Top 5 teams heading into 19/20

[bigblueroscoe]

As of right now, my top 5 for this upcoming season would go:

1. Michigan St.
2. Kentucky
3. Duke
4. Louisville
5. Maryland

Kansas would’ve been in my top 5 had Grimes not left. I believe the Cats will be the best team by the end of the year, assuming there are no major injuries. They would move up to #1 and a clear title favorite with a Blackshear commitment. Duke will be good and possibly be in position for a 1 seed, but I just don’t see where the outside shooting is gonna come from with a backcourt of Jones/Stanley.

Who do you guys have?

 

[mcwildcats04]

As of right now, my top 5 for this upcoming season would go:

1. Michigan St.
2. Kentucky
3. Duke
4. Louisville
5. Maryland

Kansas would’ve been in my top 5 had Grimes not left. I believe the Cats will be the best team by the end of the year, assuming there are no major injuries. They would move up to #1 and a clear title favorite with a Blackshear commitment. Duke will be good and possibly be in position for a 1 seed, but I just don’t see where the outside shooting is gonna come from with a backcourt of Jones/Stanley.

Who do you guys have?

Why in the world would Maryland be top 5?

 

[bigblueroscoe]

Why in the world would Maryland be top 5?

Return everyone except Fernando and bring in a big that would be a 5 Star if he wasn't injury prone. Gonna be a really deep team. I’d have Memphis in that spot but I’m not confident in Penny’s ability yet.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

I just don't see how Dook is in everyone's Top 5. Hurt will be a liability on defense that is attacked constantly. Jones isn't lobbing to Zion and RJ this year so I expect to see him drop off drastically just like Dook did when Zion was out of the lineup even though they still had the #2 and #3 players in the country. I think Dook will struggle from 3 and be forced to play though Carrey almost all the time which defenses can pack it in and force Dook to beat them from the outside. After Carrey, I think Hurt is over ranked and after that, it's not great. Plus their bench will be a huge dropoff and they don't even get Bolden back.

 

[jgodek]

Return everyone except Fernando and bring in a big that would be a 5 Star if he wasn't injury prone. Gonna be a really deep team. I’d have Memphis in that spot but I’m not confident in Penny’s ability yet.

So they return everyone from a decent team except for their best player and bring in a project to replace him? Sounds like top 5 to me!

 

[SkyPrince1]

What will be Mich St's starting five?
Winston Imo doesn't make a team #1 by himself or else he would be in the draft.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I'm not convinced Michigan State will be good enough on the interior with Ward gone.

 

[SkyPrince1]

As of right now, my top 5 for this upcoming season would go:

1. Michigan St.
2. Kentucky
3. Duke
4. Louisville
5. Maryland

Kansas would’ve been in my top 5 had Grimes not left. I believe the Cats will be the best team by the end of the year, assuming there are no major injuries. They would move up to #1 and a clear title favorite with a Blackshear commitment. Duke will be good and possibly be in position for a 1 seed, but I just don’t see where the outside shooting is gonna come from with a backcourt of Jones/Stanley.

Who do you guys have?

How many lottery picks will those five have in the 20 draft?
Possibly weakest top five ever from a pure talent standpoint but I'm sure this will be the trend going forward.

 

[bucsrule8872]

What will be Mich St's starting five?
Winston Imo doesn't make a team #1 by himself or else he would be in the draft.

My guess:

G Winston
G Langford
F Arhens
F Henry
C Tillman

 

[bucsrule8872]

I'm not convinced Michigan State will be good enough on the interior with Ward gone.

Tillman is very good.

 

[anon1763419335]

What will be Mich St's starting five?
Winston Imo doesn't make a team #1 by himself or else he would be in the draft.

winston/langford/henry/tillman is a solid core. dont think their recruiting class is all that strong.

i'm starting to think college basketball will be trash next year.

 

[JesusCal91]

My guess:

G Winston
G Langford
F Arhens
F Henry
C Tillman

We gotta play that lot on day 1? Ffs

 

[SkyPrince1]

winston/langford/henry/tillman is a solid core. dont think their recruiting class is all that strong.

i'm starting to think college basketball will be trash next year.

Yeah if that's the gold standard of CBB next season I'd say it's as wide open as it's ever been.

 

[502 Wildcat]

Rocket Watts, incoming frosh for MSU, will be very good as well. They have a really good backcourt but thin in the front court. Not much there outside of Tillman.

