2018-19 RBP Preseason Rankings

1) Duke
2) Kentucky
3) Virginia
4) North Carolina
5) Kansas
6) Tennessee
7) Michigan
8) Nevada
9) Purdue
10) Gonzaga
11) Michigan State
12) Auburn
13) Syracuse
14) Oregon
15) Arizona
16) Kansas State
17) Villanova
18) West Virginia
19) Virginia Tech
20) UCLA
21) Florida State
22) Wisconsin
23) Texas
24) Florida
25) Mississippi State

2017-18 RBP Preseason Rankings

1) Duke
2) Michigan State
3) Villanova
4) Arizona
5) Kansas
6) Kentucky
7) West Virginia
8) North Carolina
9) Notre Dame
10) Michigan
11) Wichita State
12) Florida
13) Xavier
14) Louisville
15) Texas A&M
16) Purdue
17) Cincinnati
18) Gonzaga
19) Virginia
20) Saint Mary's
21) Texas
22) Miami
23) Wisconsin
24) Seton Hall
25) Oregon

2016-17 RBP Preseason Rankings

1) Duke
2) Kentucky
3) Oregon
4) Indiana
5) Wisconsin
6) Kansas
7) Villanova
8) North Carolina
9) Xavier
10) Louisville
11) Michigan State
12) Arizona
13) Purdue
14) Syracuse
15) Cincinnati
16) Virginia
17) California
18) West Virginia
19) Notre Dame
20) Gonzaga
21) Connecticut
22) Texas
23) Maryland
24) Texas A&M
25) Dayton

2015-16 RBP Preseason Rankings

1) Virginia
2) Kansas
3) North Carolina
4) Kentucky
5) Michigan State
6) Duke
7) Gonzaga
8) Maryland
9) Oklahoma
10) Utah
11) Iowa State
12) Villanova
13) Wichita State
14) California
15) Michigan
16) Arizona
17) Wisconsin
18) Louisville
19) Indiana
20) LSU
21) Purdue
22) West Virginia
23) Georgetown
24) Butler
25) Notre Dame

2014-15 RBP Preseason Rankings

1) Kentucky
2) Wisconsin
3) Arizona
4) Kansas
5) Duke
6) Louisville
7) Florida
8) North Carolina
9) Virginia
10) Iowa State
11) Wichita State
12) Villanova
13) Texas
14) Michigan
15) Connecticut
16) Gonzaga
17) Virginia Commonwealth
18) Minnesota
19) Ohio State
20) Michigan State
21) San Diego State
22) Nebraska
23) Utah
24) Southern Methodist
25) Oklahoma

2013-14 RBP Preaseason Rankings

1) Louisville

2) Michigan State 

3) Kentucky

4) Kansas

5) Duke

6) Ohio State

7) Arizona

8) Oklahoma State

9) Michigan

10) Florida

11) Georgetown

12) VCU

13) Creighton

14) Connecticut

15) Syracuse

16) Notre Dame

17) North Carolina

18) New Mexico

19) Wisconsin

20) Tennessee

21) Memphis

22) Marquette

23) Gonzaga

24) UCLA

25) Colorado

RBP 2012-13 Preseason Rankings

1) Louisville: The best defensive team in the country is also one of the most talented, but I'm not sure the Cards can shoot from outside.

2) Indiana: The Hoosiers are more skilled and have better shooters than Louisville but are not as athletic or as tenacious on the defensive end.

3) Syracuse: I'm predicting a breakout season for junior forward CJ Fair.

4) Kentucky: The inexperienced Cats may take their lumps early, but Coach Cal will have this team ready to make a third straight trip to the Final Four by March.

5) Ohio State: If the supporting cast, especially on the frontline, steps up, the Buckeyes have a chance to win a national championship.

6) Kansas: The gap between the Jayhawks and the rest of the Big 12 seems like it has never been larger.

7) Michigan: Trey Burke is college basketball's version of Chris Paul.

8) North Carolina State: If Lorenzo Brown and Rodney Purvis can share the ball without incident, the Wolf Pack could have a special season.

9) Florida: The Gators will score points in bunches, but the national title contenders are ranked 1-8 on this list.

10) San Diego State: You would be hard-pressed to find a better perimeter trio than Xavier Thames, Chase Tapley, and Jamaal Franklin.

11) Duke: If the Blue Devils hope to make a deep run in March, freshman Rasheed Sulaimon will have to step into the role of go-to scorer vacated by Austin Rivers.

12) Michigan State: I have questions about Keith Appling as a floor general, but I resolved to stop doubting Tom Izzo's Spartans.

13) Notre Dame: Jerian Grant and Jack Cooley give the Irish an extremely productive inside-outside combo.

14) North Carolina: Lots of talent on Roy Williams' roster but not a lot by way of killer instinct.

15) Cincinnati: Mick Cronin's Bearcats have taken the title of the nation's grimiest team from the Pitt Panthers.

16) Wisconsin: As long as Bo Ryan is grinding meat in Madison, the Badgers will have a spot in RBP's  Preseason Top 25.

17) Memphis: After losing the hugely underrated Will Barton, the pressure is on junior point guard Joe
Jackson to fulfill his considerable potential.

18) Creighton: Doug McDermott and Gregory Echenique give the Bluejays a frontline that can play with teams from the Power Six conferences.

