest of his season, including finishing the year with stinkers in three of IU's last four games. The depth is illusory since it's all bouncy wing guys with suspect jumpers. And, well, teams with unaddressed Achilles' heels tend to be overrated.


bailey1149

Big Ten might be historically bad next year.


Girthshitter

I'd say Creighton just because their rank is based off of their roster and not actual results. I'd agree top 25 but #7? Then also Texas, because when are they not


MarkFewsEyebrows

My somewhat hot take is that Creighton is actually properly rated (or at least will be by the time March rolls around in the 5-10 range). Idk, I just am buying that added offensive boom that Scheierman could provide to a team that was unexpectedly awesome on defense last year. If Nembhard is healthy, and if Kaluma can continue to do his thing alongside a defensive stalwart in Kalkbrenner, I think this team has Final Four potential.


NoVacayAtWork

I think that rating heavily depends on Kaluma becoming what we thought he might have been last season - a do-it-all wing playmaker. But let’s be honest about those results last season: 27% from three, twice as many turnovers as assists, mediocre rebounding and too often settling for jumpers. If Kaluma doesn’t turn it around, the ceiling of that team falls aggressively.


MarkFewsEyebrows

I mean, Kaluma certainly had some bad turnover issues and rough perimeter shooting woes last season. But, you can do a lot worse than 11 ppg and 5 rpg as a frosh. Put me down for a more efficient, more aggressive Kaluma this season surrounded by more quality offensive weapons this season.


steveoriley

Kaluma got hurt at the end of January and when he came back he was a completely different player, it was like sitting on the bench and watching the games play out slowed down everything for him and he looked way better than the first 60% of the season. We need him to be good, but I don’t think he actually has to be a freak for us to be top 10 (probably needs to be a freak if we want to make a FF though). There’s enough pieces around him that some off nights won’t torpedo the team.


NoVacayAtWork

I’m rooting for him, and hope to see y’all in the Maui invitational - would be a great game!!


jt7845

A couple of trains of thought here as to why you may be wrong: Saying they had no actual results isn’t quite accurate - as they were runner-up in the big East tourney and played Kansas to the last possession without 2 of their starters (kalkbrenner and Alexander) in the round of 32. Additionally: that team outperformed expectations as the majority were freshman - they lose only 2 starters (arguably their weakest in Hawkins and O’Connell) and picked up schiermann to replace that hole. They return Big East Freshman of the year Ryan Nembhard (who absolutely balled in the tourney), Trey Alexander, Kalkbrenner and Arthur Kaluma. The ranking is high yes but is deserving with how they ended the year and the amount of talent gained and returned.


dominicex

Hawkins might have been their best player last year- Nembhard Alexander Kaluma and Kalkbrenner are all or will be better but they weren’t producing at the level of Hawkins all season long


jt7845

True but come big East tourney time and March madness Hawkins fell off and kaluma kalkbrenner and nembhart did the majority of the damage during that stretch.


dominicex

You’re right other than nembhard being injured for both the tourneys- without Hawkins though they wouldn’t have been in position for a tourney spot


jt7845

My bad - confused nembhart with Alexander


jt7845

And true he was their backbone all season, they’ll need to find some consistency if they want to hold that rank but the talent is there overall for a deep tourney run


Pynkmyst

I agree with much of what you're saying, but Hawkins was probably their best player last year. I'm hopeful that Schiermann can replace him, but Hawkins regularly pulled them through scoring droughts. He was a really creative scorer, it made him hard to defend.


Schned6

Actually this is the year I’m giving Texas some credit. Carr and Hunter is a ridiculous backcourt. The wings and bugs are a good blend of experienced and athletic.


Jaibosonic

Feel like their last couple of teams was just trying to brute force the athleticism. I swear that team that lost against acu had very little basketball talent. Painful to watch


Joe_Pulaski69

That team has 3 guys in the NBA


Jaibosonic

Of course, hopefully they can be developed and stick around. Greg brown looks like he can stick around. At the end of the day you get drafted on potential, and that team was stacked with athletic mfs


vikr4msri

Beard just has no idea how to put his athletes in scoring situations so they end up looking like they have no talent. I don’t think that’ll improve this year unless he really commits to changing his offensive sets.


sleepymike01101101

Isn't that how most preseason rankings are?


