Pundits blind. the real pre season top 25

[ThePhog08]

Some guys are too far in the forest to see the trees. I got you

1. Kansas

KU lacked real offense talents and had no depth to have any defense. KU added Storr the best transfer in the portal imo, elite shooter and nba talent Griffen. And mid major star Zeke Mayo to a group returning Dickinson, Adams and Harris

2. Gonzaga

Love them or hate them, an elite team in a easy conference still. Nembhard, Hickman and Ike are joined by mid major star Ajayi , and the zags have depth.

3. Baylor

I think Edgecomb will be the 2nd best freshman after Cooper Flagg. They will have an elite backcourt with Nunn and Roach. And they added stud Norchad Omier..

4. Duke

One and done doesn't work anymore. Well until cooper flagg and muluach decided to team up. I love the vet trio of transfers that add much needed maturity to a great class.

5. Iowa state

B12 may be one of the most dominant ever at the top this year. They return 4 starters from a S16 2 seed run.

6. Tennessee

I love the addition of Chaz Lanier , they have other good transfers for their system. With vet Zeigler back. Rick Barnes will always have a great regular season team

7. Creighton

I think Creighton is the top team in the big east this year. And their isn't much competition top to bottom in the BE. Ashworth, Isaacs and Kalkbrenner are a great trio .

8. Houston

I think losing Shead is a bigger blow than the "experts" seem to think. Offense is meh but the defense will be intense as always.

9. Alabama

I have bama lower than most and that's mostly because I don't see overwhelming athleticism. I think Wrightsell and Youngblood are ok. I was way underwhelmed with Holloway with auburn last year. They do have mighty might Sears back with Nelson and add big cliff who isn't a offense player but can rebound and play d.

10. Auburn

I really like the tigers off season returners and transfers. love him or hate him PEarl elevates talent too.

11. Purdue

I think the B10 is majorly mid. Someone will rise to the top and Purdue always has chemistry with always retaining main guys.

12. Uconn

The 2 main anchors in back to back titles to me were Clingan and newton. Diarra and , ball and Johnson do very little for me. If Mahaney, Karaban and McNeeley are your 3 best players then I smell a 4 seed. Still very good but not elite.

13. Kentucky

This may seem high to some but if Mark pope can even remotely coach he has a good blend. Oweh, Butler and Garrison are here for defense and Brea , Robinson and Krissa are here for offense.

14. Marquette

They still have Kam jones who should be an AA. Plenty of other guys looking to take the next step

15. Florida

16. North Carolina

17. Indiana

18. Texas A&M

19. UCLA

20. Michigan

21. Arkansas

22. Ohio state

23. Arizona

24. Xavier

25. Virginia

 

[ExitFlagger]

Indiana’s so loaded they have two top 20 teams…

 

[ThePhog08]

Indiana’s so loaded they have two top 20 teams…

Mike woodson is stil the coach.

 

[ExitFlagger]

Mike woodson is stil the coach.

I meant that you have them listed twice. 😆

 

[RR30]

Alabama 9th is bold, considering they are a final four team bringing back a lot of the core, including the best returning player in the country. Saying Storr is the best transfer in the country is quite the homer take too. He's not even the best transfer ya'll got this year. He's a high volume chucker.

 

[Rod Dangerfield]

 

[ExitFlagger]

Alabama 9th is bold, considering they are a final four team bringing back a lot of the core, including the best returning player in the country. Saying Storr is the best transfer in the country is quite the homer take too. He's not even the best transfer ya'll got this year. He's a high volume chucker.

Half of Storr's shots are at the rim. Not what I'd call a "high volume chucker."

I'd be willing to bet that he'll be the best of KU's transfers.

 

[ThePhog08]

Estrada and Griffen were huge reasons for it. Pringle and Griffen were their only defenders. They lost 12 games and were a 4 seed . Going on a run is why experts looked stupid with unc in 2023.

