"More than six months ago, Walter Clayton Jr. won Most Outstanding Player honors on one of the most thrilling runs to the national championship since Kemba Walker led UConn in 2011. The Florida Gators were not viewed as a top-tier team entering last season, though, checking in at 21st in the preseason AP poll and 24th in last year's version of these tiers."
"Yes, there are clear championship and Final Four contenders (newsflash: Duke will be good again). But there are also teams with second-weekend potential that could fall to the bubble (Auburn has lost a lot of talent and a head coach), likely bubble teams that could pull off an upset (Washington is intriguing), teams moving in the wrong direction, teams ready to take a step (or two) forward -- and everything in between."
"Jump to:Title favorites | Final Four contenders | Second-weekend threats | Can go dancing | Potential bid thieves | ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ | Check back next year | Comeback kids | 2 outliers | Cinderellas Tier I: National championship favorites Purdue BoilermakersFlorida GatorsHouston CougarsUConn Huskies These were the four teams that received first-place votes in the preseason AP poll and the four atop ESPN's preseason top 25. In other words: These are your national title favorites entering th"
Walter Clayton Jr. won Most Outstanding Player after Florida's unexpected championship run following a 21st-place preseason AP ranking. College basketball projections can shift quickly, so teams may move between tiers over a season. Eighty of 365 Division I programs are ordered into 10 tiers to reflect their NCAA tournament chances, ranging from national title favorites and Final Four contenders to second‑weekend threats, bubble teams, potential bid thieves, teams trending down, comeback candidates, outliers and Cinderellas. Preseason first-place votes went to Purdue, Florida, Houston and UConn, and the Nov. 3 season tipoff approaches with several teams poised for change.
Read at ESPN.com
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