With the season over time to look to next year. My preliminary top five that will obviously be updated with defections.

UK
Duke - will be K's most athletic team since 1999
Louisville
Arizona
Marquette - they could easily be replaced by UNC or Mich State pending returning players and recruits

4/10/2013 10:16:06 AM

Kentucky is going to run a train on the rest of the country. Best freshman class ever plus 3 guys returning... go ahead and send them the trophy now.

4/10/2013 10:27:29 AM

Espn ranks Ohio State #6. Hope they can meet expectations lol.

4/10/2013 10:33:17 AM

Kentucky had the #1 recruiting class last year with three 5 stars and a 4 star, plus harrow and mays coming in, and they didn't have a very good season at all (of course, their star player went down... and i know their upcoming class is on a whole 'nother level)

4/10/2013 10:38:28 AM

roy says jmm, hairston, and bullock leaning towards returning

4/10/2013 10:43:29 AM

If they gel like last seasons team then it's over.. but no telling if that happens.

^ Hairston is 100% back from what I've read. Other two, don't know. Wiggins will head to UK/FSU if that's true.

[Edited on April 10, 2013 at 10:44 AM. Reason : X]

4/10/2013 10:43:35 AM

Brass Monkey's Top 25

1. Kentucky
2. Michigan State
3. Marquette
4. Duke
5. Louisville
6. Ohio State
7. Syracuse
8. UConn
9. UNC-CHeat
10. Kansas
11. Gonzaga (only because they'll rack up a bunch of wins against nobodies)
12. Arizona
13. St. Louis
14. Florida
15. Memphis
16. Wisconsin
17. Pittsburgh
18. Oregon
19. Indiana
20. Kansas State
21. Georgetown
22. Michigan
23. Tennessee
24. Temple
25. North Carolina State

4/10/2013 2:27:08 PM

No way Temple is a better team than us

4/10/2013 4:58:27 PM

^^ No VCU, Butler, or Wichita State. One of those three is bound to be a top-25 team. I'll give you credit though for trying to make a top 25 list when the early entries have even been finalized and some players still have not committed. The only thing I am certain of is that UK and Duke will both be nasty.

4/10/2013 5:35:00 PM

IOP1 Kentucky wins it all again

4/10/2013 5:43:05 PM

Quote :

"No way Temple is a better team than us"

i see what you did there

4/10/2013 8:51:18 PM

Teams 22-25 are the 4 teams I pull for. Throw Witchita State, Butler, VCU and another team for those spots.

[Edited on April 10, 2013 at 9:06 PM. Reason : ]

4/10/2013 9:05:50 PM

We don't want to start off ranked.

4/10/2013 10:43:46 PM

Don't worry; we won't

4/10/2013 11:07:25 PM

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/hairston-returning-for-junior-season/12335739/

4/12/2013 4:07:32 PM

I always find it odd when a mom and her kids have different last names

4/12/2013 4:21:42 PM

^
The Devils are getting some legit hype with Carson coming back.

4/12/2013 4:23:01 PM

^^that's sorta racist/judgmental of you

[Edited on April 12, 2013 at 4:23 PM. Reason : dats RACIST]

4/12/2013 4:23:02 PM

My mom's name is different. She just got remarried though.

4/12/2013 4:23:12 PM

it's not racist, it just seems to be common in sports

often times when I read articles that refer to a player's mom, she has a different name

none of my friends' moms have different last names, so that's why I find it odd

4/12/2013 4:28:32 PM

thought they were waiting for all three to announce at the same time? pure speculation-wise, it would seem at least one of the other two isn't coming back (if we're lucky, both aren't)

[Edited on April 12, 2013 at 4:31 PM. Reason : ^ cause you're white you racist bigot]

4/12/2013 4:30:47 PM

lol @ that comment being taken as racist

4/12/2013 4:37:43 PM

I hope they all come back and they get Wiggins. Good luck managing that lineup and all those egos.

