As a new basketball season draws ever closer, it's time to take a stab at a preseason bracket. We all know this exercise is wildly inaccurate and in fact, I can't remember a time over my 25 years of doing this that I have ever looked back at the end of the season to see how my preseason bracket looked.
But it is fun to see where teams fit in the "power" structure and of course, it's always fun to see where the Jays may shake out.
The college scandal did have some effect on my rankings. Arizona could have well been a one seed and Louisville certainly would have been on the top four seed lines. Who knows what lies ahead for these schools in the coming months when the NCAA gets involved.
So here is the preseason bracket for 2017-18.
*donates automatic bid
MIDWEST
Wichita
1-Kansas*
16-Fairfield*/Texas Southern*
8-Northwestern
9-Oregon
San Diego
4-Miami
13-Bucknell*
5-Wichita St.
12-Oakland*
Detroit
3-Notre Dame
14-Furman*
6-Wisconsin
11-Clemson/Marquette
Pittsburgh
2-Villanova*
15-UNC Asheville*
7-Gonzaga
10-Texas
WEST
Nashville
1-Kentucky*
16-Kent St.*
8-TCU
9-Virginia
Dallas
4-Florida St.
13-Charleston*
5-Michigan
12-Nevada*
Wichita
3-Purdue
14-FGCU*
6-St. Marys*
11-St. Bonaventure/Creighton
San Diego
2-Arizona*
15-Long Beach St.*
7-SMU
10-Maryland
SOUTH
Charlotte
1-Duke*
16-St. Francis*
8-Seton Hall
9-Alabama
Boise
4-Minnesota
13-New Mexico St.*
5-Baylor
12-Texas-Arlington*
Dallas
3-West Virginia
14-South Dakota*
6-Providence
11-Middle Tenn. St.*
Nashville
2-Florida
15-Lamar*
7-USC
10-Virginia Tech
EAST
Detroit
1-Michigan St.*
16-Idaho*/Norfolk St.*
8-Rhode Island*
9-Iowa St
Boise
4-Cincinnati*
13-Yale*
5-Louisville
12-Vermont*
Pittsburgh
3-Xavier
14-Belmont*
6-UCLA
11-Arkansas
Charlotte
2-North Carolina
15-Loyola-Chicago*
7-Oklahoma
10-Vanderbilt
Last four in-Clemson, Creighton, St. Bonaventure, Marquette
First four out-Texas Tech, Butler, Missouri, Texas A+M
Next four out-Kansas St., San Diego St, UConn, Iowa
Conferences with multiple bids-ACC-9, Big 10-7, Big 12-7, Big East-6, SEC-5, Pac 12-4, AAC-3, WCC-2, A 10-2
