Preseason basketball rankings

[wilson]

CBS Sports just put out a preseason ranking of all 351 D-1 programs. Our Devils check in at #7 (about right), and our friends down the road sit on top. I honestly think that's overrating the heels, Duke-colored glasses or not, but for now I'll just consider it one more reason it'll be fun to watch them underachieve (again).
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25331040/cbs-sports-2015-16-ranking-of-every-college-basketball-team-from-1-351

[gam7]

CBS Sports just put out a preseason ranking of all 351 D-1 programs. Our Devils check in at #7 (about right), and our friends down the road sit on top. I honestly think that's overrating the heels, Duke-colored glasses or not, but for now I'll just consider it one more reason it'll be fun to watch them underachieve (again).
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25331040/cbs-sports-2015-16-ranking-of-every-college-basketball-team-from-1-351

SIU Edwardsville is ranked three spots ahead of Houston Baptist? A travesty, I say.

Sorry, CBS Sports, but what a waste of time... Whichever intern was responsible for this had to be questioning the meaning of his/her life when faced with the question of which of Loyola(IL) or Monmouth to rank 128 and which to rank 129.... and then still be looking up at two-thirds of the teams in Division I yet to be ranked.

[DU82]

SIU Edwardsville is ranked three spots ahead of Houston Baptist? A travesty, I say.

Sorry, CBS Sports, but what a waste of time... Whichever intern was responsible for this had to be questioning the meaning of his/her life when faced with the question of which of Loyola(IL) or Monmouth to rank 128 and which to rank 129.... and then still be looking up at two-thirds of the teams in Division I yet to be ranked.

Clearly Loyola. King Rice, he, well, you know the cheer. (Says my nephew, a graduate of Monmouth.)

[Troublemaker]

USA Today Coaches Poll released today: http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/basketball-men/polls/coaches-poll/

#1 (tie) UK and UNC

#4 Duke

[Kedsy]

USA Today Coaches Poll released today: http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/basketball-men/polls/coaches-poll/

#1 (tie) UK and UNC

#4 Duke

So I guess the coaches think Skal is going to play? And that UNC doesn't suck? Interesting.

[Wander]

Eek. I think there's very little chance that we're better than the 4 teams below us at the start of the season. But the national champion is almost always overrated in the next year's preseason poll, so nothing surprising really.

[kAzE]

CBS also put up a list of their top 101 players. (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25336439/cbs-sports-top-100-and-one-college-basketball-players-for-2015-16)

Duke Players on the list:

#17: Brandon Ingram
#41: Grayson Allen
#84: Derryck Thornton
#85: Luke Kennard

I was surprised to see UK's Jamal Murray at #5 . . . I believe we were recruiting him before we landed Thornton. Also, Kyle Wiltjer is the #4 player in the country and CBS sports preseason player of the year? That's insane. Sure, he can shoot it, but he's an atrocious defender. But then again, there's a ton of stuff on this list that makes absolutely no sense. Amile Jefferson didn't make the cut, which is understandable, because he gets underrated by everyone. Both Thornton and Kennard make the list, and are rated higher than a senior Rasheed Sulaimon (#97) . . that's extremely questionable, considering had Sulaimon not been dismissed, he'd probably be a top 2 scorer and one of the best defensive players on this year's team. I stopped taking CBS writer's opinions seriously a long time ago, but I guess this list qualifies as amusing off-season reading.

[Class of '94]

Eek. I think there's very little chance that we're better than the 4 teams below us at the start of the season. But the national champion is almost always overrated in the next year's preseason poll, so nothing surprising really.

To coincide with your point, I don't see how KY is better than all of the teams below it based on the returning and incoming talent that it has. I just don't understand how a team that lost its top 7 scorers from a Final 4 team vault up to the top of the polls. Is KY returning players and incoming freshmen that good?

I actually think UNC should be No. 1 based on their returning talent; and I'm not quite sold on MD being as high as 3 (although I get it). I also agree that I'm not sure Duke currently is the 4th best team (but I think the team has top 10 talent and is deserving of being a ranked at the bottom end of the top 10 right now); but will be a team to reckon with by March.