Alabama 9th is bold, considering they are a final four team bringing back a lot of the core, including the best returning player in the country. Saying Storr is the best transfer in the country is quite the homer take too. He's not even the best transfer ya'll got this year. He's a high volume chucker.

Bamas d was horrendous, little man sears and nelson were huge reasons for that. Cliff will help the overall d. Perimeter D will still b cheeks. I am not sold.

 

[boilerzz]

KU added Storr the best transfer in the portal imo

Having watched a lot of AJ Storr last year, I think you are going to be disappointed if you think he's close to this good. He'll have some great games where you think he's a stud and some games where he just pisses you off.

Wisky started 16-4 last year and ended up 22-14 and he's a big reason why. Just didn't seem like a team guy that elevates his teammates.

 

[della]

Some guys are too far in the forest to see the trees. I got you

1. Kansas

KU lacked real offense talents and had no depth to have any defense. KU added Storr the best transfer in the portal imo, elite shooter and nba talent Griffen. And mid major star Zeke Mayo to a group returning Dickinson, Adams and Harris

2. Gonzaga

Love them or hate them, an elite team in a easy conference still. Nembhard, Hickman and Ike are joined by mid major star Ajayi , and the zags have depth.

3. Baylor

I think Edgecomb will be the 2nd best freshman after Cooper Flagg. They will have an elite backcourt with Nunn and Roach. And they added stud Norchad Omier..

4. Duke

One and done doesn't work anymore. Well until cooper flagg and muluach decided to team up. I love the vet trio of transfers that add much needed maturity to a great class.

5. Iowa state

B12 may be one of the most dominant ever at the top this year. They return 4 starters from a S16 2 seed run.

6. Tennessee

I love the addition of Chaz Lanier , they have other good transfers for their system. With vet Zeigler back. Rick Barnes will always have a great regular season team

7. Creighton

I think Creighton is the top team in the big east this year. And their isn't much competition top to bottom in the BE. Ashworth, Isaacs and Kalkbrenner are a great trio .

8. Houston

I think losing Shead is a bigger blow than the "experts" seem to think. Offense is meh but the defense will be intense as always.

9. Alabama

I have bama lower than most and that's mostly because I don't see overwhelming athleticism. I think Wrightsell and Youngblood are ok. I was way underwhelmed with Holloway with auburn last year. They do have mighty might Sears back with Nelson and add big cliff who isn't a offense player but can rebound and play d.

10. Auburn

I really like the tigers off season returners and transfers. love him or hate him PEarl elevates talent too.

11. Purdue

I think the B10 is majorly mid. Someone will rise to the top and Purdue always has chemistry with always retaining main guys.

12. Uconn

The 2 main anchors in back to back titles to me were Clingan and newton. Diarra and , ball and Johnson do very little for me. If Mahaney, Karaban and McNeeley are your 3 best players then I smell a 4 seed. Still very good but not elite.

13. Kentucky

This may seem high to some but if Mark pope can even remotely coach he has a good blend. Oweh, Butler and Garrison are here for defense and Brea , Robinson and Krissa are here for offense.

14. Marquette

They still have Kam jones who should be an AA. Plenty of other guys looking to take the next step

15. Florida

16. North Carolina

17. Indiana

18. Texas A&M

19. UCLA

20. Michigan

21. Arkansas

22. Ohio state

23. Arizona

24. Xavier

25. Virginia

ESPN has the Vols at #13 and I think that is about right. Who knows how well the transfers will mix with the Vets. I do think we will be competitive and that makes for a fun season.

 

[rockycard]

Just like what we’ll see in the pre season polls next fall, so called blue blood programs are overrated. Danny Hurley with adequate talent is still top 5 imo.

 

[Necessary Roughness]

We are going to whip your ass by 30 again this year.

 

[RR30]

Half of Storr's shots are at the rim. Not what I'd call a "high volume chucker."

I'd be willing to bet that he'll be the best of KU's transfers.

