I'm not sure why Mizzou isn't top 25 right today but ok. And they just gave KU a good run in an exhibition. Gonna be fun watching Cuonzo push that team. Heels starting that title defense with Joel Berry hurt (lmao at punching a wall over a 2K game). But gonna be fun seeing if we can surprise some people and challenge for a 3rd straight year.

RANK SCHOOL 2016-17 RECORD POINTS
1 Duke (33) 28-9 1572
2 Michigan State (13) 20-15 1520
3 Arizona (18) 32-5 1506
4 Kansas (1) 31-5 1439
5 Kentucky 32-6 1340
6 Villanova 32-4 1284
7 Wichita State 31-5 1270
8 Florida 27-9 1100
9 North Carolina 33-7 1047
10 Southern California 26-10 995
11 West Virginia 28-9 840
12 Cincinnati 30-6 837
13 Miami 21-12 836
14 Notre Dame 26-10 814
15 Minnesota 24-10 642
16 Louisville 25-9 570
17 Xavier 24-14 544
18 Gonzaga 37-2 500
19 Northwestern 24-12 473
20 Purdue 27-8 362
21 UCLA 31-5 340
22 Saint Mary's 29-5 333
23 Seton Hall 21-12 274
24 Baylor 27-8 163
25 Texas A&M 16-15 130

Others receiving votes: Alabama 86, Virginia 57, Rhode Island 49, TCU 46, Providence 34, Missouri 19, Virginia Tech 16, Wisconsin 14, Butler 13, Texas 10, Maryland 7, Oklahoma 7, Nevada 7, Michigan 6, Dayton 5, Middle Tennessee 4, Ball State 4, SMU 3, Oakland 2, Oregon 2, South Carolina 1, Harvard 1, UCF 1.

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I'd have Wichita State Top 5. If they make it past that road game against Baylor, I wouldn't be stunned if they go undefeated through Valentine's Day.

The poll is higher on Miami and Notre Dame than I am. I'm concerned about Walker's health entering the season and how it will affect his efficiency, and I think Gibbs/Pflueger is a downgrade from Vasturia/Beachem. I'd put them both in the later teens.

I do not think Gonzaga should start the season ranked above St. Mary's. St. Mary's was the consensus pick to win their conference by the conference's coaches.

I think the poll is low on Seton Hall, a team I'd strongly consider putting above Xavier. Seton Hall finished above Xavier last year, and they bring back four of five starters-- I know Bluiett went crazy in the tournament and he'll likely go crazy most of this season, but I'd be more inclined to swap the Pirates and the Musketeers than have them where they are.

I'd make the argument for Bama over both Baylor and Mizzou preseason, but they'd all be in my contention for the 25th spot. Mizzou looked really good in that Kansas exhibition, but I worry right now about PG play and Tilmon's ability to stay on the court. They also exhibited some textbook Cuonzo offensive flaws in that game-- the offense was sort of "okay, toss it to a talented guy and let him go ISO." That style should keep them in the Top 25 hunt because of their talent level... but I'd bet they'll drop some dumb games playing that way too.

Our podcast will drop some conference preview episodes over the weekend.

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I know life has been busy for you though.

I'm actually more excited about this season than I've been in a few years. And that's coming off a title honeymoon and facing another Duke preseason #1.

I just think the season is going to be fun to watch. Maybe I'm vested more now that the Bulls are actively sucking and we are trying to get a top 5 pick.

I still think Mizzou should have at least been in the 20's though.

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>I'd have Wichita State Top 5. If they make it past that road
>game against Baylor, I wouldn't be stunned if they go
>undefeated through Valentine's Day.

Clearly the McDuffie injury hurt more than I expected, lol. Still, wouldn't be surprised if they end up a Top 3 seed in the tournament.

>The poll is higher on Miami and Notre Dame than I am. I'm
>concerned about Walker's health entering the season and how it
>will affect his efficiency, and I think Gibbs/Pflueger is a
>downgrade from Vasturia/Beachem. I'd put them both in the
>later teens.