4/12/2013 4:43:58 PM

I've read multiple times that Wiggins is a very humble guy. Of course, he can't be too, too humble the way he's dragging out his recruitment, but i understand why he's doing that.

4/12/2013 4:46:27 PM

Quote :

"I hope they all come back and they get Wiggins."

Yeah! I hope they go undefeated too!

4/12/2013 4:49:25 PM

Rodney purvis was a humble guy. Wasn't he??

4/12/2013 5:06:02 PM

So was Richard Howell

4/12/2013 5:14:25 PM

Quote :

"MORR1799 All American 2940 Posts user info edit post lol @ that comment being taken as racist 4/12/2013 4:37:43 PM "

if that was to me -> i was kidding

4/12/2013 8:51:17 PM

Maryland's Len is declaring for the draft

4/15/2013 10:09:37 AM

Jon Scheyer is gonna be a coach at Duke

4/15/2013 12:47:02 PM

4/15/2013 1:02:50 PM

Quote :

"if that was to me -> i was kidding "

it wasn't directed to you.. no worries

4/15/2013 1:54:24 PM

^^ lols. the many faces of scheyer

4/15/2013 4:57:30 PM

Smart from oklahoma state is coming back. nutty decision

4/17/2013 1:06:33 AM

what a dumb mother fucker. Lottery pick and you come back? so so stupid.

4/17/2013 1:48:06 AM

Like McAdoo last year. Maybe he thinks he can be a #1 overall

4/17/2013 9:42:11 AM

I reckon he's expecting OkSt to win it all next year.

4/17/2013 9:45:01 AM

Who has more money? The NBA or T. Boone Pickens?

4/17/2013 10:20:05 AM

ehh... marcus smart is already a pretty dang good basketball player. if he works on his shot this offseason, he could very well be the best point guard in the draft next year.

all that mcadoo's draft stock has ever been based on is potential and athleticism. he is a terrible offensive player. he can't shoot and has no post moves. he gets abused defensively by any big with decent post game. he is a good offensive rebounder and is good in transition, but that's pretty much it.

it's not fair to compare smart to mcadoo, because unless smart regresses horribly, he will still be a lottery pick next year. mcadoo didn't regress. he just actually played this past season and was exposed as someone who just doesn't have great skills.

4/17/2013 11:29:50 AM

He already is the best PG in the draft. This is just a dumb decision.

4/17/2013 11:32:09 AM

^^ I agree with all the McAdoo stuff except for the shooting part - I saw him knock down a number of baseline and elbow jumpers. But yeah as far as post moves, he's pretty unskilled.

4/17/2013 11:38:41 AM

eh that's debatable.

but he isn't going to kill his draft stock by coming back for another year.

^you can disagree all you want, but he isn't a good shooter. teams play off of him because he can't shoot and his only offense is driving to the rim and put backs on rebounds. teams give him wide open looks and he makes a few, but not a lot.

[Edited on April 17, 2013 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

4/17/2013 11:41:17 AM

Quote :

"he isn't going to kill his draft stock by coming back for another year"

famous last words

4/17/2013 1:04:00 PM

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

ouch

4/17/2013 3:26:49 PM

http://packinsider.com/2013/04/wood-howell-to-play-in-exhibition-at-ravenscroft/

4/17/2013 4:15:06 PM

^^ says "3 ACC teams" and then has 3 current ACC in the top 4 seeds and Syracuse/ND in. Definitely well thought out.

4/17/2013 4:24:01 PM

and pitt

4/17/2013 4:29:55 PM

Obviously didn't update the conference links yet. Technically until the spring sports end they aren't ACC.

[Edited on April 17, 2013 at 4:41 PM. Reason : Lunardi likes UConn. They'll be very good but not 3 seed good]

4/17/2013 4:40:15 PM

That Purvis kid is gonna be good for Uconn

4/17/2013 5:40:10 PM

Unconn will win the championship next year and then lose in the first round of the nit the next two

4/17/2013 6:24:11 PM