Still deserving of #1 though IMO.

My Top 5

1. Michigan State (Winston and Langford in the backcourt plus Tillman in the paint. Will have the most proven starting 5 in America. Look out for Rocket Watts off the bench too.)

2. Kentucky (Deep, talented, versatile, and one of Cal’s most experienced teams since coming to UK. Most talented backcourt in America.)

3. Louisville (Nwora returning makes them a dangerous team. Are the freshmen ready to contribute immediately? That will be the key. They have a ton of potential depth.)

4. North Carolina (I’m skeptical of Bacot making an immediate impact - but if he can, they will deserve this ranking. Anthony is really good and their two grad transfers are the real deal.)

5. Seton Hall (My dark horse pick. A lot of returnees, including the miracle man Myles Powell.)

 

[bucsrule8872]

As of right now, my top 5 for this upcoming season would go:

1. Michigan St.
2. Kentucky
3. Duke
4. Louisville
5. Maryland

Kansas would’ve been in my top 5 had Grimes not left. I believe the Cats will be the best team by the end of the year, assuming there are no major injuries. They would move up to #1 and a clear title favorite with a Blackshear commitment. Duke will be good and possibly be in position for a 1 seed, but I just don’t see where the outside shooting is gonna come from with a backcourt of Jones/Stanley.

Who do you guys have?

This is my top 5 at the moment as well.

 

[502 Wildcat]

Yeah if that's the gold standard of CBB next season I'd say it's as wide open as it's ever been.

College basketball will lack star power this coming season (which is the way things are headed anyway with the end of OAD upon us), but there are a handful of really solid teams out there. We are most certainly one of them.

As you said, it’s certainly more wide open than it usually is. But that doesn’t equate to a down year or “college basketball being trash” as one poster put it. Just means there is more parity.

Personally, I like it.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Rocket Watts, incoming frosh for MSU, will be very good as well. They have a really good backcourt but thin in the front court. Not much there outside of Tillman.

Still deserving of #1 though IMO.

My Top 5

1. Michigan State (Winston and Langford in the backcourt plus Tillman in the paint. Will have the most proven starting 5 in America. Look out for Rocket Watts off the bench too.)

2. Kentucky (Deep, talented, versatile, and one of Cal’s most experienced teams since coming to UK. Most talented backcourt in America.)

3. Louisville (Nwora returning makes them a dangerous team. Are the freshmen ready to contribute immediately? That will be the key. They have a ton of potential depth.)

4. North Carolina (I’m skeptical of Bacot making an immediate impact - but if he can, they will deserve this ranking. Anthony is really good and their two grad transfers are the real deal.)

5. Seton Hall (My dark horse pick. A lot of returnees, including the miracle man Myles Powell.)

UNC will be good, but Williams having a team led by Freshmen? That gives me reason for pause. The Grad Transfers better be legit and the returning guys will need to really step up.

I have them top 10, but not top 5.

 

[502 Wildcat]

Rocket Watts, incoming frosh for MSU, will be very good as well. They have a really good backcourt but thin in the front court. Not much there outside of Tillman.

Still deserving of #1 though IMO.

My Top 5

1. Michigan State (Winston and Langford in the backcourt plus Tillman in the paint. Will have the most proven starting 5 in America. Look out for Rocket Watts off the bench too.)

2. Kentucky (Deep, talented, versatile, and one of Cal’s most experienced teams since coming to UK. Most talented backcourt in America.)

3. Louisville (Nwora returning makes them a dangerous team. Are the freshmen ready to contribute immediately? That will be the key. They have a ton of potential depth.)

4. North Carolina (I’m skeptical of Bacot making an immediate impact - but if he can, they will deserve this ranking. Anthony is really good and their two grad transfers are the real deal.)

5. Seton Hall (My dark horse pick. A lot of returnees, including the miracle man Myles Powell.)

UNC will be good, but Williams having a team led by Freshmen? That gives me reason for pause. The Grad Transfers better be legit and the returning guys will need to really step up.

I have them top 10, but not top 5.

Fair critique, you could be right. Personally I am having a difficult time finding more than 3 teams better than them at the moment in terms of personnel. Maybe they don’t cut down the nets, but this isn’t final four picks, it’s preseason rankings.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Rocket Watts, incoming frosh for MSU, will be very good as well. They have a really good backcourt but thin in the front court. Not much there outside of Tillman.

