After watching Kentucky lose to UConn on Monday night, I don’t have it in me to talk about this past season at length. This Kentucky team went on a run that was fantastic as a fan and the best run I’ve ever seen, but it was also hugely exhausting. So they lost and the weight of that season is like a ton of bricks, sooooo let’s talk about next year shall we? It’s never too soon to start looking ahead to next year and while it may be a little early to throw out predictions, I’ve put together a way too early top 25 for next season. So fill the college basketball void left in your heart with this look into the 2014-15 season.
1. Duke
If Parker were to somehow return (which he won’t) then this pick needs no explanation. Duke is bringing in a monster recruiting class and while we haven’t seen Coach K have great success with one and done type recruits, it’s impossible to deny the great amount of talent Duke will bring in next year. Tyus Jones will be the next Duke player everyone else hates and Jahil Okafor will be a familiar face when talking about the number one pick in the NBA draft, so get used to him too. All that said and Duke will have too much talent to be denied the number one spot.
2. Kentucky
Losing Julius Randle is a given as he will be a top 5 pick, but UK will return Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson, and Marcus Lee for sure all of whom made names for themselves by playing outstanding basketball during Kentucky’s tourney run. Willie Cauley-Stein is a toss up to return or enter the draft and the same can be said about James Young even though I think he will leave. The wild card is the Harrison twins. Both will go or both will leave and they have the toughest decision to make and I think you could flip a coin on them coming back or leaving. As of right now, I am of the opinion that they will return and with that happening I give UK the second spot in the early rankings. Add to the mix Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Karl Towns and John Calipari will have yet another loaded team.
3. Arizona
Zona will lose both Nick Johnson and Aaron Gordon to the draft but will return both key big men and will get Brandon Ashley back from injury. Losing two stars always hurts but Sean Miller will pull in a class good enough to keep his team in the mix for a final four next year.
4. North Carolina
Carolina will lose JMM but return mostly everyone else. Marcus Paige will return next year to Chapel Hill and Brice Johnson will also return to give them some size. Add in a pair of top 20 recruits and ole Roy seems to have his program back on track in 2014 and lands himself a top five ranking to start the year.
5. Kansas
Losing Wiggins and Embiid means losing the foundation of last year’s roster, however Bill Self has been on quite a roll in recruiting and Cliff Alexander will be a star in his one year at Kansas. Kelly Oubre also has a chance to be a star and if he plays like I think he is capable, then Kansas will be in the top five in no time.
6. Wisconsin
7. Florida
8. Texas
9. Virginia
10. Ohio State
Aaron Craft used up his 17 years of eligibility last year so he won’t be back for the Buckeyes but that won’t be as big as a loss as most seem to think. Craft simply wasn’t as good as national writers yearned for him to be and DeAngelo Russell will be a star in Columbus so remember that name.
11. Michigan
Nik Stauskas will leave for the NBA almost certainly and Glenn Robinson III is likely to follow. However, there is a decent chance Mitch McGary will return and if he can stay healthy next year Michigan will certainly be a top 10 team and a contender in the Big Ten.
12. UCLA
13. SMU
Let’s all go ahead and admit that Larry Brown deserved to have his team in the tournament this year and has exceeded expectations thus far. Brown will bring in the top point guard in the class by landing Emmanuel Mudiay and has a decent shot to get Myles Turner as well which would just be bananas for him to pull off at a school like SMU.
14. UConn
15. Oklahoma
16. Nebraska
17. Iowa State
18. Villanova
19. Gonzaga
Gonzaga will fly under the radar most of the year as always but they return a good number of their core players and also will add in playing time from transfer Kyle Wiltjer who had to sit out this past year after transferring from Kentucky. They may not be a threat to make the Final Four but they will be ranked in the top 25 most of the year if they perform as expected.
20. Michigan State
21. Syracuse
22. Louisville
Pitino loses his top three players in Russ Smith, Harrell and Luke Hancock and could lose his point guard as well. Big man Steven Van Treese will also graduate, leaving Louisville with one big man who has any experience. Recruiting isn’t quite Pitino’s strong suit these days so UL fans should expect a few down years in the coming years. Russ Smith was a lottery ticket for Pitino that he struck gold on and won’t be replaced easily. Wayne Blackshear could make a difference next year but has seemed to have turned into just a big bag of fouls. Expect Louisville to struggle in the ACC in their first year and could drop out of the top 25 during the season a few times.
23. Wichita St.
24. UNLV
25. Oregon
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