[Olympic Fan]

No 4. is an interesting starting spot for Duke.

Duke has started No. 4 in the preseason poll in four previous occasions -- in fact, this is the third straight year that Duke is No. 4 in the preseason poll.

It worked out pretty well last year ... not so will in 2014.

The other two occasions were 1994 and 1964 -- in both cases, Duke ended up losing in the national title game.

Just wondering, if you could be guaranteed that result this season (a national runnerup finish), would you take it?

[Zmac32]

CBS also put up a list of their top 101 players. (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25336439/cbs-sports-top-100-and-one-college-basketball-players-for-2015-16)

I stopped taking CBS writer's opinions seriously a long time ago, but I guess this list qualifies as amusing off-season reading.

I actually think CBS' coverage from an online standpoint is far superior to the other major outlets. Of course nothing replaces DBR, but their content seems to be pretty solid and I enjoy their approach stylistically (more Bill Simmons fan boy-esque, non-corporately filtered).

I give them props for trying to post engaging college basketball content during a time when outlets such as ESPN act as nothing more than national headline feed. But that's just me.

[Listen to Quants]

USA Today Coaches Poll released today: http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/basketball-men/polls/coaches-poll/

#1 (tie) UK and UNC

#4 Duke

I like the coaches voting a tie between a good guess for the best team at the start of the year and a good guess for the best team at the end of the year. In mid-year I suspect voters vote for "best team at the moment." But preseason there is probably more far-gazing.

[Ichabod Drain]

To coincide with your point, I don't see how KY is better than all of the teams below it based on the returning and incoming talent that it has. I just don't understand how a team that lost its top 7 scorers from a Final 4 team vault up to the top of the polls. Is KY returning players and incoming freshmen that good?

I actually think UNC should be No. 1 based on their returning talent; and I'm not quite sold on MD being as high as 3 (although I get it). I also agree that I'm not sure Duke currently is the 4th best team (but I think the team has top 10 talent and is deserving of being a ranked at the bottom end of the top 10 right now); but will be a team to reckon with by March.

Well Kentucky's returning PG is probably better than the one that declared for the NBA next year. They also get Poythress back and if he's at 100% or close he should have a really good senior year. Especially considering he'll likely mostly play the four with a three guard lineup. A much more natural position for him in the college game than the three where Cal tried to play him last year.

Then they have the top incoming freshman class. I think they will be very good this year. Whether they are number one good or not we will see. Should be a fun game to watch in just over a month.

[MChambers]

No 4. is an interesting starting spot for Duke.

Duke has started No. 4 in the preseason poll in four previous occasions -- in fact, this is the third straight year that Duke is No. 4 in the preseason poll.

It worked out pretty well last year ... not so will in 2014.

The other two occasions were 1994 and 1964 -- in both cases, Duke ended up losing in the national title game.

Just wondering, if you could be guaranteed that result this season (a national runnerup finish), would you take it?
I'll take a 25% chance at a national championship, 50% chance of a loss in a title game, and 25% chance of losing the first round.

[NashvilleDevil]

Well Kentucky's returning PG is probably better than the one that declared for the NBA next year. They also get Poythress back and if he's at 100% or close he should have a really good senior year. Especially considering he'll likely mostly play the four with a three guard lineup. A much more natural position for him in the college game than the three where Cal tried to play him last year.

Then they have the top incoming freshman class. I think they will be very good this year. Whether they are number one good or not we will see. Should be a fun game to watch in just over a month.

Kentucky does not have the top incoming class. They have the second best incoming class.

[cato]

Just wondering, if you could be guaranteed that result this season (a national runnerup finish), would you take it?

Let me run a quick thought experiment:

1986, 1990, 1994, 1999

My happiness level just went down.

1993, 2000, 2014

No change.

1998, 2002, 2004, 2006.

Down again.

1995.

