College hoops’ season is less than two weeks out. The longest offseason traverse in major American sports is almost over. Hallelujah. With the season under a fortnight away, I am proud to present to you our biggest preseason piece of content each year: A master ranking of the sport.
Below, you’ll find capsules for the 101 best teams in men’s college basketball. If you came looking for a general scan of the top of college hoops or an in-depth look at why I’ve decided to underrate the likes of NC State and Indiana again, you’re in luck! This protracted primer offers more than just a little to know about a lot of teams.
Each year, as I build out this massive project, I consciously choose to avoid preseason metrics and human-based prognostications. You’ll find some teams aligned next to numbers here that you won’t find anywhere else — for better or worse. Probably better. I’m basically never wrong with this annual October science project, you know?
Of course, most of this will be immaterial by the time teams get a few games to their name, so leap head first into my rankings and bask in the optimism that comes with every preseason. Will Purdue be this year’s 2019 Virginia? Will Florida Atlantic be this year’s Florida Atlantic? Is the Big 12 going to take a dial back with 14 teams? Which coach will text me and protest his team’s placement on this list within minutes of the story publishing? (I almost published two names right here.
So much excitement with finally releasing this to the public every year. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed building it for you.
After weeks of careful curation and way too many rewrites and re-ranks, here is one man’s sketch of college basketball for the 2023-24 season.
