A season ago, the focus was on one team and one team only: Kentucky. This season, well, the Wildcats are still in our sights, but so many other teams have entered the conversation in what could be a wide-open season in college basketball. It's time to start the march to March. You ready?
Voters: Eamonn Brennan, C.L. Brown, Sean Farnham, John Gasaway, Jeff Goodman, Seth Greenberg, Andy Katz, Joe Lunardi, Dana O'Neil, Myron Medcalf
No. 1: Maryland
The Maryland Terrapins are going from having their coach on the hot seat to preseason No. 1. Talk about a turnaround.
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No. 2: North Carolina
North Carolina has a roster loaded with talent and experience. It also has an NCAA investigation hanging over it. Can the Tar Heels put it all behind them and go the distance?
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No. 3: Kentucky
Kentucky lost so much of last season's near-perfect roster. Think it's a rebuilding year? Clearly, you haven't been paying attention.
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No. 4: Kansas
Kansas will be searching for a 12th consecutive Big 12 title. For folks around the Jayhawks, though, another league crown isn't enough.
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No. 5: Virginia
Virginia will defend. But everyone expected that. Now can the Cavaliers score? That is the important question.
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No. 6: Duke
Duke doesn't want to look at this season as one in which it's defending a title. The key cogs in the group are gone. Mike Krzyzewski has a new crop of players ready to chase a title, not defend one.
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No. 7: Iowa State
The Mayor has left office, leaving Steve Prohm to settle into the chair previously occupied by local hero Fred Hoiberg. And Hoiberg did not leave a bare cupboard.
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No. 8: Oklahoma
Nothing about Oklahoma jumps out at you. Not coach Lon Kruger. Not star Buddy Hield. But don't let that calm exterior fool you.
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No. 9: Villanova
Villanova's overall record the past two seasons is impressive. It's those early exits from the NCAA tournament that haunt the Wildcats and follow them into another season.
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No. 10: Wichita State
The band is back at Wichita State. Senior guards Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker and coach Gregg Marshall are looking for one more inspired run.
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No. 11: Gonzaga
The conversation always starts with the same question: Is this the year Gonzaga reaches the Final Four? With the sons of former NBAers at the ready, maybe, just maybe, it is.
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No. 12: California
California and its new coach (hello, Cuonzo Martin) and high-end recruiting class (that's you, Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown) are ready to take on the usual Pac-12 powers.
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No. 13: Arizona
Arizona usually enters a season with Final Four expectations. Not this season, though. So without that burden, could the Wildcats make a big run?
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No. 14: Indiana
The pressure is on at Indiana. After a tumultuous offseason, the focus on whether Tom Crean can get the Hoosiers back among the elite will only increase.
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No. 15: Michigan State
The Spartans' season outlook changed considerably the moment Caleb Swanigan changed his mind and decided to go to Purdue instead of Michigan State.
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No. 16: Vanderbilt
Conversations about the SEC's best don't usually involve Vanderbilt. That is going to change this season.
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No. 17: Wisconsin
A season of uncertainty begins at Wisconsin, where it's fair to wonder: Will this be coach Bo Ryan's last year?
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No. 18: Utah
Sure, Delon Wright is gone. But Jakob Poeltl put off the millions of the NBA to make another run with the Utes.
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No. 19: LSU
The arrival of Ben Simmons has changed everything at LSU, where basketball is suddenly worth talking about again.
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No. 20: SMU
SMU won't play in the postseason and will be without its coach, Larry Brown, for part of the year while he sits out a suspension. It could be a hard year for the Mustangs.
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No. 21: UConn
UConn and coach Kevin Ollie are ready for 2015-16 to begin and completely put behind last season's disappointments.
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No. 22: Michigan
Health will be the key for Michigan. The Wolverines have the talent on the floor. But will they remain there?
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No. 23: Georgetown
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera said he was going to the NBA. Then he decided against it, and Georgetown is better because of it.
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No. 24: Purdue
Michigan State's loss was Purdue's gain. Actually, it was the Boilermakers' big, big gain, when Caleb Swanigan decided to decommit from MSU.
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No. 25 (tie): Baylor
Baylor made an early exit from last season's NCAA tournament, but the Bears are back and ready to try again.
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No. 25 (tie): Butler
Butler has settled into some normalcy as Chris Holtmann enters his second season as coach.
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