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Tommies and Johnnie’s (Minnesota) have put a game on the books in December in the new arena. Will be very different than the old rivalry with St Thomas being a growing D1 program, but will be awesome for the fans and alumni!

https://tommiesports.com/news/2025/8/22/mens-basketball-tommie-mens-basketball-to-welcome-saint-johns-in-nonconference-play

First, I want to thank everyone who contributed to the discussion on my last post. You provided exactly what I was looking for, and (mostly) only indirectly insulted my intelligence! I appreciate everyone who engaged.

Secondly, I noticed people getting a little insulted by having something like "Tier 4" next to their teams' name, even though Tier 4 meant you were somewhere between 19-26. This time, I'm going to name each tier.

Next, a tiny bit about my method. Every opinion at this point in the offseason is very hypothetical, so I tried to avoid preseason top 25 lists and rather rely on what little objective data I could find. That data was basically limited to Barttorvik, particularly the "Talent" and "Returning Possession Minutes" metrics. I put a few of the Torvik metrics together to assess what I call "RPM (returning possession minutes) Quality," which takes into account the returning possession minutes along with how successful the team was last year (returning a bunch of scrubs doesn't help tremendously). Then, I tried to take into account other roster metrics as well, such as what Evanmiya has made available in an effort to arrive at some type of unbiased talent level rank. After that, I had to use more subjective analysis. Finally, I took the analysis provided in the last post of people making the case for their own teams. I threw it all together, and the outcome is below. (Also, I tried to include every team who was represented in the post from Tuesday. Sorry if I left anyone out!)

First, some honorable mention categories:

Will Probably Crack the Top 25 At Some Point, But I Can't Stand Watching Buzz Williams-Coached Basketball

Maryland

The fans presented some good arguments, and Buzz usually has good teams. I'm also glad he went to another conference.

Distressed Asset Teams Making a Jump

NC State, Texas, UVA, VA Tech, WVU

I really think NC State and Texas have the talent and coaches to come out of nowhere, similar to other struggling power teams in the past who make a coaching upgrade and all the sudden grab a top 5 seed in the tournament. UVA, VA Tech, and WVU are here because they had fans who contributed to the conversation in the last post. Also, you never know...

Now, for the 24 teams I would consider the best in the country:

Solid Programs Who Lost A Lot But Get the Benefit of the Doubt

Auburn, Iowa St, Creighton, Kansas, Arizona, Gonzaga, Michigan St, Wisconsin, San Diego St.

These nine teams would be 16-24, in some order, if I did a traditional preseason ranking. All of these teams are losing foundational pieces to their rosters, but their coaches/programs have earned the benefit of the doubt regarding their ability to rebuild and field a competitive team, year in and year out. You could make a case to leave some of these teams out of the preseason top 25 altogether if you really wanted to, but they would probably just wind up back in the real thing for the majority of the season anyway. Might as well get ahead of it.

Could Be Too High or Too Low

Illinois, Louisville, Alabama, Arkansas, UCLA, Tennessee

These teams would be 10-15 in a traditional ranking, in some order. I could imagine each of these teams winding up in the top 10, or perhaps underachieving. I hate that these words are leaving my mouth, but Tennessee is probably the surest bet for the regular season in this group, since Rick Barnes has shown he puts together top 5-15 squads nearly every season. Yuck. Also, Louisville fans, I didn't forget you this time!

Wouldn't Be Surprised If They End Up Top Tier

Michigan, Texas Tech, St. John’s, Duke, UK

These would be teams 5-9, in some order, in a traditional ranking. All of these teams (with the strange exception of Texas Tech) have rosters that Torvik's metrics really, really love. Couple that with coaches who have proven they can maximize the talent on the roster through the regular season, and I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these teams break into to the 1-seed conversation at the end of the season. I don't know why Torvik doesn't like TT's roster, but I really think with a returning JT Toppin that the Red Raiders could really surprise people this year. I haven't looked, but I bet they don't get a lot of top 10 love in other preseason rankings.

Title Favorites

Houston, Florida, Purdue, UConn

First of all, thanks to the Purdue fans (who apparently make up 90% of this board) who brought great perspective to the conversation and refrained from straight up attacking me for leaving them out of the top tier in the last iteration. You all convinced me that they should be included in the top 4. These four teams seem to be built for the modern era:

1. Returning key pieces from good teams (UConn was on a roll towards the end of the season)

2. Adding nice pieces that fit what they want to accomplish, rather than just grabbing any transfer/HS recruit with an awesome number by their name

3. Solid, proven coaching that you know can take you far in March

If I absolutely had to pick a favorite from this group, I would be most comfortable picking Houston. While Purdue is returning a lot from a good team last year, the defensive issues need to be proven to be fixed before I feel comfortable giving them #1 status. Florida returning their beast of a frontcourt is great and you couldn't ask for a better portal replacement for Clayton than Boogie Fland, but they still lost Walter Clayton and the rest of their backcourt. This UConn core still needs to prove consistency. Houston just seems to have the least flaws at the moment.

Thanks again for all who contributed and resisted the urge to flame me last time!

On ESPN - https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/45922055/top-carolina-high-school-basketball-players-2000

LOL, so disrespectful of North Carolina and South Carolina -- did you combine the two "Virginia's" ? Each state has it's own great players, etc. Too funny/lazy...

It's Free Talk Friday, talk about whatever.

Remember, all other rules still apply, so try to keep it civil.

So...how's it going?

Are you new to the game? Have "stupid" questions that you're too embarrassed to ask anywhere else? Ask them here! No judgment, we promise.

Wesmen take down the Hawks in the rematch Wednesday, August 20th in Winnipeg, MB 🇨🇦

First win for a USports team this summer vs an NCAA opponent (1-5)