At least Rothstein sticks up for us. DeCourcy usually does too.

@JonRothstein
Flat out comical that Cincinnati isn't ranked to start the season. The Bearcats may get less respect than anyone in the country.

Most voters probably spend about ten minutes filling out their preseason top 25. Well, to be more accurate, most coaches who vote have their director of basketball ops do it for them, and they spend about ten minutes on it.

It's such a crap shoot for everyone. If I had to pick the key factors, it's a combination of how well a team finished the season and how many contributing players they have coming back. Recruiting classes also factor in big, which is why you see Texas up there. That's not a good criteria because you're ranking a team based on players who have never played in college, but it constantly seems to be a factor.

Close to half the teams in this poll will not end the season ranked. Look at the preseason poll and final poll in any given year, and you'll see that's the case.

The preseason poll is the most meaningless and most forgotten poll there is. No one remembers that UCLA, Pitt and UConn were all highly ranked to start the year. It's ironic, because the preseason poll is also the most scrutinized poll of the year. It means nothing.