Indiana University Bloomington LogoMEmerson14's Ballot for Preseason of 2018-19

Submitted on Monday, October 15, 2018 at 8:46PM EDT
RankTeamReason
1 University of Kentucky Logo Kentucky This might be Calipari's deepest team, his best senior at Kentucky in Reid Travis, and the 2nd ranked class coming in
2 University of Kansas Logo Kansas The losses from last year's team hurts, but this is a Final Four team with a top 5 class coming in combined with key returnees and transfers
3 Duke University Logo Duke The 3 best freshman and another 5-star in Tre Jones might give Coach K his most NBA talent on a team.
4 Villanova University Logo Villanova Booth and Paschall give them championship experience with two top-40 freshman coming in. I also can't bet against Jay Wright.
5 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Logo North Carolina Little and White give them two 5-stars to go with a good returning core. Losses of Berry and Pinson hurt, but UNC is always there in March.
6 University of Nevada, Reno Logo Nevada The Martin twins come back, a 5-star comes in, and Trey Porter comes in as a transfer. Should have the ability to improve on last years S16.
7 Gonzaga University Logo Gonzaga Gonzaga has one of the best frontcourts in the game to go with a senior PG in Perkins. Two 15+ ppg transfers should solidify the lineup.
8 University of Tennessee Logo Tennessee Tennessee returns all of their starters from a team that tied for the conference regular season championship. That includes CPOY Williams.
9 University of Virginia Logo Virginia Virginia comes in with a chip on their shoulder after losing to 16-seed UMBC last year. Guy, Hunter, and Jerome are a good core returning.
10 Michigan State University Logo Michigan State Losing Bridges and Jackson Jr. hurts, but the trio of Winston, Ward, and Langford are tough to beat. Might fit better than last years team.
11 Kansas State University Logo Kansas State Kansas State returns everyone from their Elite 8 team last year. Dean Wade might be the most underrated player in the country.
12 Syracuse University Logo Syracuse Syracuse returns their starting 5 from last years Sweet 16 team that lost to Duke by 4. Battle and Brissett are as good a 1-2 punch as any.
13 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Logo Virginia Tech Virginia Tech returns most of their core from last year's NCAA tourney team. Should fight for a top-5 finish in a loaded ACC.
14 Louisiana State University Logo LSU Tremont Waters is among the best PG's in college basketball. The additions of two 5-stars and a 4-star gives LSU a great deal of firepower.
15 University of Oregon Logo Oregon Pritchard returning at PG to go along with the additions of Bol Bol and Louis King has Oregon as the favorite in the PAC 12.
16 Auburn University Logo Auburn The loss of Heron will hurt immensely but they return nearly every other key contributor from their SEC co-champ and NCAA tourney team.
17 University of California, Los Angeles Logo UCLA Having Cambell and O'Neal both out for the year lowers their ceiling a lot, but they still have talent on what might be Alford's last team.
18 West Virginia University Logo West Virginia Losing Carter and Miles hurts the back court, but Ahmad, Konate, and West gives them a front court that will make them a tourney team.
19 Indiana University Bloomington Logo Indiana The 1-2 punch of Langford and Morgan is one the best in college basketball. IU's deepest team in a while. Should finish top-3 in B1G.
20 Florida State University Logo Florida State Florida State has a good core coming back from a team that went to the Elite 8 last year. Should compete for a top-5 finish in loaded ACC.
21 Texas Christian University Logo TCU TCU returns most of their core that was an NCAA tourney team a year ago. Players will need to step up to match that this year.
22 University of Wisconsin-Madison Logo Wisconsin Wisconsin has one of the best players in the country in Happ and also comes into the year healthy. Should contend for top-4 in B1G.
23 Marquette University Logo Marquette Markus Howard is a scoring machine and will be an All-American. This team will reach its ceiling if the role players fill in behind.
24 University of Michigan Logo Michigan Loss of players continue to be understated, but Beilein is one of best coaches in college basketball. Matthews will need to step up.
25 Purdue University Logo Purdue Carsen Edwards will be in the running for NPOY, how efficient will he be after Purdue loses 4 senior starters? Will role players step up?