Jimmer Range’s Final College Basketball Preseason Top 25 Rankings 2021-22
We’ve been teasing it for weeks, but it’s finally here. The Jimmer Range podcast has put out their final college basketball preseason Top 25 rankings. Some things have definitely changed since the way-too-early college basketball preseason Top 25 from four months ago. Under each team, you can find both Karl and Alex’s individual ranking. Ties were broken first with highest individual ranking, followed by KenPom preseason ranking.
1) Gonzaga Bulldogs
Alex – 1 | Karl – 1
Despite losing Corey Kispert, Joel Ayayi, and Jalen Suggs this offseason, Gonzaga has reloaded. They return Drew Timme, one of the preseason contenders for National player of the Year, and add the No. 1 recruit in the country in Chet Holmgren. Is this the year the Zags win a national title? Check out Karl’s in-depth preview on Gonzaga here.
2) Kansas Jayhawks
Alex – 2 | Karl – 2
Kansas added the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year through the transfer portal in Remy Martin. They also bring back a ton of talent and might actually be legit this year after second-round exits in their last two NCAA Tournament appearances.
3) Michigan Wolverines
Alex – 4 | Karl – 3
There’s a lot to like about the Michigan Wolverines this season, especially with the return of Hunter Dickinson and entrance of freshman Caleb Houstan. After an Elite Eight exit last season, Juwan Howard’s squad is hungry for more.
4) Texas Longhorns
Alex – 3 | Karl – 4
On paper, this is easily one of the most talented rosters in the country. New head coach Chris Beard raided the transfer portal to bring in big-time players. Behind Marcus Carr, Tre Mitchell, and others, the Longhorns have their sights set on national title contention after a few years of disappointing results.
5) Purdue Boilermakers
Alex – 6 | Karl – 5
Purdue is a bit of a speculative addition to the Top 5, but most agree that Jaden Ivey is headed for a massive breakout campaign in his sophomore year. Throw Trevion Williams and Zach Edey in the mix, and the Boilermakers might just have something real. Matt Painter is a phenomenal head coach who has won big with lesser rosters than this one.
6) UCLA Bruins
Alex – 5 | Karl – 7
The Bruins are fresh off a Final Four appearance and return every essential piece from their magical 2021 NCAA Tournament run. Johnny Juzang, Jaime Jaquez, and Tyger Campbell look to pick up where they left off. However, UCLA was a fourth-place Pac-12 team that narrowly escaped elimination in the play-in game versus Michigan State. There’s certainly a ton to recommend UCLA this season, but was their tournament run really indicative of what to expect moving forward?
7) Kentucky Wildcats
Alex – 9 | Karl – 6
Kentucky had a horrible season in 2020-21, finishing with a 9-16 record. Coach Cal and the Wildcats seem to have rebounded from last year’s disaster. TyTy Washington looks like he will be a bonafide stud, Kellan Grady is a big-time scorer, and Oscar Tshiebwe is a huge pickup for the frontcourt. This is a team with Final Four potential if they can put it all together.
8) Villanova Wildcats
Alex – 7 | Karl – 8
Preseason First Team All-American Collin Gillespie is back from injury and head coach Jay Wright is ready to get the Wildcats back on track. After losing Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova will need Jermaine Samuels or Justin Moore to have a big year.
9) North Carolina Tar Heels
Alex – 10 | Karl – 9
Hubert Davis is the new head coach in Chapel Hill after Roy Williams’ retirement, and the Tar Heels have the upside to make a deep run in March. Check out Alex’ thorough dive into UNC Basketball here.
10) Alabama Crimson Tide
Alex – 14 | Karl – 10
The Crimson Tide proved last season that they could compete on a national level. They ran through the SEC, finishing as the regular season and conference tournament champs. They were given a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet Sixteen before losing in overtime to UCLA. Nate Oats and company hope to build on last season’s success.
11) Duke Blue Devils
Alex – 11 | Karl – 13
It is Coach K’s final season at the helm, and he has a Blue Devils team with legitimate upside in both the ACC play and the postseason. A lot of that has to do with incoming freshman Paolo Banchero, a projected top-three pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Read Alex’ preview of Duke Basketball here.
12) Baylor Bears
Alex – 8 | Karl – 17
Fresh off a national title, the Baylor Bears sustained some major losses this offseason. Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell, MaCio Teague, and Mark Vital all departed the program. Head coach Scott Drew should keep them competitive, but they will need Matthew Mayer and Adam Flagler to step up.
13) Illinois Fighting Illini
Alex – 12 | Karl – 14
Ayo Dosunmu is gone from a team that earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, preseason All-American Kofi Cockburn has returned and Andre Curbelo is poised for a breakout campaign. Expectations will be high for the Illini, but they should definitely finish in the upper echelon of the Big Ten conference.
