Duke – The Blue Devils are the preseason No. 1 team for the second year in a row. They received a huge boost to their 2017 recruiting class when Marvin Bagley, previously the No. 1 recruit in the 2018 class reclassified to the 2017 class. Coach K will be looking for Grayson Allen to lead this group of youngsters to try and prove they belong at the top.
Arizona – The Wildcats are another team that is going to be relying on a great recruiting class to keep them near the top. Allonzo Trier decided to come back to college ball, which is a huge boost for Arizona.
Kansas – KU suffered big losses with Frank Mason graduating and Josh Jackson heading to the NBA. That won’t be enough to stop Jayhawks from succeeding this year, as the seemingly endless flow of talent has them as
favorites for yet another Big 12 crown.
Michigan State – The Spartans will be very strong this year, thanks to the return of Miles Bridges, an early favorite for player of the year. They found success with their core last season, and look to build on that in 2018 with added experience.
Kentucky – This will be a standard season for Kentucky, as they once again will feature a lineup of mostly freshman. How well they mesh will determine how long they’ll be dancing this year.
Villanova – Jalen Brunson and Phil Booth are going to be leading these Wildcats that are just two years removed from winning a national championship. Though Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins are no longer there, Nova’s guard
duo fits Jay Wright’s system perfectly and will keep them in the top 10 conversation.
Florida – Florida returns a strong core of players that won 27 games a season ago, and are adding three 4-star recruits in the freshman class. Though they will be attempting to keep up with Kentucky in the SEC, the Gators are going to be a tough matchup come tournament time.
Wichita State – Almost every player from a team that won an impressive 31 games last season is returning. They look to run away with the American Athletic Conference title in their first season after joining the conference.
USC – Coach Andy Enfield took the USC coaching position in 2013 after wow-ing the country with his Florida Gulf Coast teams and
has been building his team steadily since then. Headlined by Bennie Boatwrights, this is going to be his best iteration yet. The Trojans will give Arizona a run for their money as the best team in the Pac 12.
North Carolina – Even though they lost a large portion of the team that won last year’s national championship, you can never count out a team coached by Roy Williams. Joel Berry is a critical returning player, and his leadership will help the new players and the returning supporting cast that will need to play a bigger part on the team this year.
Also in the hunt:
Miami
Xavier
Cincinnati
West Virginia
Louisville