19) Missouri: Top ten-type talent in Columbia, but Frank Haith has his work cut out for him in terms of getting a bunch of new faces to play together.

20) Arizona: Sean Miller has done an excellent job of recruiting talent to Tucson, but I'm worried chemistry issues will plague this program for a second straight season.

21) UNLV: Dave Rice's squad is the second of three Mountain West teams on this list, as the MWC will once again outclass the Pac-12 as the premiere conference on the west coast.

22) Florida State: The Noles return one of the nation's best backcourts in Ian Miller and Michael Snaer.

23) Lehigh: After shocking Duke in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountain Hawks return their top four scorers and will "upset" Baylor on November 9 in Waco.

24) UCLA: This program is a mess, and the Bruins' ranking assumes Shabazz Muhammad will be cleared to play.

25) New Mexico: Lots of questions on the interior for the Lobos, but juniors Kendall Williams and Tony Snell provide plenty of perimeter firepower.

RBP 2011-12 Preseason Rankings

1) North Carolina
2) Kentucky
3) Syracuse
4) Duke
5) Ohio State
6) Connecticut
7) Louisville
8) Pittsburgh
9) Vanderbilt
10) Florida
11) Wisconsin
12) Temple
13) UCLA
14) Xavier
15) Texas A&M
16) Missouri
17) Baylor
18) Memphis
19) Gonzaga
20) Michigan
21) Arizona
22) Florida State
23) Cincinnati
24) Brigham Young
25) UNLV

2010-11 Preseason Top 25 (Late Edition)

1. Duke
2. Michigan State
3. Kansas
4. Ohio State
5. Pittsburgh
6. Kansas State
7. Syracuse
8. Gonzaga
9. Missouri
10. Villanova
11. Wisconsin
12. Kentucky
13. North Carolina
14. Brigham Young
15. Temple
16. Texas
17. Memphis
18. Purdue
19. Murray State
20. Illinois
21. Florida
22. San Diego State
23. Washington
24. Baylor
25. Virginia Tech

2009-10 Preaseaon Top 25

Loyal RBP readership (Kyle Murray, Pat McGuire the Sig, and irrational Sacramento Kings fan),

With the start of the 2009-10 college basketball season, our little blog is ending its summer hiatus. Please enjoy my preseason rankings. Feel free to point out my errors, mistakes, and mishaps in the comments section. More analysis to come in future posts -- including preseason All-America teams, conference breakdowns, obscure lists, and topless photos of Tyler Hansbrough.

Yours,

The Admiral

1) Kansas: No surprise here.

2) North Carolina: Sky is the limit for soph Ed Davis and frosh John Henson.

3) Villanova: For some reason, everyone's sleeping on Jay Wright's squad.

4) Texas: John Wall and Derrick Favors get all the press (deservedly so), but I, for one, am an Avery Bradley man.

5) Michigan State: Overachieving Spartans lack go-to scorer but have nation's most underrated player (Kalin Lucas).

6) Connecticut: Trio of Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson headline talented Huskies roster.

7) Kentucky: Short on experience but the Cats possess as much talent as anyone in the country.

8) Purdue: Boilermakers have one of the country's best starting lineups, but depth and lack of bulk on the blocks are concerns.

9) Butler: Bulldogs bring everyone back, including talented trio of Matt Howard, Gordon Hayward, and Shelvin Mack.

10) West Virginia: Possibly the deepest team in the country, and Huggins' club is going to defend.

11) California: With Jerome Randle running the show, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson on the wings, Jamal Boykin in the post, and Mike Montgomery at the helm, the Golden Bears should take the Pac-10 crown.

12) Dayton: Flyers return almost everyone, including human highlight reel Chris Wright.

13) Washington: All kinds of talent on the perimeter, but the Huskies have questions in the post.

14) Georgetown: Ton of upside for JTIII's Hoya club, but Monroe and company need to shed their softness and play with a mean-streak.

15) Tennessee: The Vols have as much raw athleticism as anyone, but they have to play with some semblance of discipline.

16) Duke: I'm not that high on this latest installment of Dukies, but Kyle Singler and his mates will benefit from a slightly-down ACC.

17) Louisville: Gaping hole at the three spot undermines an otherwise extremely talented lineup.

18) Notre Dame: Addition of transfers Scott Martin (Purdue, former Baby Boiler) and Ben Hansbrough (Mississippi State, younger brother of G.O.A.T.) ensure that Gody's senior year will be a successful one.

19) Oklahoma: Freshman fatty Tiny Gallon teams up with super-soph Willie Warren to form a potent inside-outside duo.

20) Ohio State: You'd be hard-pressed to find a more talented pair of wings than Evan Turner and William Buford.

21) Wake Forest: With the departures of Jeff Teague and James Johnson, I think it will take some time for the Demon Deacons to find themselves, but, when they do, they will have the talent to challenge Duke for the 2 spot in the ACC.

22) Memphis: Coach Cal and Tyreke Evans are gone, but Conference-USA foes remain.

23) Vanderbilt: The Commodores are deep, long, and athletic, which seems weird, since we're talking about Vandy.

24) Xavier: Apparently, Jordan Crawford dunked on Lebron James this past offseason.

25) Gonzaga: Austin Daye, Josh Heytvelt, Jeremy Pargo, and Micah Downs are gone, but Matt Bouldin, Steven Gray, and Demetri Goodson give the Bulldogs perimeter punch.