A College Basketball Preview

A+College+Basketball+Preview

Paul Coburn, Sports Editor, Writer

As the 2017-18 college basketball season tips off in a couple of weeks, there are some familiar teams being discussed, as well as new faces. The top 25 list has been released, notifying fans of the top teams in the country. This list is made by voters based on who they think is the best. It is always difficult to make the first list of the season because none of the teams have played yet, so the voters have nothing to base their votes off of.

The top team so far this year is the Duke Blue Devils, and it is their second straight year topping the top 25 list to begin the season. The Blue Devils have many talented recruits in addition to important players from last year’s returning players. This combination has made this team arguably one of the best in the country.

The team received a late, and perhaps the most important, addition named Marvin Bagley. Despite only being a senior in high school, Bagley was eligible to skip his final year of school to join the team for the upcoming season. Bagley was the most sought after player this year, and his decision to join Duke catapulted the team into becoming the number one ranked team in the nation.

Rounding out the top 5 are Michigan State, Arizona, Kansas, and Kentucky, all familiar faces in the top 25 rankings. There have also been some surprises on the list, such as Xavier, Northwestern, Texas A&M, and Seton Hall. None of these teams were in the top 25 last year, but this year have made it because of the talented players added to their rosters.

Seton Hall has made the NCAA Tournament the previous two seasons, but this is the first time the Pirates have been ranked since 2015 when they were placed at 21. The team hasn’t made it out of the first round of the tournament since 2001, but could this be the year the Pirates break out of that unwanted streak?

Many more questions have yet to be answered, not only for Seton Hall, but for the rest of the top 25. The rankings are updated weekly, showing that no team can stay where they are.