Good calls from me here, though the Notre Dame call has an obvious asterisk. Still, Gibbs/Pflueger *have been* worse than Vasturia/Beachem (tho Geben came on in Bonzie's absence admirably, to be fair). They'd be a tourney team with Colson, but I still don't buy that they'd have been a Top 4/5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Miami's been outside of the Top 25 most of the year, even when Bruce Brown was healthy, so I think the questions about that team's efficiency questions were fair-- they're just so damn young, and Walker definitely struggled to start the year.

>I do not think Gonzaga should start the season ranked above
>St. Mary's. St. Mary's was the consensus pick to win their
>conference by the conference's coaches.

Coin flip-- Gonzaga has the better resume right now, but they split regular season (both on the road!), and I'm hoping that a rematch in the WCC finals will tilt in St. Mary's favor. They didn't win the conference (sneaky tough game on the road against San Fran, a Ken Pom Tier B game), but they still very well could win the WCC Tourney and get an auto-bid. Landale is just a beast.

>I think the poll is low on Seton Hall, a team I'd strongly
>consider putting above Xavier. Seton Hall finished above
>Xavier last year, and they bring back four of five starters--
>I know Bluiett went crazy in the tournament and he'll likely
>go crazy most of this season, but I'd be more inclined to swap
>the Pirates and the Musketeers than have them where they are.

lmao, biggest miss of this post-- I guess to my credit, I've consistently put Seton Hall too high the last two years in a row. I keep saying, "They couldn't shoot last year, that should improve, and they turned the ball over a lot, that should improve." And while they did improve in both areas this year, they're still bad in both areas. Note to self: STOP BELIEVING IN SETON HALL.

Meanwhile, Quentin Goodin got a lot better this year, and Naji Marshall gave Xavier more right away than I expected. Beastly year for Chris Mack-- every goddamn team in the country should be preparing to back up a dump truck of cash for this dude.

>I'd make the argument for Bama over both Baylor and Mizzou
>preseason, but they'd all be in my contention for the 25th
>spot.

FUCK THIS PICK LOOKED GOOD EVEN A WEEK AGO. Crimson Tide have fallen the fuck off over the last week-- I get losing at Kentucky and Auburn back to back... but following that with two HOME LOSSES, UGH.

Mizzou has impressed me considering the Porter absence. BracketMatrix has them at an 8 seed, with Alabama as an 11 and Baylor as a 12. Alabama and Baylor have both peeked into the Top 25 at points in the season, IIRC, but they've been way more up and down overall than Mizzou.

Mizzou looked really good in that Kansas exhibition, but
>I worry right now about PG play and Tilmon's ability to stay
>on the court. They also exhibited some textbook Cuonzo
>offensive flaws in that game-- the offense was sort of "okay,
>toss it to a talented guy and let him go ISO." That style
>should keep them in the Top 25 hunt because of their talent
>level... but I'd bet they'll drop some dumb games playing that
>way too.

Even without Porter, this was deadly accurate, minus the Top 25 hunt bit (which they would've been with Porter, imo). They really live and die by the 3 and the ball definitely has a tendency to stop on offense in close games.

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Shit will be rocky in the beginning, but as it gets into the new year and Vando comes back... there's gonna be so many "long armed Africans" (c) O.E. coming at the opposing teams offenses.

<---https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DL9AVTQ

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

>

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

do at Mizzou

________________________________________
"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0

<--- Big Baller World Order

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There’s promise there, but lots of young players that will take time to develop. Fast forward a year and things will be looking much different.

I have no faith in Howard, so if they want to have a successful ACC season, I feel like Thorpe really has to play winning basketball. That or Howard has to be a *lot* better than he was last season.

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>I have no faith in Howard, so if they want to have a
>successful ACC season, I feel like Thorpe really has to play
>winning basketball. That or Howard has to be a *lot* better
>than he was last season.

