Sometimes in life you need a do-over. A chance to reconsider, reevaluate, take in new information and take another swing at something big.
Isn’t that right, Rory McIlroy?
We at Sporting News produced a college basketball top 25 for the 2014-15 season immediately after the 2013-14 season concluded, because that's how it's done now. We publish that list fully intending to come back later in the spring — after more recruits signed and prospects entered the NBA draft (or not) and transfers relocated.
And so now that the last high-major coach has been fired and replaced — we hope, right? — and many of the most talented transfers have found new homes, we present a re-boot of the Top 25. And no, we haven’t changed our minds about the No. 1 team.
1. Arizona
Likely strengths: This is a big, physical team that defend the rim well; center Kaleb Tarczewski and power forward Brandon Ashley provide as solid an inside presence as a team could want. What the Wildcats would seem to lose with the departure of Aaron Gordon should be covered by the elevation of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to a greater role. Point guard T.J. McConnell has experience running a high-level team and carrying it through difficult moments.
Potential weaknesses: The Wildcats were not a great long-distance shooting team last season, and that was with Johnson making 62 threes. Connecticut was not extraordinary in a lot of important area last season, but shooting 38.7 from deep certainly helped. Whether it's veteran Gabe York or freshman Stanley Johnson or junior college transfer Kadeem Allen — or, preferably, all of them — Arizona needs to shoot it better.
Key factor: Losing Nick Johnson to early NBA Draft entry is not without its detriments, but the Wildcats were going to struggle to win close games as long as he was treated as a go-to option. He was miscast in that role. But finding the right guy to take it over will be a challenge.
2. Kentucky
Likely strengths: The Wildcats have overwhelming size and depth up front, with five NBA prospects who are capable of performing at the power positions, and several of them capable of excelling. It will be up to coach John Calipari to figure out how these pieces fit best together, but there are so many impressive pieces: shot-blocking and athleticism from Willie Cauley-Stein, deep shooting from Karl Towns, a player in Trey Lyles who always finds a way to be productive.
Potential weaknesses: UK was a poor perimeter defensive team last season, even as the Wildcats made their run to the NCAA championship game. It's possible the greater maturity of the Harrison twins as sophomores will alleviate that, but it's not automatic, and we're not convinced it's even likely. They have to commit to paying serious attention to that phase of the game.
Key factor: Calipari must decide what he wants to do with junior Alex Poythress. Is he a small forward? There is a huge opportunity there, but Poythress has not shown he has the ability to drive the ball. Poythress is among Division I's most dynamic players, but he seems best suited to performing as a stretch-4. It's not as though UK is lacking for power forwards, though.
3. Wisconsin
Likely strengths: The Badgers will be an even more creative and versatile offensive team than a year ago, with either sophomore guard Bronson Koening earning a spot in the lineup or, more likely, Sam Dekker moving to his natural small forward position and power forward Nigel Hayes becoming a starter. Either way, Wisconsin will be able to drive the ball from all five positions, something almost no standard-sized team can manage.
Potential weaknesses: The Badgers never became a great defensive team last season, although they were more tenacious in their games against Arizona and Kentucky in the NCAAs. With Dekker at small forward, Hayes making the team bigger up front and Josh Gasser still available to guard the opponent's best perimeter scorer, it's possible there will be improvement.
Key factor: Has Wisconsin ever begun a season with this sort of expectation — with the belief that a national title is a realistic goal? When it's North Carolina or Kentucky, there's a sense that this is the norm — even if the players involved weren't a part of any previous success. Wisconsin can't allow itself to be overwhelmed or overconfident. And the defense will have to return to Bo Ryan standards.
4. Duke
Likely strengths: The recruiting class Duke is enrolling is even better equipped to turn the Blue Devils into something extraordinary than last season's Kentucky group was — because this one has a true low-post center. Jahlil Okafor has the ability to carry a team, although it is unlikely to be as overt as with Greg Oden at Ohio State or Alonzo Mourning at Georgetown. Okafor can block a shot or throw down a dunk, but his game is built on subtle contributions. Wing Justise Winslow can become the defensive stopper Duke lacked last season, and Tyus Jones is a legit playmaker.
Potential weaknesses: If you need Quinn Cook to make an open 3-pointer, OK, but if you're counting on him to run a championship team it might be a big ask. So does Duke have an open competition with Cook and Jones for point guard? And if Cook were to lose, how would that work for Duke? Junior Rasheed Sulaimon also is a talent that has contributed important baskets but has struggled at times to embrace a role.
Key factor: No coach is better at reading and understanding team chemistry, but even Mike Krzyzewski can't conjure it out of any circumstance. That was obvious just last season. Having the most veteran players be players still in command of their roles and the youngest players be those who are the most impressive talents can be a difficult combination.
5. North Carolina
Likely strengths: Nobody has more point guards. It's not like in football, where having two quarterbacks means you have none. In basketball, you can play them together and win a title, as Connecticut did in both 2011 and 2014. One of the guys who'll play is Marcus Paige, who demonstrated he is a legitimate star. Veteran Nate Britt and freshman Joel Berry can fight it out for the other spot. That kind of attacking ability is enormously valuable, but it also will help if one of them adopts a pit bull-style defensive approach like Ryan Boatright did for UConn. The frontcourt is deep, at least, and the perimeter is rich with young, dynamic wings.
Potential weaknesses: The Tar Heels weren't as richly talented last year, but it still was odd to seem them struggle as much to generate a consistent offense. Someone aside from Paige will have to make deep shots. It isn't likely to be veteran J.P. Tokoto; perhaps one of the freshman wings, Theo Pinson or Justin Jackson. They're going to enhance the offense one way or the other, but it'd help if deep shooting were the way. Losing James Michael McAdoo doesn't help. The frontcourt might have enough pieces but only Brice Johnson resembles a defensive factor.