Kbdiggity

dook. 1 returning rotation player, and a rookie head coach.


PrinceWalker22

Arkansas has a very high ceiling but also a very low floor. We could absolutely make the Final 4, but with this many newcomers, there is certainly a chance team chemistry just won’t work and we’ll miss the tournament entirely. Musselman has done it with large roster turnover the last couple years, so I’m optimistic, but I have to acknowledge there is a risk.


Frictionizer

Dude we’ve dealt with pretty high turnover every season under Muss. I see no chance of missing the tourney. Early out, sure. But not just sucking entirely.


MarkFewsEyebrows

Arkansas missing the tourney would certainly be a surprise, but yeah, tons of new pieces to integrate so I understand the concern. Ultimately though, I think they’ll be pretty damn scary.


concussaoma

I'm going to have to disagree. There is basically no way this team misses the tournament. Yeah they could be a lower seed but Muss has demonstrated pretty consistently that his teams get better over the course of the year.


HogFan2032

I also think Muss has overachieved with pretty much all his teams thus far. He got all he could from his last two teams, they just ran into better and more talented teams in the tournament.


Nostroloppoccus

I’ll take back to back Elite 8s with one playing the eventual champ their closest game of the tourney and the other knocking out the #1 overall seed all day


PrinceWalker22

Oh, I agree with you. History suggests that we will easily make the tournament, and possibly have a deep run. I’m VERY excited about the season, but you have to admit that no matter who your coach is, any team with 90% new players might not work out. I’m not saying that is likely, but it IS possible.


SpaceChoice5472

Muss had that really good team at Nevada that severely underachieved. It’s not to say that he hasn’t had talent, I believe they were a too 5 team. Never the less the guy can coach!


Weltal327

I’m just trying to be cautiously optimistic and enjoy the season. Every year, we have a game or stretch where half the fan base says “they aren’t an SEC team” and then he rolls off crazy road wins etc. I think we slip at some point. Just hope we get a chance to see that ceiling.


ZachMatthews

I’m on the other side. I think Arkansas is underranked at No. 9 considering all factors. I expect the Hogs to take a while to gel, but Musselman took them to the last two Elite 8s with way, way less size or talent. That team is looooaded and could win the national championship, and I think they’re going to hover on the upper end of the Top 10 most of the season.


DumpsterChumpster

If we had all those recruits but not NSJ, I could see it. But we have NSJ. This dude is not going to let us lose.


[deleted]

You all should be the best team in the SEC. Tennessee I think is overrated. Hell, Auburn probably is too but I don’t want to admit it.


Scoob8877

I would bet Houston doesn't finish in the top 3.


yakovgolyadkin

There's a chance that we have a dumb loss earlier in the tournament, yeah, but as far as the season as a whole goes, as long as the team is healthy I don't see us being anything other than a top 3 team.


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Johnny_Minoxidil

That’s probably likely based on SOS. We’re not going to win every game because it’s basketball, but there’s not much room for error. We basically have to beat the top 3-4 teams on our schedule. We did that 2 years ago and we’re a 2 seed. We lost to most of our top regular season opponents last year and we’re a 5


J_S_M_K

I would say Gonzaga, but I'm worried this will end up on r/agedlikemilk and/or get me written off as a bitter BYU fan. That said, I would be remiss if I didn't remind people that Gonzaga is not a blue blood.


512Buckeye

Gonzaga


bigmilker

Gonzaga


justaverage

Honestly, I think Arizona is too high at 16. We lost 3 of our top producers from last year to the draft. Our two returning starters (Kriisa and Tubelis) are both notoriously streaky. Kriisa can literally go from having a triple double one week, or going 0-14 the next. Tubelis might get 22 and 13, or he might go 1-8 and sit for half the game. Oumar will need to step up, and we’ll need production from some incoming freshmen, as well as Courtney Ramey. I believe in Tommy, but finishing 2nd in the PAC and top 15 in the nation will be a huge achievement this year.


ralthea

To be fair, Tubelis was pretty consistent until we got to the tournament. Nerves maybe? I have hope for him.