Was a lower percentage shooter with a negative A/TO rate. He's the definition of a chucker. When he's on he's excellent, when he's not he'll shoot you out of games.

 

[ThePhog08]

his teammates sucked. He had to be the guy. He has elite talent around him now

 

[F-Duke]

I’ll bet the house Arizona is better than 23.

 

[IUfanBorden]

Having watched a lot of AJ Storr last year, I think you are going to be disappointed if you think he's close to this good. He'll have some great games where you think he's a stud and some games where he just pisses you off.

Wisky started 16-4 last year and ended up 22-14 and he's a big reason why. Just didn't seem like a team guy that elevates his teammates.

Pretty good take, really.

 

[IUfanBorden]

I'd be willing to bet that he'll be the best of KU's transfers

Possible. Ajai is really good though. Saying Storr was best plyer in the portal, opposed to being KU's best(teansfer)---are totally different. He can be really good----or meh.

I don't recall seeing him in many Top 10.

FTR, Carlyle and Rice both rated well above Storr----As was Balo.

 

[F-Duke]

Storr played like crap vs a lot of tbe best teams he played against last year

6-15 vs Purdue
4-12 vs Ilinois
4-15 vs Purdue
4-13 vs Arizona
7-20 vs Tenn
8-23 vs Purdue
7-20 vs Illinois

Kansas will be very tough but I’m not ready to crown them yet. Storr can be iffy and Hunter might be the worst post defender in the country.

 

[WeAreDePaul]

12. Uconn

The 2 main anchors in back to back titles to me were Clingan and newton. Diarra and , ball and Johnson do very little for me. If Mahaney, Karaban and McNeeley are your 3 best players then I smell a 4 seed. Still very good but not elite.

Huh, Clingan wasn't even the starting center on the first championship, let alone the main anchor.

 

[JimboBBN]

Kentucky is probably right between 15 and 20 right now. Super excited to see what Pope can do with this bunch.

Agree about Kansas being number one.

I will do a top 5:

1 Kansas
2 Alabama
3 Duke
4 Houston
5 Baylor

Not has high on Gonzaga as OP but higher on Bama and Houston. Tennessee just missed for me.

 

[ExitFlagger]

Possible. Ajai is really good though. Saying Storr was best plyer in the portal, opposed to being KU's best(teansfer)---are totally different. He can be really good----or meh.

I don't recall seeing him in many Top 10.

FTR, Carlyle and Rice both rated well above Storr----As was Balo.

I think Storr was #4 on 247's list.

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on every portal player, or that I know how to rank them all. That would be a damn tough thing to do even with detailed knowledge of every player.

 

[WeAreDePaul]

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on every portal player, or that I know how to rank them all. That would be a damn tough thing to do even with detailed knowledge of every player.

challenge fired at @dukedevilz

 

[dukedevilz]

challenge fired at @dukedevilz

On3 has a pretty solid ranking. Most of their rankings are reasonable. I'd certainly change a few. That would be a tall task to evaluate and rank all of those players.

I can comment on specific players, though, whether I agree with the ranking - and also give a rough range of where I'd rank them. Kanaan Carlyle, for example is rated as the 13th best transfer by On3. I'd drop him quite a bit, maybe in the 51-100 range because his efficiency is worrisome. Aboubacar Traore (Long Beach to Louisville) is rated as the 213th best player. He can't shoot from deep, but he does everything else really well. One of the most versatile players in the country. An elite athlete that defends, rebounds, and facilitates at a high-level. He's got to be in the top 100 somewhere.

 

[WeAreDePaul]

On3 has a pretty solid ranking. Most of their rankings are reasonable. I'd certainly change a few. That would be a tall task to evaluate and rank all of those players.

I can comment on specific players, though, whether I agree with the ranking - and also give a rough range of where I'd rank them. Kanaan Carlyle, for example is rated as the 13th best transfer by On3. I'd drop him quite a bit, maybe in the 51-100 range because his efficiency is worrisome. Aboubacar Traore (Long Beach to Louisville) is rated as the 213th best player. He can't shoot from deep, but he does everything else really well. One of the most versatile players in the country. An elite athlete that defends, rebounds, and facilitates at a high-level. He's got to be in the top 100 somewhere.

alright, good start, you got 98 more to go.