14) Houston Cougars
Alex – 16 | Karl – 11
Losing both Quentin Grimes and Caleb Mills hurts, but Kelvin Sampson’s defensive system got the Cougars to the Final Four last season. This is still a program capable of competing on a national stage. Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark are back, and the Kyler Edwards transfer from Texas Tech could pay dividends.
15) Oregon Ducks
Alex – 15 | Karl – 12
Oregon is the only team other than UCLA that seems capable of winning the Pac-12. Dana Altman snagged some solid transfers in the offseason and Will Richardson, Eric Williams, and N’Faly Dante return to hold things down. The Ducks will be better than most people expect.
16) Memphis Tigers
Alex – 13 | Karl – 15
Just based on talent alone, Memphis is easily a top-10 team in the nation. Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren are two phenomenal prospects and should get Penny Hardaway to his first NCAA Tournament as head coach at Memphis. The Tigers are deep with a really nice supporting cast of versatile players. You can read Karl’s preview of Memphis Basketball here.
17) Florida State Seminoles
Alex – 18 | Karl – 16
Florida State is firmly in the upper tier of the ACC, as they have been for the last few years. Head coach Leonard Hamilton brings in a nice freshman backcourt in Matthew Cleveland and Jalen Warley while returning a long, athletic frontcourt. They lost a fair amount of talent, but this roster fits Hamilton’s blueprint of versatility and length.
18) Arkansas Razorbacks
Alex – 17 | Karl – 18
You can poke a lot of holes in this Razorbacks roster if you wanted to, but you can’t poke holes in Eric Musselman’s ability to get the most out of his team. Arkansas made it to the Elite Eight and lost a single-digit game to eventual champion Baylor. Losing Moses Moody could be a bigger problem than anticipated, but there’s enough here for Arkansas to be successful. All aboard the Muss Bus!
19) Ohio State Buckeyes
Alex – 19 | Karl – 20
Is EJ Liddell that guy? We’re going to find out this year after the Buckeyes lost Duane Washington. This Ohio State squad should be pretty good on both sides of the ball and has a decent shot to get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
20) Tennessee Volunteers
Alex – 21 | Karl – 19
Tennessee lost their starting backcourt to the NBA, but it doesn’t really matter because Kennedy Chandler is going to ball out. The Volunteers were an early favorite last season to reach the Final Four. Ultimately, those predictions fell far short. Can they put it together this year behind a star freshman in a deep SEC?
21) Maryland Terrapins
Alex – 20 | Karl – 21
The Terps won the transfer portal early by securing Fatts Russell and Qudus Wahab. Then they lost Aaron Wiggins to the NBA and Darryl Morsell via transfer, and the preseason projections started to sour. At the end of the day, Maryland will still bring back important contributors in Eric Ayala and Donta Scott. Turgeon won a tournament game with a roster that no one really believed in before the season, so maybe he can do the same this year. Karl’s preseason preview of Maryland Basketball can be found here.
22) Virginia Tech Hokies
Alex – 22 | Karl – 22
With Keve Aluma and Storm Murphy, we like the Hokies ceiling for this season. Nahiem Alleyne is a nice supporting piece as well. The Tyrece Radford departure isn’t great, but this should still be one of the most fun offenses to watch in the country. VT lost their first round game in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, but this edition of the Hokies could be capable of winning a game or two this time around.
23) St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Alex – 23 | Karl – 24
St. Bonaventure will be one of the best mid-major teams in the country. They have the depth, experience, and continuity you look for with a starting lineup of five seniors who all averaged double-digits last season. The Bonnies shouldn’t have many issues in A-10 play, and a lot of analysts like them as a Sweet Sixteen pick.
24) Auburn Tigers
Alex – 25 | Karl – 25
The range of possible outcomes for Auburn seems broader than that of most other teams. Allen Flanigan will be out for 12-14 weeks, so Bruce Pearl will need to get the most out of three incoming transfers (Wendell Green, K.D. Johnson, and Walker Kessler) and star freshman Jabari Smith. Given their depth and ability, this should be a tournament team. We’ll see how they fare in SEC play.
25) Oklahoma State Cowboys
Alex – 28 | Karl – 23
Welp. Oklahoma State won’t be eligible for postseason play after the NCAA finally handed down the punishment for the whole Lamont Evans thing. If not for that, the Cowboys would have been a surefire tournament team. As far as conference play goes, look for junior guard Avery Anderson to have a big year and for head coach Mike Boynton to keep this team competitively engaged even with less to play for.
Received Consideration for Top 25: Michigan State Spartans (Alex – 27, Karl – 26), Indiana Hoosiers (Alex – 26, Karl – 27), UConn Huskies (Alex – 24, Karl – Not in Top 30), Mississippi State Bulldogs (Alex – Not in Top 30, Karl – 28), USC Trojans (Alex – 30, Karl – 30), Virginia Cavaliers (Alex – 29, Karl – Not in Top 30), Colorado State Rams (Alex – Not in Top 30, Karl – 29)
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