As loyal readers might or might not know, I've had an AP basketball ballot for the last three years.
There almost wasn't a fourth, but everything turned out OK.
The preseason poll is supposed to come out later this week, and I just filed my ballot this morning.
Typically, I'll run down a top 45 every week on the blog. But since there's season preview stuff still to come for the dead-tree edition in a couple weeks, a preview of the top 25 seems fair.
This mental exercise felt like abnormally large amount of guesswork. The preseason plays a role in that, but so too does the complete lack of sure things this season.
There could be some changes in the next couple weeks. Kentucky moves up a spot if John Wall's in the clear. Mississippi State appears somewhere in the teens if Renardo Sidney somehow is declared eligible. An injury can obviously prove hurtful to pretty much any team.
But for now, this is what I'm going with.
1. Kansas
2. Michigan State
3. Texas
4. Kentucky
5. Villanova
6. West Virginia
7. Purdue
8. Duke
9. North Carolina
10. Washington
11. Butler
12. Connecticut
13. Michigan
14. Louisville
15. Tennessee
16. California
17. Oklahoma
18. Ohio State
19. Dayton
20. Clemson
21. Minnesota
22. Siena
23. Maryland
24. Tulsa
25. Vanderbilt
--- Patrick Stevens
