Ole Miss football fans hated me last week because I had the Rebels at No. 22, and they promptly loss to LSU. Complaining about your team’s spot in the polls often guarantees a loss the following week.
My 2024-25 AP preseason basketball poll was due last week, and it was released today. Kansas is the preseason No. 1 for the second straight year. It received 30 of the 60-first place votes.
I was one of 11 voters who had two-time defending champion Connecticut at No. 1. With the preseason poll, you’re trying to predict the national champion with your No. 1 spot.
It’s unlikely UConn wins a third straight championship. No one has done that since UCLA won seven titles in row (1967-73), but Dan Hurley and the Huskies are as good a bet as anyone. They landed at No. 3 in the preseason poll.
Last year, I voted Purdue No. 1 in the preseason poll, and it lost to UConn in the championship game. Two years ago, I had Gonzaga No. 1, and it lost in the Elite Eight. In 2021, my first preseason No. 1, UCLA, lost in the Sweet 16.
UConn was right outside the top 25 in the 2022-23 season poll. One voter had it as high as No. 15. Last year, it was No. 6 in the preseason. I ranked it fourth.
According to NCAA.com, six preseason No. 1 teams have won the national championship since 1984-85. The last was North Carolina in 2009.
Fifty five teams received at least one vote in the preseason poll this year. Dayton was not one of them.
I did rank Atlantic 10 Conference favorite Virginia Commonwealth in my poll at No. 24. Two other voters ranked VCU. Another A-10 team, Saint Louis, appeared on one ballot at No. 17.
No. 20 Cincinnati is the only top-25 team from Ohio, but Xavier and Ohio State received votes. In addition to Cincinnati, two of Dayton’s known non-conference opponents are ranked: No. 9 North Carolina; and No. 18 Marquette. The Flyers will also play either No. 5 Iowa State or No. 11 Auburn in the second round of the Maui Invitational.
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