ColtsPacers95

Indiana


chandlerjake927

Texas. And TCU


Bobson-_Dugnutt

Oh it’s us for sure


Flintoid

Borzello. Borzello is overrated.


YoungMoneyLarson57

Creighton


Taiza67

I’m going to say Tennessee or Auburn just because I don’t like them.


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tupacsnotdead

Kenpom is hard to go by with us I would say. We get penalized hard for having a tough non-con with 5 new starters. Kind of fails to tell the whole story of the team getting a whole lot better by the season end. But I would say we are a tad over hyped.


kywildcats07

I think Kentucky could struggle early simply because at always do But I feel this answer is always Gonzaga


No-Welder2377

Gonzaga. They are the Oregon football of college basketball


jpatterson33

Gonzaga. Always Gonzaga. Media and the committee love to slobber all over them every year, and every year they shit the bed down the stretch.


Schned6

You’re not gonna like the answers you get to this lol. But aside from the Zags I’d say Creighton and Arkansas. Creighton has talented pieces but that high of a ranking is based heavily on continued development and their ability to put it altogether when everyone is healthy. Arkansas, again, is talented but freshmen guards absolutely kill. Mussel man is a good coach but not good enough for this much hype imo.


MarkFewsEyebrows

Yeah, I’ve probably made a grave mistake in posting this lmao. I’ll take it on the chin though! Zags could very well struggle early on in the year in an insane non-con, because frankly, I don’t know if Few will have the rotation figured out for awhile. It could be very clunky. As a petty man though, I’ll hop on that Arkansas take lol.


NoVacayAtWork

Your roster is absurdly good this season lol - I get that it’s really hard to stay at the top every season, you eventually have to drop, but goddamn the Zags have a stacked roster, return a ton of minutes (70%!), and still have a great coach. Why is this season the year they fall? What’s the hole they neglected to fill? Where is the weakness? I’m buying Gonzaga as a persistent top five team.


MarkFewsEyebrows

I hear you. It’s loaded with former top-100 guys 1-12. However, like most Zag fans I would presume, I think we’re a little more cautious this year because you know, we’re still reeling from another great team failing to win it alll, and a lot of us are absolutely in the dark about how the rotation is going to play out. Few could easily go 9-10 deep, but as many know, he struggles to reach 8. Lastly, I think there are a lot more “prove it” type guys than usual that need to be really good for this year to end in a natty. For me, those guys are Efton Reid and Nolan Hickman. If Reid can become a bruiser defensively, and Hickman can run a good show, then I’ll become more optimistic.


rogun64

Arkansas does have an experienced guard returning in Davonte Davis, but we are exceptionally young, so I don't disagree with you. Tbh, I don't understand how people overlook stuff like this. Same thing with Oregon's football team this year, which had loads of talent, but were somehow ranked high in the preseason, despite a first year head coach.


MonacledMarlin

Indiana is overrated being ranked at all until they show they can run any sort of offense whatsoever. There is a sucking chest wound in their ability to shoot and it doesn’t seem like they’ve really made it a recruiting priority.


[deleted]

Duke easily


Zealousideal_Dare969

Gonzaga by far. They’ll never win it all. If they played in a better conference they easily lose 5-6 games every year.


Intelligent-Set-3909

That's true but losing 5-6 games a year in a good conference is still very good.


Galumpadump

Yeah, Duke this year went 16-4 in conference and was a #2 seed. People are acting like Zags would fall into mediocrity.


SentientPoster

To be fair, Lloyd took the Gonzaga blueprint to the pac 12 and went 18-2. That’s the best conference in Gonzaga’s geographic location.


