Duke University Logosoccernamlak's Ballot for Preseason of 2017-18

Submitted on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 5:37PM EDT
RankTeamReason
1 Michigan State University Logo Michigan State Solid starting five with depth. Plus Izzo always works his magic come March. Extending it into April will be this season's test.
2 Duke University Logo Duke Losing Jackson hurts, but Allen + Duval starting should keep Duke riding high throughout the season. Plus having K doesn't hurt.
3 University of Kansas Logo Kansas Having some leading seniors like Graham + Mykhailiuk will help the Jayhawks, plus who's betting against Kansas for another Big 12 title?
4 University of Kentucky Logo Kentucky Sure it might be all one-and-done players, but six Top 25 players on your roster is nothing to sneeze at.
5 University of Arizona Logo Arizona Some good incoming freshmen, but replacing 4/7 of your leading scorers hurts.
6 Villanova University Logo Villanova Villanova is 129-17 over the past 4 years, but does face some depth questions for their roster.
7 Wichita State University Logo Wichita State Going from MVA to AAC with teams like UCONN, CIN, SMU will be the test of whether the committee was right to give the 30-4 team a 10 seed.
8 University of Southern California Logo USC Thornton coming over from Duke basically is adding fuel to the fire that is their backcourt. Still PAC-12 after dark...anything can happen.
9 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Logo North Carolina Bradley leaving hurts their championship title defense, but I can't see Roy Williams and UNC having an off year
10 University of Florida Logo Florida They've been strong over the past few years, and Koulechov should help them this year make a run in the tournament.
11 West Virginia University Logo West Virginia All is quiet on the West Virginia front, but when you have someone like Carter averaging 40% 3-pt / 2.5 steals, that's dangerous territory.
12 University of Cincinnati Logo Cincinnati A 23.1 PPG average a few years ago for Broome will help, but the once-conference favorites take 2nd to the Shockers
13 University of Miami (Florida) Logo Miami (FL) Brown, Huell, and Walker lead the Hurricanes, but how will they fare in the ever chaotic ACC conference?
14 University of Minnesota Logo Minnesota They've got some good returners. Can they repeat and exceed their 24 wins from last year?
15 University of Notre Dame Logo Notre Dame They've had a great run the past few years. If Colson can repeat his performance with Pflueger increasing his PPG, expect more tournament Ws
16 Purdue University Logo Purdue I mean, the Purdue Hype Train is always a fun ride, but Swanigan got off one stop too early.
17 Gonzaga University Logo Gonzaga Their backcourt losses this year hurt badly, so a return to the final weekend looks slim.
18 University of Louisville Logo Louisville I take full responsibility and ownership of this rank choice, but it's Adidas and UofL Trustees fault as well.
19 University of California, Los Angeles Logo UCLA Still should be in good shape from last year, and they've brought in a solid recruiting class as well.
20 Xavier University Logo Xavier Strong returners, good freshmen, strong coaching staff. All in front of "The Holy Land" student section.
21 Saint Mary's College of California Logo Saint Mary's Some heave senior losses from last year, but 29 wins for a third year is still possible
22 Northwestern University Logo Northwestern They've got some good backcourt veterans that can lead the team. But will they make their 2nd ever tournament appearance? Let's see.
23 Baylor University Logo Baylor No Motley hurts. Will their new and rising talent in McClure and Lindsey step up?
24 Seton Hall University Logo Seton Hall 4 returners with at least 10ppg, including Delgado. But do they have what it takes to knock out the Wildcats?
25 Texas A&M University Logo Texas A&M They've got their scorers returning plus some solid PGs this year. But can they make a Texas-size splash come game time?