A McCullers NCAAB Top Ten Preview

Matt McCullers

Hallelujah! College basketball season is almost here and now the time comes for me to do what I do best: talk about it. As many of you know, the preseason polls came out last week. Just letting you off with a warning: do not take these polls as gospel. Most times, there’s a team out there, lurking in the shadows that will surprise everybody. I don’t know who that team is yet, but mark my words, it will come into light after these Thanksgiving tournaments. For now I will give you’all (or youse guys in Philly) my assessment of the top 10 teams from the AP preseason poll.

1. UNC- this is a pretty obvious one. My Heels, if completely healthy, should be dominant. They only lost J.P. Tokoto and that, to me, was a kind of a good thing. They are loaded position-wise and are deep. In addition, players like Justin Jackson and Kenny Williams should be able to relieve Paige from the pressure of being the team’s only consistent perimeter shooter. Speaking of Paige, I would not worry too much about the injury – it’s on his off-hand and he will be out for only a couple of weeks. We’ll really see how good this team is without him in the upcoming games.

2. Kentucky- They have a tough act to follow after last year’s team and have to cope with the loss of several key players to the NBA. But, they managed to steal a good freshman class of guys. Again, it’s always hard to tell if a new group of players will work efficiently well. They have a pretty manageable non-conference schedule aside from playing Duke. The SEC is different this year though: watch out for teams like Vanderbilt and LSU. This team probably will not have an undefeated regular season.

3. Maryland- Man I wish these guys were still in the ACC. This is a pretty talented team of returning players that got even better with the addition of Rasheed Sulaimon. I’m excited for their trip down to Chapel Hill in December. The team that wins that game will go to the Final Four. Just a prediction…

4. Kansas- This team always puzzles me. Self is a good coach, but these guys always rely too much on a single player and when they played Kentucky last year, their offense was very predictable. What they really have going for them is experience, but like in the past few years, I don’t see them making it to the Final Four.

5. Duke- I hate them. I hate the fact that Coach K is only getting better at recruiting players. He’s proved that a team can win a championship with only eight scholarship players. Despite this, I don’t think Duke will have the same success as they did last year. Their senior leader is Amile Jefferson…come on. Last year was so successful because Quinn Cook was a dynamic leader and really held those young players together.

6. Virginia- quite possibly the most boring team to watch play last year, and that ain’t changing this year. This is pretty much the same team as last year’s though with very good experience. These guys will continue to annoy teams (and fans) with their stifling defense and slow tempo. But, there are new rules in college basketball this year. Be sure to watch if this will alter UVA’s style of play.

7. Iowa State- Again, like most teams in this top ten, this team is loaded with veterans from very good Cyclones teams in the past few years. They are itching to win the Big 12 again and make up for their poor postseason performance last year. But sadly, I see this team as possibly having problems, mainly because they are without Coach Fred Hoiberg now. This was a coach who pretty much raised this program from the dead and now has left for the NBA. In my opinion, this is a pretty significant loss.

8. Oklahoma- Once again, here’s another Big 12 team, similar to the others in the top ten. They have a lot of returning players like Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler that will produce big numbers offensively. This team, along with Kansas and Iowa State, will filter in and out of the top ten frequently this year.

9. Gonzaga- Last year, this team actually made it to the Elite 8! This is a first in Gonzaga’s record of overrated-ness in the past decade. They play an incredibly weak conference schedule, but some nonconference games should test this team. They play three Pac 12 teams, along with Pitt and Tennessee. If they win all of these nonconference games, then these guys are legit. If not, don’t count this team to go very far in the postseason.

10. Wichita State- Oh no…not another team in a weak conference. But unlike the Zags, the Shockers have a relatively weak nonconference schedule only playing one ranked team, Utah. This team has very good chance of repeating what they did two years ago with an undefeated regular season.



That’s my assessment of this year’s top 10. Other teams to look out for this year are Indiana (I thought the Hoosiers were pretty underrated last year) and LSU. LSU has Ben Simmons, a preseason All-America candidate, so watch out for them. Other than that, stay tuned for more of my intakes this season and get ready for a fun year!