With the college basketball season about to close, we look ahead to the 2011-12 campaign and rank the top 25 teams.
| 2011-12 Pre-Season Top 25 | ||||
| RK | TEAM | 2010 REC | COMMENT | |
 | 1 | North Carolina | 26-8 | Could Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller all really return? Call us crazy but our hunch is yes. If all three come back, they could be cutting down the nets in New Orleans just like in 1993. |
 | 2 | Texas | 28-8 | With Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton returning to Austin, there are no excuses this time if Rick Barnes doesn’t reach the Final Four. If Cory Joseph continues to progress, a national title is within reach too. |
 | 3 | Kentucky | 29-9 | Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones are probably gone but the combination of DeAndre Liggins, Darius Miller and Doron Lamb with super recruits Marquis Teague, Mike Gilchrist and Anthony Davis will be deadly. |
 | 4 | Ohio State | 34-3 | The Bucks lose a lot in Jon Diebler and David Lighty but Aaron Craft, William Buford, Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger will be fine. |
 | 5 | Syracuse | 27-8 | With Kris Joseph coming back, the only guy the ‘Cuse will miss is Rick Jackson. And if Fab Melo fills his potential, the Orange will be loaded. |
 | 6 | Duke | 32-5 | The Dookies lose a ton but get top overall recruit Austin Rivers – plus Quinn Cook and Michael Gbinjie – move Seth Curry into the starting lineup and now have three Plumlees (the Plumli?) at their disposal. |
 | 7 | Memphis | 25-10 | Josh Pastner is about to be a very hot coaching name. The team that almost knocked off Arizona is very young and adds stud Adonis Thomas next year. |
 | 8 | Vanderbilt | 23-11 | Watch out for the Commodores! Our hunch says John Jenkins and Jeff Taylor will return. Combine them with bruising bigs Festus Ezeli and Lance Goulbourne and Vandy will be very tough. |
 | 9 | Michigan | 21-14 | If Darius Morris leaves it would be a huge blow. If he stays – which we expect – Michigan returns everyone and could be headed to their first Final Four since 1993 – also in New Orleans. Hopefully that trip would end differently. |
 | 10 | Connecticut | 31-9 | Kemba Walker is as good as gone but with Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi likely all back, the cupboard is hardly empty. |
 | 11 | Xavier | 24-8 | They laid a huge egg in the Big Dance but unless Tu Holloway goes pro, Xavier could be next year’s Butler after going 24-8 this year. |
 | 12 | Marquette | 22-15 | Keep those 3-goggles handy because the team that reached the Sweet Sixteen returns Darius Johnson-Odom and big man Jae Crowder, among others. |
 | 13 | Cincinnati | 26-9 | The Cats are back. After making the third round in 2011, expect bigger things from Yancy Gates, Cashmere Wright and Co. |
 | 14 | Missouri | 23-11 | Frank Haith is walking into an ideal situation. The Tigers return all five starters from an NCAA tournament team, including leading scorer Marcus Denmon. |
 | 15 | Texas A&M | 24-9 | The Aggies looked dreadful at the end of the year but leading scorers Khris Middleton and David Loubeau will redeem them, especially with Kansas and K-State down. |
 | 16 | Temple | 26-8 | Lavoy Allen is gone but Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez will form a backcourt that lights up the A-10. |
 | 17 | Alabama | 25-12 | Roll Tide! With Tony Mitchell and JaMychal Green likely back, Alabama should be a force on the gridiron and hardwood next season. |
 | 18 | Washington State | 22-13 | The era of irrelevance is over. Wazzu should return all five starters, including stud Klay Thompson – that is, if he doesn’t go pro and stays away from the reefer. |
 | 19 | Louisville | 25-10 | Losing Preston Knowles hurts but Kyle Kuric, Peyton Siva and Terrence Jennings should have the Cards in the Big East mix. |
 | 20 | Arizona | 30-8 | How do you replace Derrick Williams? You don’t. But things are still pointed in the right direction with Momo Jones, Kyle Fogg and Solomon Hill – plus more stud recruits on the way. |
 | 21 | Kansas | 35-3 | The twins are as good as gone and if Tyshawn Taylor, Josh Selby and Thomas Robinson go too, there could be an apocalyptic situation in Lawrence. We think two will stay. |
 | 22 | Belmont | 30-5 | You read that correctly. The Bruins won 30 games and return almost everyone, including leading scorer Ian Clark. The VCU of 2012? |
 | 23 | Pittsburgh | 28-6 | Pitt loses a ton but Jamie Dixon’s teams always overachieve and Ashton Gibbs – who we expect to return – could be the Big East Player of the Year. |
 | 24 | Butler | 28-9 | Our guess is Shelvin Mack is headed to the NBA but there’s still Andrew Smith, Khyle Marshall and Ronald Nored. And if Mack returns? Watch out. |
 | 25 | Wisconsin | 25-9 | Jon Leuer is off but Jordan Taylor will compete with Jared Sullinger for Big Ten Player of the Year. |
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First Five Out
Florida: The backcourt of Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton will be back. Now all they need to do is completely rebuild their front line. Paging Patric Young.
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Gonzaga: The ‘Zags just won’t go away. With Elias Harris and Robert Sacre likely back, they are set in the post. And if David Stockton keeps playing like John, Gonzaga will be very good.
West Virginia: Bob Huggins is a master and Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones are enough to sneak into the Top 30.
Florida State: If Chris Singleton stays, FSU should be back in the Sweet Sixteen – at least. But that’s unlikely. Without him? It would take a Herculean effort.
St. John’s: Gone is the entire starting line-up. Well then it’s a good thing Steve Lavin has five of the top 51 recruits headed to Queens, including Compton big man Norvel Pelle. The “Lav Five,” anyone?