Still deserving of #1 though IMO.

My Top 5

1. Michigan State (Winston and Langford in the backcourt plus Tillman in the paint. Will have the most proven starting 5 in America. Look out for Rocket Watts off the bench too.)

2. Kentucky (Deep, talented, versatile, and one of Cal’s most experienced teams since coming to UK. Most talented backcourt in America.)

3. Louisville (Nwora returning makes them a dangerous team. Are the freshmen ready to contribute immediately? That will be the key. They have a ton of potential depth.)

4. North Carolina (I’m skeptical of Bacot making an immediate impact - but if he can, they will deserve this ranking. Anthony is really good and their two grad transfers are the real deal.)

5. Seton Hall (My dark horse pick. A lot of returnees, including the miracle man Myles Powell.)

So if UK has the "best backcourt" and Michigan State only really has one proven interior player (as you noted), logically how does that add up to MSU being ranked higher than Kentucky? I mean, you have Kentucky being better than MSU at the things MSU does best (backcourt).

 

[bucsrule8872]

Fair critique, you could be right. Personally I am having a difficult time finding more than 3 teams better than them at the moment in terms of personnel. Maybe they don’t cut down the nets, but this isn’t final four picks, it’s preseason rankings.

I think it's a down year in terms of talent, so UNC could win it all.

I've got MSU, UK, Duke, UofL, and Maryland as my top 5, but you can make an argument for UNC over UofL and/or Maryland.

 

[bucsrule8872]

So if UK has the "best backcourt" and Michigan State only really has one proven interior player (as you noted), logically how does that add up to MSU being ranked higher than Kentucky? I mean, you have Kentucky being better than MSU at the things MSU does best (backcourt).

Not answering for him, but personally I think MSU has the best backcourt once Langford is back healthy.

Seniors Winston and Langford are veterans and have played a lot of games together.

 

[bgoad72]

I just don't see how Dook is in everyone's Top 5. Hurt will be a liability on defense that is attacked constantly. Jones isn't lobbing to Zion and RJ this year so I expect to see him drop off drastically just like Dook did when Zion was out of the lineup even though they still had the #2 and #3 players in the country. I think Dook will struggle from 3 and be forced to play though Carrey almost all the time which defenses can pack it in and force Dook to beat them from the outside. After Carrey, I think Hurt is over ranked and after that, it's not great. Plus their bench will be a huge dropoff and they don't even get Bolden back.

This!

 

[502 Wildcat]

So if UK has the "best backcourt" and Michigan State only really has one proven interior player (as you noted), logically how does that add up to MSU being ranked higher than Kentucky? I mean, you have Kentucky being better than MSU at the things MSU does best (backcourt).

1. Tillman is better than any of our 3 post players. At least for now.

2. Winston is the best PG in the country, and it’s not all that close.

3. They have the most proven starting 5 in the country.

I said UK has the best overall backcourt in the country because I think we do when you compare both rosters top to bottom. They have the best overall PG in Winston, but our depth at guard is remarkable.

Overall, I think MSU gets the edge in the preseason because of Winston and because of what all they return from a FF.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I just don't see how Dook is in everyone's Top 5. Hurt will be a liability on defense that is attacked constantly. Jones isn't lobbing to Zion and RJ this year so I expect to see him drop off drastically just like Dook did when Zion was out of the lineup even though they still had the #2 and #3 players in the country. I think Dook will struggle from 3 and be forced to play though Carrey almost all the time which defenses can pack it in and force Dook to beat them from the outside. After Carrey, I think Hurt is over ranked and after that, it's not great. Plus their bench will be a huge dropoff and they don't even get Bolden back.

The thing is that college basketball is going to be way down this coming season.

Duke won't be near as good after losing their Big 3, but the competition will be down.

Also, Hurt's defense won't be a problem. K will play a 2-3 zone to protect him. He won't have to defend man to man. I think that's the main reason he went to Duke, they can hide him on defense.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Not sure but I think UK and MSU are 1 and 2 when they meet come November.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Not sure but I think UK and MSU are 1 and 2 when they meet come November.

Most likely.

 

[TomTraubertsBlues]

It's going to be a down year for sure. No clearly dominant teams, and none of the blue bloods are likely to have rosters that stack up to their best teams.