Key factor: The Tar Heels defended efficiently enough to rank 21st in the nation, but they didn't scare anyone. They didn't steal the ball a lot, and they didn't block shots. You can win a lot of games with the No. 21 defense. If you want to win the big ones — an ACC title, a regional title game — it helps to be able to conjure game-breaking plays.
6. Kansas
Likely strengths: Can a team lose the most dynamic athlete in the past decade of NCAA basketball — and become more athletic? It's possible that could develop for the Jayhawks. Adding big man Cliff Alexander and wing Kelly Oubre to a team that already has athletes Wayne Selden and Jamari Traylor. The distractions they'll provide will allow smooth-as-silk forward Perry Ellis to operate through less defensive attention.
Potential weaknesses: KU never got point guard figured out last season, and that was even more damaging to the ultimate results than Joel Embiid's injury. A capable point guard would have pushed a team as talented as the Jayhawks past Stanford. If sophomore Frank Mason were the automatic answer, he'd have taken the opportunity. Not to say he can't grow into the job, just that it can't be expected. Freshman Devonte' Graham is highly regarded, and perhaps he'll solve the problem.
Key factor: A team can win games (as Kansas did) and conference titles (as Kansas did) without a legitimate answer at point guard. But it's not going to seriously contend for a national title without an effective point guard.
7. Louisville
Likely strengths: College basketball's gradual descent toward re-enabling physical defense is fabulous news for the Cardinals, who are better at it than most anyone. The Cards were No. 4 in defensive efficiency last season, and that could improve as Mangok Mathiang develops and Montrezl Harrell continues to progress toward stardom. They'll be as difficult to score over as most any frontcourt. Harrell's return to the Cards was unexpected, but immense. Without him they are a high-teens pick.
Potential weaknesses: The Cardinals were only great offensively last season when Luke Hancock made shots. With Hancock gone, and also All-American Russ Smith, the team will have to find a consistent means of generating points. Coach Rick Pitino rarely (never?) has been one to build an offense from the inside-out, but Harrrell is the team's best player and can score inside and from the foul line. If he's not featured, can Louisville score with the elite?
Key factor: The days of "Russdiculous" long past, Smith gave the Cards a sense of stability in the backcourt that could be missing if Chris Jones does not learn the same lessons. He had some of the same ability to score in bunches, some of the same tendency toward mental errors. He has not been as adept, however, on D. Jones, soph Terry Rozier and freshman Quentin Snider have enough talent to provide effective backcourt play, but being a guard for Pitino is a full-time job.
8. Virginia
Likely strengths: UVa has five of its eight regular players returning from last season's ACC champions. That means opponents are in for another year of trying to solve a defense that often appears to be seamless. The Cavaliers' impenetrable defense never ceased to be problematic, carrying them to ACC regular-season and tournament titles, and it will be again.
Potential weaknesses: Losing Joe Harris from an offense that already labored to generate points doesn't figure to advance the cause. The Cavs scored so little partly because they played low-possession games — patient on offense, difficult to solve on D — but also because they weren't a great shooting team. And Harris was the one outstanding deep shooter.
Key factor: Center Mike Tobey spent the past two seasons on the fringe; getting playing time and contributing but not truly making an impact. For a guy who is 6-11, 250 and exceptionally skilled to not be getting even 20 minutes a game suggests there is a considerable amount of progress available to him, and that if that ground is covered UVa could be a much more dangerous team at both ends of the floor.
The Cavaliers said goodbye to program-changing seniors Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell, but they earned a No. 1 seed this season on the strength of an excellent group of players who will be juniors, including leading scorer Malcolm Brogdon and defensive stalwart Justin Anderson. The top of the ACC will be incredibly tough next spring.
9. Florida
Likely strengths: The Gators are getting much younger with so many key seniors departing, but they're also going to be more talented. Point guard Kasey Hill and power forward Chris Walker are NBA prospects, even if each one has some growing to do before getting there. Transfer forward Alex Murphy should provide length and offensive ability. Michael Frazier might be college basketball's best pure shooter.
Potential weaknesses: This could be considered the youngest team Billy Donovan has coached since the post-title days, and that did not go so well. It wasn't a complete clear-out; Hill played a good bit, Frazier was a key guy and Dorian Finney-Smith was a key frontcourt reserve. But this is a complete revamp for a program that has been plugging in one or two new pieces per year over the past half-decade.
Key factor: Florida's recent teams have been defense-first, but this group could develop into a more proficient offensive unit. The most important player in that evolution is Walker; not that he's going to be a primary option. He's not skilled enough for that. But he must find a way to be an important part of the attack, using his athleticism to distract defenders while the better scorers go to work.
10. Wichita State
Likely strengths: Who's got a better starting backcourt than Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker? Both players can shoot from deep, attack the lane, defend their positions and perform under pressure. That can take you a long way, and it might have taken WSU to the 2014 Final Four if not for the bracket. (OK, we're done with that now). The Shockers again should be an effective defensive group.
Potential weaknesses: The Shockers are down one very important scorer with Cleanthony Early gone. There's no one around who'll take on all of his responsibility, but finding a way to score enough against high-level opponents without Early's versatility is a priority.
Key factor: This won't be as talented a team as last season's, and even coming off a 2013 Final Four berth the Shockers still had the advantage of being underrated. It's hard to imagine that being the case after the team won 35 in a row.
The rest:
11. Villanova
12. SMU
13. Texas
14. Gonzaga
15. Iowa State
16. Connecticut
17. San Diego State
18. VCU
19. Ohio State
20. Oklahoma
21. Utah
22. Michigan State
23. Nebraska
24. Syracuse
25. Harvard