KU one spot ahead of Belmont??? Please. Bill Self will reload like always.
UK #1. Next year we finish what we started
Darius Morris is a goner
unless i missed something, william buford is a jr. and said is coming back for his sr. season
UK will get #8 next year
With Cronin staying and the top 4 scorers back, plus the emergence of Justin Jackson, the Bearcats will meet these expectations!
Man t*** Cal is a freaking choke artist and Ukay will NEVER win anything with a roster full of one and done And1 THUGS.
I fully expect the retarded UK fanbase to turn on man t***, just like they did to Tubby, after he chokes his way out of the tournament again next season.
Kentucky has highest payroll in college athletics. We will cut down the nets unless the NCAA catches me(then its NBA or bust)
dear author,
this poll sucks
This might be the worst poll Ive ever seen, did the person who made this just randomly draw names out of a hat? I dont even think UNC should be number 1 but I also noticed Kansas several spots below Missouri of all teams and barely ranked? Dont quit your day job, Hellen Keller could have made a more accurate poll than this travesty.
missouri is returning all starters… you dont know anything
Louisville will be top 15 team next season. Maybe top 10. Only losing two players and bring in a top 10 recruiting class.
Agree…UK will get another elite 8 this year.
Cal can’t win the win one. Trust me, we know.
Memphis is loaded and adds overall-#1 (per some services) recruit Adonis Thomas!
Pre-season 7? Can’t wait to see where the Tigers finish.
“Pitt loses a ton but Jamie Dixon’s teams always overachieve…”
Does overachieving mean they’ll be handed another 1 seed (that’s the over – as in rated – part) and still not get past the 1st weekend of the tourney (that’s the achieving – as in under – part)?
Man this poll is a complete joke. Memphis 7, Xavier 11, Cinci and Marq 12, and 13 and the Ville 19 with Wayne Blackshear and Behannon coming in. Ville top 5 guarantee.
Forreal man Andy Kats has us at #5 on espn insider
I think it’s funny that it’s assumed everyone is coming back except for UK’s freshmen. Also, Florida will be Top 10 with Brad Beal.
I see a lot of haters on this blog.
Sorry UK Fans, you’ll get plenty of sweet 16′s, elite 8′s, maybe even a final four or two….but you’ll never win a national championship with Cal as your coach.
This poll is a joke if it doesn’t include Florida as a top 5/top 10 team. Florida returns 7 players from a team that just won the SEC title and made it all the way to the Elite 8. Next year’s Gator team will have four McDonald All-Americans (denoted by **) in its starting line-up including 2011 Gatorade HS player of the year Bradley Beal:
PG: 6’3″ Mike Rosario**(rJr) /6’2″ Wilbekin(So)
SG: 6’2″ Kenny Boynton**(Jr) /5’8″ Irving Walker(Sr)
SF: 6’5″ Bradley Beal**(Fr) /6’6″ Casey Prather(So)
PF: 6’10″ Erik Murphy(Jr) /6’7″ Yuguete(So) /6’10″ Pitchford(Fr)
C: 6’10″ 245 Patric Young**(So)/6’9″ Cody Larson (rFr)
As you can see, Florida will have another veteran group (3 junior starters) backed up by mostly sophmores, a very dynamic back-court (3 Micky D’s), and good length & athleticism in the front-court. Unlike some programs looking for a quick fix, Billy Donovan develops his players over a 3-4 year period. Florida will have another loaded basketball team that will look to do big things again next year!
This is funny. No Michigan State in the top 25.
Coach Fred Hoiberg and the Iowa State Cyclones will be top ten next year or else I’ll do my hair like Mel Kiper Jr.
This poll is a freaking joke….
Tristan Thompson already hired an agent!! He WON’T BE BACK!
Also, Bowers and English are gone from Mizzou! Get your facts straight before attempting to do a preseason poll!!
Jealous, Jealous, In 2 yrs Cal took Ky to the Final Four, more than “10 Loss Tubby” did and b-4 someone says something Tubby won a Final Four with Pitino’s players. Cal will win National Championships @ UK. Big Coal Companies will get tired of seeing UK get sc***ed by the NCAA and then the NCAA will see multi lawsuits filed against them. The NCAA BS will stop
Uk is going to sue the world, what a freekin joke they and their hillbilly fanbase are to the rest of the nation.
Oh, I see….so now the great UK is even going to take down the NCAA. That is too funny! Like I said you’ll get far in the tournament a good bit, you will NOT win the big one with Cal. He is guaranteed to choke every time.
Uk is going to take down everybody but the nets…they need to worry about the future NCAA investigations—since Cousins has thrown the program under the bus…ok..Cal is going to throw his assistant under the bus…but in the real world…the head of the ship is responsible for the actions of his staff…Why is it that everywhere Calipari goes…investigations goes…now this is one that has a air of non-compliance to the rules!!!!
UK sux
Louisville at 19th? What a freaking joke that this pre-season poll is!! Louisville may not be top 5, but after finishing last season the way they did, and only losing two players, come on!! They beat Conetticut,( National Champions), two out of three games, losing only to them by 3 points in the Big East Championship Game. They beat Butler, runner-up to National Champions Conetticut, and beat 7, top twenty-five teams, during the regular season! I am very aware that they choked against Morehead last year, but a 19th rank? They are only losing two players, but at the same time, are more than making-up for that, by who is returning/coming in. Let me know if you need a new sports analyst, who can do a better job of predicting/ranking, cause I have a 10-year-old son, that can do a whole lot better job than yours did!!!!!!
Wait what u got louisville 18? everyone at espn Knows they will be top 7 but they dont know if they are better than vandy and memphis