The 2022-23 college basketball season is upon us and it features a ton of new faces – most notably with Jon Scheyer taking over at Duke for Coach K. But one tradition that isn’t changing is the release of the preseason top 25 ranking.
The NCAA released their ranking today with most of the usual suspects cracking the top 10. Taking the top spot was North Carolina, fresh off a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament last season.
UNC are followed by Gonzaga, Houston and Kentucky to round out the top four. Reigning national champion Kansas and Baylor were tied at fifth, while Duke, UCLA, Creighton and Arkansas finished the top 10.
As you might imagine, the preseason ranking is probably the most controversial one of all and fans are making their pleasure or displeasure abundantly clear:
What a joke that Miami didn’t make it
— Sox Coverage (@sox_coverage) October 17, 2022
We make elite 8 and beat Gonzaga and we’re 10?
— CollinTheHogFan🐗 (@collintheH0Gfan) October 17, 2022
Kentucky is the best team in the country this is Bogus
— carter vail (@cartervail2) October 17, 2022
The NCAA poll clearly isn’t feeling much of anyone out of the Big Ten ahead of the start of the season. The highest-ranked Big Ten team was Indiana, who come in at No. 13 after a middling season under head coach Mike Woodson.
Michigan was the only other Big Ten team to make the list at all and they came in at No. 22.
But we’re still a few weeks away from tipoff and about a month away from some of the juicier non-conference matchups.
A lot will change between now and then.