Whether you believe it or not, we are just under three weeks away from the start of the college basketball season on November 6. The preseason chatter is starting to heat up after the release of the first AP Top 25 poll of the season, with plenty of notable rankings among the top teams in the nation.
To catch you up on the AP Top 25 Poll, we discuss three teams we believe have been overrated by the poll before the start of the season.
No. 5 Marquette
The Golden Eagles have a talented roster, but last season’s early NCAA Tournament exit showed how low the floor can go with this team. While Tyler Kolek is a contender for Big East Player of the Year as the leader of a team returning eight players from a season ago, this top-five ranking feels slightly above the ceiling that this team can produce. Close calls against DePaul, St. John’s (twice), and ultimately in an NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State last season keep us from falling in love with Marquette at this spot.
No. 10 Florida Atlantic
Sorry, but we’re not buying this FAU team as one of the ten best in the nation right from the jump. While the Owls were wreaking havoc within Conference USA all season long in 202-23, they never reached the top 15 on KenPom, even during their electric run to the Final Four. While bringing back virtually all of your scoring and signing your young, brilliant head coach to a contract extension makes for a dream offseason, we don’t buy that the Owls would be ranked here if they had gotten first or second-rounded at the NCAA’s back in March.
No. 11 Tennessee
Our concern is that the Volunteers have reached their ceiling with this class. While Tennessee likely has the safest floor among the teams on this list, we need to see them contend more within the SEC to believe in them fully. Zakai Zeigler, Santiago Vescovi, and Josiah-Jordan James return, while Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht slots in to give this team an elite backcourt. The frontcourt is where the shortcomings will lie with the Vols in 2023-24. Role player Jonas Aidoo returns and must step up at the five for Tennessee to have any chance this season.
No. 13 Miami
Don’t get it twisted; we are big fans of Jim Larranaga and his underrated body of work as a college basketball head coach. But 13th for a Hurricanes team that lost over 30 points per game from its top two scorers a season ago is supposed to be Sweet 16 level out of the gates? We don’t see it with a team with dudes who will need to step up in the backcourt to repeat last year’s success. Wooga Poplar and Nijel Pack will be asked to fill in for the losses of Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller, massive shoes to fill on the offensive end.
No. 19 North Carolina
Sorry, but we don’t see enough added to this North Carolina team that was a total dumpster fire a season ago to justify this ranking. The Tar Heels may still be getting the benefit doubt based on a six-game NCAA Tournament run that occurred 19 months ago, and it seems to have leaked into this year’s preseason voting. While Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan are solid additions, this backcourt may have gotten worse, and there is uncertainty about who will be the go-to guard in this offense.
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