 

[thespywhozaggedme1]

With Tillie coming back what do you guys think about my Zags?

PG: Derryck Thornton
SG: Admon Gilder
SF: Cory Kispert
PF: Killian Tillie
C: Filip Petrusev

Top 5? Top 10? Lower?

 

[bucsrule8872]

With Tillie coming back what do you guys think about my Zags?

PG: Derryck Thornton
SG: Admon Gilder
SF: Cory Kispert
PF: Killian Tillie
C: Filip Petrusev

Top 5? Top 10? Lower?

Top 10.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Thornton is playing for Gonzaga or possibly might? Man, it's like college basketball free agency anymore. Good Lord.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

The thing is that college basketball is going to be way down this coming season.

Duke won't be near as good after losing their Big 3, but the competition will be down.

Also, Hurt's defense won't be a problem. K will play a 2-3 zone to protect him. He won't have to defend man to man. I think that's the main reason he went to Duke, they can hide him on defense.

Players can't be hidden at UK. Used to be one of Cal's favorite lines. Anyway, come March, give me the Cats over any team in the country.

 

[Crawfords Corner]

Don't sleep on Jalen Smith at Maryland. Basically 12 and 7 last year as a freshman. Tremendous potential and looks like he is going to become a force defensively. Could see him skyrocket up draft boards this year.

 

[U6Hater]

1. Michigan St.
2. Kentucky
3. LSU
4. UNC
5. Memphis

Duke, U6, and Kansas still need some work.

 

[Padsfs07]

Gonzaga doesn't have Thornton yet. I don't think he's a very good PG either, but he is better than Ayayi.

I like LSU and Florida also as top 10 teams. Arizona could be really good with four returning rotation players and the two big recruits.

I don't know why you all are discounting Kansas now that Dotson returned. They bring back four good players even with Grimes transferring. He won't be missed all that much with Garrett and Agbaji on the wings.

I'm thinking Ohio State may be tough next year. They replace one CJ (Jackson) with another (Walker) but got Wesson back too. They won't do much in March, but they will be tough in the regular season.

Two other teams I like are Cincinnati and Villanova. In the conferences that they are in, they will both approach 30 wins again like both did two years ago. Likewise, Memphis is probably top ten too. I would put Cincy over them in conference though. Cinci has four senior starters while Memphis has four freshmen and both have relatively fresh coaches.

Noone has mentioned Washington either who will have McDaniels and Stewart.

Duke is a borderline top 10 team imo. I don't think UNC should even be top 15.

UL is getting all this love right now, but they lost Cunningham and are replacing him with Kimble. Grad transfer PGs are nice for filling holes, but you can't count on them doing it from year to year. Billy Kennedy got burned going that route after losing Alex Robinson. He went Collins >> Hampton >> WIlson and they always struggled with ball handling. Williamson is a really good pickup for Louisville however. Probably top 5 or 10.

I don't know my order yet however. There is still some potential transfers and 're-classifies' that will change things.

 

[thespywhozaggedme1]

Thornton is playing for Gonzaga or possibly might? Man, it's like college basketball free agency anymore. Good Lord.

He has been on campus the last two days and is supposedly going to commit this afternoon. And yes, it is crazy how much it is similar to free agency now. Our starting backcourt for this upcoming season, Gilder and Thorton are both grad transfers. Crazy.

 

[mandb20199]

My guess:

G Winston
G Langford
F Arhens
F Henry
C Tillman

I think Malik Hall, top 50 ,a 6 8 , stretch 4 will be in the starting lineup not Ahrens.

They will try to get a waiver on transfer Joey Hauser, given a lot of transfers are allowed. He is 6 9 from Marquette.

ROcket Watts is a top 30 freshman ,impressive guard who can make his own shot.

Deep team but as mentioned, behind Tillman no proven depth

 

[mandb20199]

winston/langford/henry/tillman is a solid core. dont think their recruiting class is all that strong.

i'm starting to think college basketball will be trash next year.

Very underrated incoming class: Rocket Watts,Malik Hall and a late big outof Texas who was hurt in HS but came on strong as a senior.

 

[jameslee32]

No idea why you pick U6 or Maryland over say, Memphis or Auburn. U6 has the best coach perhaps but never seen Mack develop freshmen like the elite coaches other than maybe Semaj Christon.