Best of the best

Good morning! We’re in the final stretch of preview season, which means you should be watching After Dark (7 pm ET, M-F through Nov. 1). And the big stuff? We’ll include that in The Daily. Like today.

1. Who made The Field of 68’s All-American team?

There’s a right way and a wrong way to do an All-American team. Some rules:

• Five players per team. Make choices.

• Best case is a first team, second team and third team. If you’re a national site, you can go up to five.

• The teams should be structured like an actual team with actual positions.

• When in doubt, go with your five best players.

Those are the rules. And now that they’ve been clearly stated, we can showcase The Field of 68 All-American teams, as voted on by the After Dark hosts and contributors. That’s all people who either played college hoops, or watch the sport and know enough to make educated assessments.

The first team:

• Mark Sears, Alabama guard (21.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 43.4% on 3s)

• RJ Davis, North Carolina guard (21.2 ppg, 3.5 apg, 39.8% on 3s)

• Cooper Flagg, Duke forward (No. 1 recruit in 2025 class)

• Hunter Dickinson, Kansas center (17.9 ppg, 10.9 rpg)

• Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton center (17.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.1 bpg)

Sears, Davis, Dickinson and Flagg also made the AP preseason All-America team, and will pretty much comprise four of the spots on most teams. It’s cool to see Kalkbrenner on our list. We should be honoring defensive anchors who also might lead the country in field-goal percentage.

Second team:

• Braden Smith, Purdue guard (12 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 7.5 apg, 43.1% on 3s)

• Kam Jones, Marquette guard (17.2 ppg, 2.4 apg, 40.6% on 3s)

• Caleb Love, Arizona guard (18 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.4 apg)

• Alex Karaban, UConn forward (13.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 37.9% on 3s)

• Johni Broome, Auburn forward (16.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.2 bpg)

Another solid group, though you’ll see both Love and Broome get (rightful) consideration for first-team nods. Karaban’s stats won’t be nearly as flashy as everyone else’s, but this is akin to the Kalkbrenner slot. It’s good to honor guys who impact winning but may not fill the stat sheet.

Third team:

• Wade Taylor, Texas A&M guard (19.1 ppg, 3.5 4 apg)

• Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State guard (12.4 pppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2.7 spg)

• Johnell Davis, Arkansas guard (18.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.9 apg)

• Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest guard (18 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 40.5 on 3s)

• LJ Cryer, Houston guard (15.5 ppg, 38.8% on 3s)

OK, we broke the position rule. Too many guards here. One could make the argument for J’Wan Roberts over Cryer from Houston, but Cryer’s the default pick because he’ll lead the Coogs in scoring. Maybe someone like Kadary Richmond or Tucker DeVries could make the case. More interesting is if any player who isn’t in a power conference should be here. Robbie Avila’s the obvious choice, but there isn’t a ton of options beyond the Saint Louis big man.

So. How’d we do? Tweet at us here.

2. News & quotes from MAC media day

The MAC always runs through the same four teams: Ohio, Kent State, Toledo and Akron. Yet Toledo has somehow won four consecutive regular-season titles. Will that change this year?

The preseason poll says yes:

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