And so it begins — that wonderful time of year when we hear familiar voices on the television and our favorite teams playing college basketball games that count in the standings. It is a beautiful time, indeed. With a sizable slate of games commencing this evening, we officially unveil the RTC 2015-16 Preseason Top 25. This poll will hold for about the next 10 days, but you can expect our weekly poll to come out every Monday morning starting on November 23 through the rest of the season. Along with the rankings will be the usual quick and dirty analysis that dives a bit more deeply into how the teams shake out from top to bottom. To see how we did last year, check out our 2014-15 preseason poll — sure, we nailed some (Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin, Arizona), and missed on some others (Florida, Michigan, Texas, Syracuse). We promise to do better this time around. Here’s the preseason poll.

Quick N’ Dirty Thoughts.

• There is significant uncertainty at the top of the poll – Last season’s preseason poll also had Kentucky in the #1 spot, but those Wildcats garnered six of seven first-place votes. This time around, three other teams — #2 Kansas, #4 North Carolina, and #5 Virginia — each grabbed first-place votes. It is very difficult to argue with any of these selections at this point and that should ultimately make for a very exciting season. It should be noted that North Carolina was ranked first by the Associated Press, but that poll was released before Tar Heels’ senior point guard Marcus Paige suffered a broken hand that should sideline him for three to four weeks. Will the Tar Heels be able to remain within striking distance in Paige’s absence? And if so, will they be as good as advertised when he returns?

• The Big 12 is well-represented in the top 10 – #2 Kansas has taken home the last 11 regular season Big 12 titles. The Jayhawks — led by senior forward Perry Ellis and junior guard Frank Mason — are once again a talented unit that should be considered the favorite to take home yet another league crown. However, it will not be an easy task, as #7 Iowa State and #8 Oklahoma will present an arduous challenge. While the Cyclones now have a new coach in Steve Prohm, both junior guard Monte’ Morris and senior forward Georges Niang return to Ames. Meanwhile, the Sooners probably have the best player in the league in senior guard Buddy Hield. This league race should be intriguing all season and you should expect these three teams to duke it out until the very end.
• Gonzaga and Wichita State continue to represent the non-power leagues – It has reached a point where the strong projections of #9 Gonzaga and #11 Wichita State have come to be expected. Coming off an Elite Eight appearance, Mark Few’s Bulldogs are going to rely on the post power of sophomore Domantas Sabonis and seniors Przemek Karnowski and Kyle Wiltjer to lead the squad back into the national power discussion. During another topsy-turvy coaching carousel, Gregg Marshall decided to say at Wichita State to coach standout senior guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet for another season. These two programs can go toe to toe with the majority of D-I programs, and their preseason rankings reflect that.
• Notre Dame and Wisconsin lost a lot but should still be very good – #17 Notre Dame and #17 Wisconsin were gutted when it came to leadership from last season’s outstanding teams. The Irish lost standout guard Jerian Grant and do-everything swingman Pat Connaughton, while the Badgers lost seniors Josh Gasser and Frank Kaminsky along with junior star Sam Dekker. Even with these notable departures, both teams should still be quite strong. Mike Brey’s Irish will look to junior guards Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia to keep his squad among the ACC’s best. Bo Ryan will trot out juniors Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes to keep the Badgers rolling in the Big Ten. In the one-and-done era, there are very few programs that can stay relevant with mostly veteran players, but both Notre Dame and Wisconsin have enough returning weapons to be very good once again.

Game of the Week – #1 Kentucky vs. #6 Duke. One of the most anticipated battles of the non-conference season will take place in the first week of action as the Wildcats and Blue Devils will face off in the Champions Classic in Chicago. While both squads return notable contributors, it will be the freshman classes on display Tuesday night. John Calipari’s recruiting haul of Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe, Charles Matthews, Isaac Humphries and Skal Labissiere will take on their counterparts in Duke’s Chase Jeter, Luke Kennard, Derryck Thornton and Brandon Ingram. The veterans will have their say in this blue-blood matchup before it is all said and done, but expect the fresh faces to dictate who comes out victorious.

Keep Tabs On. #7 Iowa State vs. Colorado; #9 Gonzaga vs. Pittsburgh; #19 Baylor vs. Stephen F. Austin; #13 Utah vs. San Diego State; #19 Baylor vs. #22 Oregon; #3 Maryland vs. Georgetown; #2 Kansas vs. #12 Michigan State; #6 Duke vs. VCU; #20 Michigan vs. Xavier.

Conference Call – Big Ten (6),  Big 12 (4), ACC (4), Pac-12 (4), SEC (3),  Big East (1), WCC (1), MVC (1), AAC (1).

WCarey (318 Posts)

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2015 at 8:31 am by Walker Carey and is filed under 2015-16 Season Preview, blogpoll, Regular Features. Tagged: duke, feature, gonzaga, iowa state, kansas, kentucky, north carolina, notre dame, oklahoma, virginia, wichita state, wisconsin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.