Like all clichés, there’s more than an element of truth in the coaching adage that it isn’t important where you start but where you finish. It’s especially applicable to preseason polls, which are based strictly on potential, since by definition nobody has actually seen any of these teams as currently constructed in actual competition.
All of which is to say that by the time the men’s basketball season concludes next April, the final coaches’ poll is going to look a lot different from the preseason version just released.
But that reality every year never stops us from trying to have a little fun. Once again, we’ll try to identify a few teams that didn’t crack the initial top 25 but could end up there when trophies are awarded and the nets are cut down.
Texas Tech
In a league where five teams occupy the top nine spots in the preseason poll, there are going to be some ups and downs during conference play. But the journey in the Big 12 should help get the Red Raiders battle-tested when the time comes to make a tournament run. The foundation of their success under Grant McCasland and predecessors Mark Adams and Chris Beard was defense. That won’t change this year. But there will be enough scoring to win games with holdover Darrion Williams getting help from transfers JT Toppin (New Mexico) and Elijah Hawkins (Minnesota).
Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights weren’t totally snubbed, as they appeared on enough ballots to finish second among others receiving votes. The hype for Rutgers is based largely on the arrival of a pair of top-five recruits. One is Dylan Harper, brother of former Knights standout Ron Harper Jr., who has the genes to step in immediately to run the point. The other is Ace Bailey, an athletic swingman ranked second only to Duke commit Cooper Flagg by many recruiting outlets. Those two along with Jeremiah Williams, who averaged 12.2 points despite missing a huge chunk of last season due to injury, could make some noise in a Big Ten that is more wide open this year.
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Xavier
It’s easy to overlook the Musketeers if you look at last season’s 16-18 record. But the team was hit by an injury crisis and limped its way to finishing in the middle of the pack in the Big East. Should the group stay healthy this year, it has the talent to make a run at finishing second behind Connecticut in the league. It starts with the return of big man Zach Freemantle, who has missed the better part of two seasons. He provides a presence in the middle and has support on the perimeter from returning starter Dayvion McKnight. Sean Miller brought in a host of transfers to make the team deeper, including Ryan Conwell (Indiana State), Dante Maddox (Toledo) and Marcus Foster (Furman).
Wake Forest
Honestly, every ACC team not named Duke or North Carolina could have appeared on the snub list. We’ll concede that some skepticism is warranted for the Demon Deacons, who haven’t been dancing since 2017. But the pieces might be in place to end the drought under fifth-year coach Steve Forbes. The optimism starts with Hunter Sallis (18-0 ppg), who went through the NBA draft evaluation process but decided to return to Winston-Salem. Also returning are backcourt mate Cam Hildreth, who played with a broken wrist for much of last season but still managed to put up 13.8 points a game, and center Efton Reid III (9.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg).
Boise State
The Mountain West advanced six teams into the tournament and had two teams ranked on Selection Sunday. There are none in this year’s preseason poll, which seems like an obvious oversight for a league that produced such high-quality teams. The Broncos were voted the favorites to win the league with Tyson Degenhart and O’Mar Stanley as the two major reasons. Degenhart (16.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg) is the conference’s preseason player of the year and is joined on the first team by Stanley and San Jose State transfer Alvaro Cardenas. Another addition from the portal who could provide scoring punch is Javan Buchanan, who played for NAIA school Indiana Wesleyan.