[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Always encourage others to drop a rankings post here.

1 OR 2 SEEDED TOURNAMENT TEAMS

#1 – UNC
#2 – Duke
#3 – Gonzaga
#4 – Tennessee
#5 – Kentucky
#6 – Arkansas
#7 – Texas Tech

TOP 4 SEEDED TOURNAMENT TEAMS

#8 – Miami (FL)
#9 – UCLA
#10 – Oregon
#11 – Creighton
#12 – Villanova
#13 – Alabama
#14 – Baylor
#15 – Texas
#16 – Illinois

TOP 25 RANKING TEAM AND IN THE TOURNAMENT

#17 – Arizona
#18 – TCU
#19 – Iowa State
#20 – Providence
#21 – San Diego State
#22 – Indiana
#23 – Houston
#24 – Auburn
#25 – UAB

TOP 50 RANKINGS

Florida State
Louisville
Virginia
Virginia Tech
UConn
Xavier
Seton Hall
Purdue
Michigan
Michigan State
Penn State
Memphis
Kansas
Oklahoma
Arizona State
Colorado
USC
Washington State
Florida
LSU
St. Louis
Richmond
VCU
Boise State
Wyoming

TOP 100 RANKINGS

Cincinnati
Eastern Michigan
Loyola-Chicago
Murray State
Bradley
Drake
Mississippi State
Ole’Miss
Texas A&M
Missouri
Georgia
Vanderbilt
South Carolina
Washington
Stanford
Ohio State
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Maryland
Iowa
Notre Dame
Boston College
NC State
Oklahoma State
San Francisco
St. Mary’s
Fresno State
UNLV
Grand Canyon
St. John’s
Tulane
Toledo
Dayton
Temple
UCF
UC Santa Barbara
Oral Roberts
Towson
Liberty
Iona
Furman
Colorado State
Arizona State
Western Kentucky
Belmont
Middle Tennessee
North Texas
Kent State
Monmouth
Winthrop
Vermont

TOP 200 RANKINGS

West Virginia
SMU
Nicholls State
Jackson State
Norfolk State
Sacred Heart
Youngstown State
Louisiana
Colgate
Navy
Boston U
UNC Asheville
Montana State
Penn
Bellarmine
Jacksonville State
Jacksonville
FGCU
UMBC
Stony Brook
Davidson
St. Bonaventure
Marquette
Southern Utah
Weber State
Northern Colorado
Longwood
Gardner-Webb
Long Beach State
CSU Fullerton
Hawai’i
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
UNC Wilmington
Hofstra
Deleware
UTEP
Florida Atlantic
Charlotte
Cleveland State
Purdue Fort Wayne
Northern Kentucky
Oakland
Princeton
Yale
St. Peter’s
Ohio
Akron
Buffalo
Northern Iowa
Missouri State
Utah State
Rutgers
Bryant
Wagner
LIU
Murray State
Samford
Chattanooga
Wofford
UNC Greensboro
Texas A&M CC
Texas Southern
Alcorn State
South Dakota State
North Dakota State
South Dakota
Kansas City
Texas State
Appalachian State
Georgia State
Troy
South Alabama
Arkansas State
Coastal Carolina
BYU
New Mexico State
Seattle U
Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston
Abilene Christian
Tulsa
Wichita State
George Mason
Clemson
Cal
Utah
Oregon State
Butler
Northwestern
Drexel
Western Illinois
Western Kentucky
Rice
Old Dominion
Chicago State
East Carolina
UMass
St. Joseph’s

[armchairgmParticipant]

I’m going with Duke or Arkansas winning it all.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I don’t normally pick them unless it’s obvious, but I’ll go with Kentucky this year. I think Cason Wallace is going to shine and their frontcourt is just too nasty. Not confident in the pick, but they got a good chance.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

FYI, Arkansas lost by 30 to Texas in an exhibition game, and Gonzaga lost by 19 to Tennessee.

If Gonzaga needs time to adjust to life after Chet and Nembhard, the schedule will not help. They have Michigan State on an air force carrier, @ Texas, Kentucky but not at the Kennel, the Phil Knight tournament (Purdue or West Virginia, and then likely Duke, Florida, or Xavier), then Baylor in South Dakota, Washington at home, and then a trip to Birmingham to play Alabama all before their Christmas break. To recap, trip to San Diego, five days later in Austin, back to Spokane, Portland for four days, presumably back to Spokane for class and practice, Sioux Falls, back to Spokane for end of semester and final exams with a few lesser games mixed in, and then Birmingham. The cumulative effect of the travel, transition of the roster, and quality of opponents could drop them off the #1 line.

Arkansas is basically a completely new team assembled with transfers and freshmen with only two rotation players back. Their early schedule looks largely manageable for a team that will have to use the non-conference season to come together. Still, other than the opener of the Maui Invitational against what appears to be a poor Louisville team, they could drop a couple there. I don’t think the SEC appears all that deep, but Tennessee could be strong and they only face them in Knoxville. They also have a pair with Texas A&M, Alabama, and Kentucky. Those are the teams in the conference to really threaten them, so they have about as heavy a load in conference as possible.

Also, if Jett Howard is the real deal and Jaelin Llewellyn transitions well to the Big Ten, Michigan could easily win the Big Ten and end up on a #1 or #2 line. Dickinson is possible All-American. Terrance Williams II and Kobe Bufkin seem set to take the next step. They have good size and length at every position, and aren’t lacking for athleticism even with Dickinson not exactly being a speed demon. I worry about Illinois being regarded as a close to elite team. They lost Kofi Cockburn (sadly now with Niigata Albirex), Alfonso Plummer, Trent Frazier, Jacob Grandison, Andre Curbelo, Da’Monte Williams, Omar Payne, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk, Brandin Podziemski, and Austin Hutcherson. That is 84% of the minutes, 86% of the points, and 84% of the assists, and 73% of the rebounds. I think Matthew Mayer and Terrence Shannon have the potential to be good, and Skyy Clark has been talked up as a freshman who can be good right away, but I can’t put them with Indiana and Michigan as Big Ten favorites. If Mayer and Shannon are as inconsistent as they were at their previous stops, they could easily be .500 in the league.

[Author]

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