NCAA Basketball Preseason Rankings
Cheston 10/24/2009
With Midnight Madness behind us, it's time to pick the Top 25 for basketball this season. For now, there will only be rationale for the Top 10 and teams 11-25 will just have a ranking. So here they are...
1. Kansas Jayhawks- All of the offseason problems still don’t keep this team down. The Jayhawks return two of the best players in the nation in Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich along with a Top 5 recruit in Xavier Henry.
2. Kentucky Wildcats- Crazy to have a team that limped into the NIT last season, fired they coach and lost their leading scorer here, but when John Calipari is the remedy to the problems, immediately all those problems go out the window. The Wildcats bring back All-American Pat Patterson with newcomers John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe.
3. Michigan State- The surprise team of the tournament last year starts off this season with a lot more recognition. Kalin Lucas is one of the best point guards in the nation and the only real loss from last season is Goran Soutan.
4. Villanova- The eventual NCAA Champions were the only thing that really kept ‘Nova from the title game. Scottie Reynolds wisely returned this season which will make this team tons better.
5. Texas- Kind of like Kentucky, Texas lost their best scorer from last season but they still look good this year. Avery Bradley should be able to step in and help Rick Barnes’ squad immediately.
6. North Carolina- How many teams can lose four players to the NBA draft and still come back this strong? North Carolina is probably one of the few. They will struggle at times this year but the Heels return some real talent with Ed Davis and some stud freshmen.
7. Connecticut Huskies- All season it seemed like the Huskies weren’t really clicking and losing Hasheem Thabeet won’t help that. What does help is a healthy Jerome Dyson, and returning stars Kemba Walker and Stanley Robinson.
8. West Virginia- Devin Ebanks is one of the best and most unheralded players in college basketball right now. He and Joe Mazzula should continue Bob Huggins track record of winning this season with his best team since maybe Kenyon Martin played.
9. Purdue- JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel are great players that when healthy will take this team far.
10. Duke- This team did lose some valuable assests since last year but the fact is that Coach K only has winners. Kyle Singler and John Scheyer will keep this team in the Top 10, for now at least.
11. Washington
12. Tennessee
13. Oklahoma
14. Butler
15. Minnesota
16. Clemson
17. Dayton
18. Ohio State
19. Louisville
20. Illinois
21. Missouri
22. Michigan
23. California
24. Georgetown
25. Mississippi State
With Midnight Madness behind us, it's time to pick the Top 25 for basketball this season. For now, there will only be rationale for the Top 10 and teams 11-25 will just have a ranking. So here they are...
1. Kansas Jayhawks- All of the offseason problems still don’t keep this team down. The Jayhawks return two of the best players in the nation in Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich along with a Top 5 recruit in Xavier Henry.
2. Kentucky Wildcats- Crazy to have a team that limped into the NIT last season, fired they coach and lost their leading scorer here, but when John Calipari is the remedy to the problems, immediately all those problems go out the window. The Wildcats bring back All-American Pat Patterson with newcomers John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe.
3. Michigan State- The surprise team of the tournament last year starts off this season with a lot more recognition. Kalin Lucas is one of the best point guards in the nation and the only real loss from last season is Goran Soutan.
4. Villanova- The eventual NCAA Champions were the only thing that really kept ‘Nova from the title game. Scottie Reynolds wisely returned this season which will make this team tons better.
5. Texas- Kind of like Kentucky, Texas lost their best scorer from last season but they still look good this year. Avery Bradley should be able to step in and help Rick Barnes’ squad immediately.
6. North Carolina- How many teams can lose four players to the NBA draft and still come back this strong? North Carolina is probably one of the few. They will struggle at times this year but the Heels return some real talent with Ed Davis and some stud freshmen.
7. Connecticut Huskies- All season it seemed like the Huskies weren’t really clicking and losing Hasheem Thabeet won’t help that. What does help is a healthy Jerome Dyson, and returning stars Kemba Walker and Stanley Robinson.
8. West Virginia- Devin Ebanks is one of the best and most unheralded players in college basketball right now. He and Joe Mazzula should continue Bob Huggins track record of winning this season with his best team since maybe Kenyon Martin played.
9. Purdue- JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel are great players that when healthy will take this team far.
10. Duke- This team did lose some valuable assests since last year but the fact is that Coach K only has winners. Kyle Singler and John Scheyer will keep this team in the Top 10, for now at least.
11. Washington
12. Tennessee
13. Oklahoma
14. Butler
15. Minnesota
16. Clemson
17. Dayton
18. Ohio State
19. Louisville
20. Illinois
21. Missouri
22. Michigan
23. California
24. Georgetown
25. Mississippi State