Daniel Jakes

Ladies and gentleman, we have finally arrived to the best time of the year: college basketball season! After the release of the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25, we are inching ever so close to the best sport on this planet. With a little under three weeks to go until the 2022-2023 season tips off, let’s go through this preseason ranking with a breakdown of the results.

The Poll

1. North Carolina
2. Gonzaga
3. Houston
4. Kentucky
T-5. Kansas
T-5. Baylor
7. Duke
8. UCLA
9. Creighton
10. Arkansas
11. Tennessee
12. Texas
13. Indiana
14. TCU
15. Auburn
16. Villanova
17. Arizona
18. Virginia
19. San Diego State
20. Alabama
21. Oregon
22. Michigan
23. Illinois
24. Dayton
25. Texas Tech

Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 112, UConn 101, Miami 66, Purdue 56, Saint Louis 36, Michigan State 35, Florida St. 32, Xavier 29, Wyoming 25, Ohio State 23, Iowa 13, Rutgers 4, USC 3, Florida 3, Toledo 1, UAB 1, Memphis 1, Virginia Tech 1, Notre Dame 1.

The Blue Bloods Breakdown

After a first glance of the poll, my mind went to one place, Blue Bloods. With the likes of North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UCLA, Indiana, and Villanova all being ranked to start of the season, there is a balance that is returning to some of these sleeping giants. As we look at Indiana, this is their highest ranking since 2019, as well as their highest preseason ranking since the 2015-2016 season.

Nova dropping off this year seems likely under first year coach Kyle Neptune. It would be very likely though that this team hangs around and finds a way to play in the second weekend of the tournament.

I would be remissed to not mention the defending national champs, Kansas, as they are likely to be in the mix for a repeat. Their title challengers of last year however, are the odds on favorite to win this years title as North Carolina and Hubert Davis were able to bring back virtually everyone outside of Brady Manek. Manek was quickly replaced with Northwestern transfer Pete Nance.

Duke will have some great freshman lead the charge in Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski and Dereck Lively II for their first season in 42 years under a different coach. Jon Scheyer has his work cut out for him. Coach Cal and Kentucky bring back the National Player of the Year in Oscar Tshiebwe, and has their eyes set on a deep post-season run after the early exit against last year’s Cinderella, Saint Peters.

The Next Best Breakdown

Obviously you have to mention Houston and Gonzaga as the two that are inching closer to being considered blue bloods. The reason they are not considered blue bloods to me is the lacking of national titles. These two have serious fire power between them with the likes of Drew Timme, Marcus Sasser, and Julian Strawther, respectfully.

Creighton, Arkansas, and TCU are three teams that I think have the ability to really make deep runs in this upcoming tournament. Greg McDermott brings in possibly the best team that his program has ever had, snatching one of the top transfers on the market in Baylor Scheierman from South Dakota State. Arkansas will rely on one of the top recruiting classes as Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh, as well as Anthony Black. TCU’s Jamie Dixon will bring back one of the best rosters not only in the Big 12, but in the country as well. As long as the Horned Frogs stay healthy, they will likely be primed for a big season with Mike Miles at the wheel.

Best of the Rest Breakdown

We see a lot of familiar faces here as we look towards the bottom of the Top 25. There is a Virginia team that brings a lot to the table in Reece Beekman, Kihei Clark, and Jayden Gardner. The Hood look to compete for a high seed in the months to follow. We have an Illinois team that is reloaded with high major transfers and a Dayton team that brings back nearly everyone from last years team.

As always, what is said in the preseason normally is a wash come March. I hope that everyone that is reading this breakdown enjoys this season as much as I will. As the great Jon Rothstein says, “This is only October.”