Drawing a blank here. Must be the result of last day of classes my freshman year. Or maybe that one time we pull the goal post down in Wally Wade and took it to the chapel.

1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015.

Back on top of the world!

Results: let's roll the ball out and watch some games.

[MarkD83]

Just wondering, if you could be guaranteed that result this season (a national runnerup finish), would you take it?

Yes I would want UNC to lose in the National Championship game to Duke and then the NCAA lays down the hammer on UNC.

[Ichabod Drain]

Kentucky does not have the top incoming class. They have the second best incoming class.

I think it was close but with the commitment of Humphries it put UK over the top.

http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1703221

http://www.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=14&cfg=bb&yr=2015

ESPN is the only one that still has Duke at #1 but they haven't updated in a long time and still list Kentucky with four recruits in the team rankings.

ETA: I love our class and think it has the possibility to produce more than UK in the long run, but just looking at it from a recruiting rankings standpoint I think UK has a slight edge.

[DukieTiger]

I think it was close but with the commitment of Humphries it put UK over the top.

http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1703221

http://www.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=14&cfg=bb&yr=2015

ESPN is the only one that still has Duke at #1 but they haven't updated in a long time and still list Kentucky with four recruits in the team rankings.

ETA: I love our class and think it has the possibility to produce more than UK in the long run, but just looking at it from a recruiting rankings standpoint I think UK has a slight edge.

For the record, RSCI (https://sites.google.com/site/rscihoops/home/the-winners/2015-winners) does like Duke's class more- even after the arrival of Murray. Doesn't take Humphries into account, but doesn't seem as though he would close the gap between the two because Duke has a pretty significant lead. (also doesn't take Vrank or JRob into account, understandably so.)

[Ichabod Drain]

For the record, RSCI (https://sites.google.com/site/rscihoops/home/the-winners/2015-winners) does like Duke's class more- even after the arrival of Murray. Doesn't take Humphries into account, but doesn't seem as though he would close the gap between the two because Duke has a pretty significant lead. (also doesn't take Vrank or JRob into account, understandably so.)

It also has Jamal Murray as #71 and then goes on to say he should be in the top 20.

[DukieTiger]

It also has Jamal Murray as #71 and then goes on to say he should be in the top 20.

Understood. Just wanted to point out that it says they'd still be significantly behind Duke if he had that rating.

[superdave]

CBS also put up a list of their top 101 players. (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25336439/cbs-sports-top-100-and-one-college-basketball-players-for-2015-16)

Duke Players on the list:

#17: Brandon Ingram
#41: Grayson Allen
#84: Derryck Thornton
#85: Luke Kennard

I was surprised to see UK's Jamal Murray at #5 . . . I believe we were recruiting him before we landed Thornton. Also, Kyle Wiltjer is the #4 player in the country and CBS sports preseason player of the year? That's insane. Sure, he can shoot it, but he's an atrocious defender. But then again, there's a ton of stuff on this list that makes absolutely no sense. Amile Jefferson didn't make the cut, which is understandable, because he gets underrated by everyone. Both Thornton and Kennard make the list, and are rated higher than a senior Rasheed Sulaimon (#97) . . that's extremely questionable, considering had Sulaimon not been dismissed, he'd probably be a top 2 scorer and one of the best defensive players on this year's team. I stopped taking CBS writer's opinions seriously a long time ago, but I guess this list qualifies as amusing off-season reading.



I would wager that Cat Barber (pun intended) has a bigger season than Jamal Murray. UK is going to be Tyler Ulis' team. I think Calipari loves Ulis.

They definitely over-hyped the freshmen in this list. We shall see....

[Ichabod Drain]

Understood. Just wanted to point out that it says they'd still be significantly behind Duke if he had that rating.

Yea individually I agree, But i think if Murray was bumped up AND Humphries added it would put UK higher with the way RSCI does theirs.

Either way Duke and UK are #1 and #2 and pretty close to each other. Should be a fun game next month with both teams being in similar situations, returning some quality upperclassmen from great teams last year and adding some top freshman as well.