Slam's Pre-Season Top 25

SLAM College Top 25

Rank ↓	Team	Last	Conf.	Eliminated	Why?
1	UNC	1	ACC	by Georgetown 96-84, Elite 8	For a top-seed whose only contention last year was that they were too young to compete, it's surprising the buzz machine hasn't exploded by now. Terry and Wright were key pieces, but the Lawson-to-Hansbrough combo is suddenly both seasoned and horrifying.
2	UCLA	2	Pac-10	by Florida 76-66, Final Four	Kevin Love is "the best outlet passer since Wes Unseld." Fantastic! So was Rafael Araujo. Whatever. Love is the real deal and he joins a loaded, NBA-ready starting five that only lost Afflalo.
3	Kansas	3	Big 12	by UCLA 68-55, Elite 8	Would've easily been #1 with a Julian Wright return, but now they're lucky to be in the top 3. But Self has a cast of unproven and underrated sophomores to win over again and turn the media into mush.
4	Memphis	4	Conf USA	by Ohio St. 92-76, Elite 8	Derrick Rose! Chris Douglas-Roberts! John Calipari! Sunset! Riding off into it! If by "sunset" you mean "second-round knockout!"
5	Georgetown	5	Big East	by Ohio St. 67-60, Final Four	Roy Hibbert is the only dominant center left on an established program. Every game against a mid-major is going to be like the last level of Mike Tyson's Punchout: terribly unfair to the little white guys who were wondering when they signed up for this.
6	Tennessee	6	SEC	by Ohio St. 85-84, Sweet 16	Chris Lofton and the Volunteers almost runned-and-gunned (ran and gan?) their way through the tournament, long before any pro team from the Bay Area stole their idea. If Chris Lofton can do that Hero thing all the way through the regular season, they're a one-seed.
7	USC	7	Pac 10	by UNC 74-64 , Sweet 16	Ow. Sorry, we can't put them any higher. Please stop hitting us. We tried, but we realized -- ow -- this would cause a stir. Quit it! And we don't want to do that. Not on the Internet. No no! Okay. That one hurt.
8	Louisville	8	Big East	by Texas A&M 72-69, Round 2	So it turns out Derrick Caracter was hurt all last season and that's why he didn't tear up the Big East. Not sure I believe his bad knee is, as the French say, "la raison pour sucktitude," but they lose no one and Pitino loves him a good cast of seniors.
9	Arizona	9	Pac 10	by Purdue 72-69, Round 1	Could be #5. Could be #22. Depends on how much confidence you have in Chase Budinger and if you think Jerryd Bayless is next in the line of great Arizona point guards. And I have a lot of it.
10	Stanford	10	Pac 10	by Louisville 78-58, Round 1	The Pac 10 is thin up front and the Cardinal isn't. The legit 7' twins Brook and Robin Lopez could make the noise West Coast media is projecting (and then go straight to the WNBA!). Or they could crumble and still get a gift from the at-large Gods like last year. Either way.
11	Marquette	11	Big East	by Michigan State 61-48, Round 1	Are they too high? Absolutely! But they return Dominic "Tim-Hardaway-before-the-bigotry" James, who hopefully won't shoot 20% for most of the season again. And we think he's, um, pretty good.
12	Washington St.	12	Pac 10	by Vandy 78-74, Round 2	Are they too low? Absolutely! But we just don't really buy the hype that least year's success is all that sustainable. They don't lose any major pieces, but, other than Derrick Low, can you actually name me a major piece off the top of your head? No peaking.
13	Indiana	13	Big 10	by UCLA 54-49, Round 2	This is the year that D.J. White and Kelvin Sampson are supposed to make Indiana the college hoops epicenter again. They may be a big man away from anything like that, but at least they're a bubble-contender again.
14	Kansas St.	14	Big 12	by Depaul 70-65, Round 2 (NIT!)	We were going to say something about the top-15 showing not just being about manchild du jour Michael Beasley; it's about depth and coaching and Bill Walker's potential. But we would lying to you.
15	Michigan St.	15	Big 10	by UNC 81-67, Round 2	Drew Neitzel is coming back to a Michigan State team that was starting to get its swagger back at the end of last year. Someone get that kid one of Mateen Cleaves' velour, forest green sweatsuits!
16	Gonzaga	16	WCC	by Indiana 70-57, Round 1	I hate this. So much. They're going to hack their way through the WCC with Heytvelt and Pargo and we're going to believe that they're a contender again. Refer me to this post in late-February.
17	Alabama	17	SEC	by UMass 79-71, NIT Round 1	Even with Jermareo Davidson off to some foreign land, Richard "I acknowledge that my name is extremely similar name to that of a Nascar driver and have come, begrudgingly, to accept that fact" Hendrix and Alonzo Gee can power an experienced and outright enormous Alabama team through the SEC.
18	Arkansas	18	SEC	by USC 77-60, Round 1	This is the same exact team as last year but a year older. They made the tournament last year. Blah blah blah. As if Arkansas wasn't boring enough.
19	Butler	19	Horizon	by Florida 65-57, Sweet 16	I know that you think that last year was an abberation and, yeah, it probably was. But this is the same exact team as last year and it's AJ Graves' senior season. So 19 might be low. Even for a novelty midmajor.
20	UConn	20	Big East	DNP in Tourneys	After the first Jim Calhoun rebuilding year since the Industrial Revolution, the Huskies could surprise in the Big East. We've heard Hasheem Thabeet is becoming polished and this thought scares us a little.
21	Clemson	21	ACC	by West Virgina 78-73, NIT Final	Hey, maybe this team will actually beat a ranked opponent after the first week of the season next year? Considering they only lost one rotation player and added two actual, breathing, top-100 recruits for the first time in forever (Demontez Stitt and Jerai Grant), they may not have a reason for the selection committee to snub them again.
22	NC State	22	ACC	by West Virginia 71-66, NIT Quarters	This team got Lebron-in-Game-6 hot in the ACC tournament last year because of some quirky coaching from Sidney Lowe and almost took one of the deepest conferences in the country after a .500 season. They only lose one rotation player. Yes, that is a bandwagon you hear. No, I don't know why they still make those.
23	Virginia	23	ACC	by Tennessee 77-74, Round 2	I'm just going to write down Sean Singletary and 2008 ACC Player of the Year so we can move on.
24	Cal	24	Pac 10	DNP in Tourneys	DeVon Hardin returns healthy and will fill out a Youtube video full of some healthy posterizations so that he will be a lottery pick. I have no idea where that leaves Cal as a team, but, 24 seems like a good number, I guess.
25	Texas	25	Big 12	by USC 87-68, Round 2	The Kevin Durant Hangover will be awful and there will not be enough black coffee in the world for them to take the Big 12 from either of the teams from the Sunflower State. But D.J. Augustin has to have a little valor left in him, right?