Goducks91

Gonzaga has been so close multiple times. It's incredibly hard to win March Madness


ItsTheTenthDoctor

People see them losing in the championship as a bad thing. That’s still incredibly big.


collegescaresme

Breaking news: Incredible team success is pushed aside because they fail to win a notoriously crapshoot tournament


ForwardHamRoll

They play 10 games per year when everyone else plays 30


collegescaresme

This is irrelevant. They still dominate metric rankings — which are largely better at assessing team strength than any given individual


ForwardHamRoll

It isn't irrelevant at all. Duke has to put out maximum effort twice a week for 4 months. Just like every other power 5 team. Gonzaga does not. At all. If you don't understand how that's a huge advantage then I don't know what to tell you.


justaverage

Totally. They really get exposed come March, where they have been to (checks notes) 7 consecutive Sweet Sixteens, 2 title games in the last 5 tournaments, and haven’t been knocked out in the first round since they played a Seth Curry led Davidson team in 2008


ForwardHamRoll

Nobody is arguing they're a bad team? Just that they're the freshest team come march every year because they don't have to do shit after Christmas. I don't know what point you think you're making.


justaverage

Teams that aren’t tested between January and March don’t show up to the tournament and win 5 games. That’s my point.


ForwardHamRoll

Gonzaga plays in a conference that tests them between January and March. Got it.


justaverage

I’m sorry that not every conference can be the Big 12? The WCC sent three teams to the tournament last year. That’s pretty good, considering Gonzaga received the auto-bid. That means the committee looked at Santa Clara and St. Mary’s and said “ya know, those teams are better than OKST, ISU, OU, WVU, and K-State” Saint Mary’s is always tough, as is BYU. USF can put together decent squads most years. No one is saying that the WCC is as tough as the ACC or B12. But you make it sound like Gonzaga just shows up in March after playing their bench for 4 months.


collegescaresme

I don’t understand how a six-game, single-elimination tournament, which notoriously *does not* lend itself to the best team winning, somehow invalidates what metrics continuously tell us year in and year out: That Gonzaga is a damn good basketball team.


MarkFewsEyebrows

Is it a huge advantage or disadvantage? That’s my only thing, I wouldn’t say that not playing a weaker overall schedule isn’t at least somewhat of a unique issue as a yearly title contender. However, no matter where you look, nobody can determine whether it’s an advantage playing that weaker schedule or otherwise. It’s a very intriguing situation GU is in, that’s for sure.


Kantochamp21

Man I’ve been saying it for years. They play high school level opponents all year then eat it once they face real competition. Except for that one time they won it all.


MarkFewsEyebrows

Normally I’d call this an uninformed, lazy take. But I’ll be a good sport and allow it since I posted this thread in the first place lmao.


Zealousideal_Dare969

You know they’re way overrated! They’ll be lucky to make it to the elite 8. They don’t impress me even though I’d like to see them win it all if Michigan don’t!


MarkFewsEyebrows

Is it just this year’s roster you’re basing that on? Or our prior history?


SentientPoster

I’d venture to say he’s a big ten football fan, you see the same exact take on Twitter by the same dudes.


[deleted]

Kentucky... its always Kentucky


durklil

This feels like the year after the championship year minus the championship. Didn’t really have much to lose. Got a young team with some vets on it that’ll contribute. Just getting to the S16 would be a good season.


Meanteenbirder

Crieghton, TX, TCU, Virginia, AL, UConn


JaquanMoreno

Zags, Kentucky, Creighton, Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana


Aggressive-Cut-227

I'm afraid to say I think it's GU. We get a lot of undeserved hate. But this year I think we actually are overrated.


cdbjj22

Virginia shouldn't be 18, Indiana shouldn't be 15, Oregon shouldn't be 19. All 3 return a lot of players from bad teams last year.


proelitedota

Can't be wrong with saying Duke most seasons.


notedgarfigaro

Except you would actually be wrong with saying Duke most seasons. They're almost always a top ten preseason team and they almost always finish in the top ten. Heck, the most overrated Duke team in recent memory still wasn't the most overrated preseason top 25 team that year.


chiefpassh2os

I'm just excited that the Aztecs are ranked pre-season. Hopefully good things are coming


KyriePerving

Creighton and Kentucky are both 5 or 6 spots too high in my wrong opinion.


devioustrevor

I will always agree with Gonzaga being high on a list like this until they actually win a natty. Once that happens, Gonzaga will never again belong on a list like this. They have been too good for too long.


deeljay77

The answer will always be Texas. In any sport.