The Consensus Way Too Early Top 25

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John Calipari bade farewell to Kentucky on Tuesday (more below), which officially opened the search for a new coach. UConn coach Dan Hurley reportedly hit an offer for $11 million a year over at least five years, while Baylor coach Scott Drew reportedly was offered the job.

You know, standard stuff without any conflicting info.

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1. The consensus Way Too Early Top 25

Yes, everyone agrees this is a somewhat futile exercise given the state of the transfer portal and NBA Draft decisions.

But some things are tough to quit.

Here’s a rundown of how nine different college basketball outlets project the Top 25 for the 2024-25 season. As usual, there’s not a ton of variance — unless you’re Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News. Props to Mike for not only making Alabama No. 1, but adding Syracuse at 10 and Kansas down at 17. (I should note, he did his list last week, which is why Kentucky is at No. 4.)

Some takeaways:

• Duke is the consensus No. 1 pick right now. The Devils bring in the top recruiting class and should have a handful of players returning from their 27-9 squad.

• Iowa State is No. 2 among these rankings — the Clones should have at least three starters back, and already have two newcomers from the portal — while Gonzaga is No. 3. The Zags will be deeper next season and will probably be Top 10 all season.

• Kansas is No. 4, followed by UConn. That’s a nod to Dan Hurley’s program, not the returning roster.

• Houston’s overall ranking is 6. If I made a ranking (The Field of 68’s rankings are mostly Jeff Goodman, with some Rob Dauster input), the Cougars would be my pick for No. 1.

• Alabama, North Carolina, Purdue and Arizona round out the Top 10. Trying to decide if that’s high for the Boilermakers.

• Nos. 11-15 are Baylor, Tennessee, Auburn, Marquette, Florida. No real disagreement by me, though I think Marquette’s too high.

• Nos. 16-20: Saint Mary’s, Miami, BYU, Rutgers, Maryland. This is some faith in Jim Larranaga and Kevin Willard given how those teams faltered this season. But the talent influx is there. That’s also why it makes sense to have Rutgers here.

The rest of the Top 25 is too much of a muddled mess to offer any definitive insight, which is a good thing. There should be disagreements about who should be slotted where. Not gonna lie: Seeing Nebraska on here actually makes sense.

fwiw, oddsmakers aren’t nearly as high on Iowa State or Gonzaga, if you’re looking for value on a future.

2. John Calipari says farewell to Kentucky

It took a few days to officially happen, but John Calipari is no longer the man at Kentucky.

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