I have no faith in Howard’s decision making or his handle. He was just so, so bad when he was the starting PG in those early season losses to garbage UConn and Georgetown teams. He can be ok as the third guard, with less responsibility. His shooting looks better, and has shown potential to be a strong defender. He should play better than last year. But running the team? I don’t see it, I hope Thorpe can get it done but he’s been hurt. Should be good defensively in the backcourt though. I do think Battle will slide to SF a lot and all 3 of those guards will be on the court.

The frontcourt is mostly skinny freshmen. Sidibe looks a lot better than I expected at this point at C, and should be the best option. Chukwu has never shown much. Moyer plays hard but he’s not the caliber of F that would typically get any tick at this point in his career at Cuse and he’s starting. Brissett is legit and underrated. Dolezaj is athletic and plays smart, but very skinny and shot needs work. In time he’ll be good.

My hot takes impressions off one exhibition game and some high school clips. If they’re going to overachieve and make the tournament it will have to develop into a great defensive team. I love the potential for the future there, hopefully it comes together quickly. Darius Bazley is coming soon....

But with youth and not a ton of strength, they've got to figure out how it works quickly. Especially with a relatively weak SOS in conference, they'll need a couple of marquee wins OOC to not put too much pressure on the conference play.

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Defensively they already look better than they did at any point last year. Length everywhere, good athleticism and lots of hungry players that try hard. Once they really get the rotations down, they will give some teams fits on that end.

Offense will be ugly at times.

It’s a building year, I like all 5 freshmen’s potential and next years class brings in a couple instant impact guys. Can’t wait.

Plus the top half of the ACC is just so brutal.

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or basically any of the award watchlists. Once his ankle healed up, he was a big time player last year and several shoot first teammates are gone, so he’s on a team where he needs to carry a heavy load.

I imagine Bagley, Maye, and Guy are pretty close to locks. That leaves two slots. They'll be filled by Marcquise Reed, Justin Robinson, Jerome Robinson, Tyus Battle, Joel Berry, Allerik Freeman, Matt Farrell, or Wendell Carter.

If Battle doesn't get first, he's a lock for second. And the story about how many minutes he's played gives him a good narrative hook to secure media attention over some of the stars of better teams.

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Decent shot at 19 on Saturday, tho Clemson's been shooting really well and Mitchell's back.

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A little nervous about UNI but at least it's a home game.

____________

Duval, Trent, and Carter all played fantastically--- even O'Connell in limited minutes. This is just such a different team in terms of having tremendous talent but *also* obvious roles.

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Hoosier fans must be in full meltdown mode after 1 game, lol.

<---https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DL9AVTQ

>Hoosier fans must be in full meltdown mode after 1 game,
>lol.

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

after a start like that. Indiana State shot 17-26 from 3, lol.

Now, maybe he would've avoided that degree of embarrassment on opening night, lol. But still, it's gonna be a long season for Indiana. (Probably should be for Ohio State too, and I like Holtmann also.)

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the first 10mins of the telecast has felt like a giant infomercial for Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream policy. Doesn’t help the teams have their best players arrested/suspended I️ guess

------------------------------
For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

But GT's second and third best players weren't, obviously-- though if Game 1 was any indication, Jose Alvarado can ball.

Riley was the only one of the three arrested UCLA guys I expected to play real minutes in that game. Ball certainly wouldn't, and Hill is more of a backup at this point IIRC.

Walton's rambling because that's what Walton does, haha. People tune in to hear him ask his co-broadcaster if he's ever been to Senegal apropos of nothing.

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Absolutely insane to think he could be playing high school ball today.

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His motor is insane. At some point he's going to develop a jumper too although that will probably come when he's already in the league. Love the way him and Carter play together.

Mike-4
Dean-2
Rupp- Dead and racist

http://i.imgur.com/vPqCzVU.jpg

Dang it! This sux for college basketball.

____________

Hopefully this isn’t an injury that will affect him long term.