 

[Sparty_57]

Was a lower percentage shooter with a negative A/TO rate. He's the definition of a chucker. When he's on he's excellent, when he's not he'll shoot you out of games.

AJ loves jacking up NBA threes.

 

[RipThru]

Estrada and Griffen were huge reasons for it. Pringle and Griffen were their only defenders. They lost 12 games and were a 4 seed . Going on a run is why experts looked stupid with unc in 2023.

Bamas d was horrendous, little man sears and nelson were huge reasons for that. Cliff will help the overall d. Perimeter D will still b cheeks. I am not sold.

This. One run can make folks forget a lot of $hit.

 

[dukedevilz]

alright, good start, you got 98 more to go.

Hah only 100? I could probably do that. On3 has them ranked all the way out to 760.

 

[ThePhog08]

On3 is trash on every ranking

Clingan was a monster 6th man on the 23 team.

 

[dukedevilz]

On3 is trash on every ranking

Clingan was a monster 6th man on the 23 team.

The transfer rankings is the only thing I ever visit on their site. I don't agree with them across the board, but most of their rankings are reasonable.

On your rankings, I would say most of them are fair. I think UNC and Arizona are too low. And Marquette and Virginia are too high. I'd probably also include Texas Tech and St. John's in their somewhere.

 

[RetirementRickBarnes]

Respect to OP for not being a simpleton crowning Bama #1 largely because of a fluke Final 4 run last year like the mass media

 

[winin11]

Estrada and Griffen were huge reasons for it. Pringle and Griffen were their only defenders. They lost 12 games and were a 4 seed . Going on a run is why experts looked stupid with unc in 2023.

Bamas d was horrendous, little man sears and nelson were huge reasons for that. Cliff will help the overall d. Perimeter D will still b cheeks. I am not sold.

Last year we didn't have an elite rim protector because Bediako made a bad decision very late and stayed in the draft, so Bama played without a true 5 on the floor.
Year before last Bama was ranked the 3 rd best defense. This year we are 2 deep at the 5 with Cliff Omoriyu and a back up in 5 star Aiden Sherrill.

 

[winin11]

Respect to OP for not being a simpleton crowning Bama #1 largely because of a fluke Final 4 run last year like the mass media

Yeah, might have been a fluke, will see if Bama can continue all the flukes that got us there.
And obvious that the viles didn't win the whole thing. 🤨

 

[RetirementRickBarnes]

Yeah, might have been a fluke, will see if Bama can continue all the flukes that got us there.
And obvious that the viles didn't win the whole thing. 🤨

Calm down. I think Oats is an awesome coach as well as Sears. Bama had mediocre results vs tournament teams and top teams leading up to the tournament due to poor defense. Kudos to their run but there is nothing more overrated than a previous year's team winning tournament games. I'm sure defense will be better, how good is TBD. Also if the shooting will be as good with the new faces

 

[CB3UK]

I'm just excited for the change at Kentucky. I've got no expectations this year. Who knows how this brand new roster will gel? I have a feeling its gonna be a fun season. I'd have us around #15 for now until we see what we're made of.

 

[RetirementRickBarnes]

I'm just excited for the change at Kentucky. I've got no expectations this year. Who knows how this brand new roster will gel? I have a feeling its gonna be a fun season. I'd have us around #15 for now until we see what we're made of.

Pope is a great coach for sure, it'll be a fun offense for sure and he got some solid talent. I think they'll be a tournament team. How quickly the roster meshes and picks up things will be interesting, as well as depth and defense. As much as I'd like to see them do poorly (since I'm a TN fan) I think they'll be good. First years are weird and volatile, however.

 

[MGO2022]

On3 is trash

FiFY