OFFICIAL: 2015-16 Preseason Rankings

[fansince80s]

ESPNs "way too early" 2015-16 Bracketology

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Big 12 with 6. All 2-3 seeds again. Never learn.

[jocoshock]

There is still a lot of B12 love in the top 10. These guys just can't help themselves. Hopefully, the Shocks will get another crack at one of them in the tourney next year.

B12 still overrated. KU will dominate the B12 unless Texas Havoc shows up next year.

[Cdizzle]

B12 still overrated. KU will dominate the B12 unless Texas Havoc shows up next year.

VCU Havoc never won a conference championship.

It's a gimmick. It can work in small sample sizes with little opponent scouting. And they had good players so they were certainly a good team, but if Havoc didn't create a turnover, it led to a lot of easy points for the opposition. As such, over the course of a conference season against teams that have played against you several times before, it didn't lead to winning championships.

[Robant15]

I think Illinois State has a legit chance of an at large. Lee is a good PG and Akoon-Purcell is a long and skilled perimeter scorer. Lynch is a rim protector, and now an upper-classmen. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see McIntosh or Hawkins explode now that the rust has been shaken off. They have a couple of more pieces on the bench as well.

They should be pretty good.

[CBB_Fan]

Honestly, and don't kill me, I don't think losing cotton will hurt us as much as people think. I don't think having Brown in the lineup will be a step back. Yes, Brown doesn't provide the same defensively as Cotton, but I believe he makes up for it on the offensive side of things. Cotton had his moments, but most games wasn't much of a factor offensively. I think Brown could be a more consistent scorer for WSU.

It was never what Cotton did, it was what his match up didn't do that mattered. For instance, against Notre Dame he faced off against Jerian Grant. A guy that supposedly is better than anyone on our roster, given that he was First Team All-American, ACC MVP (I'm still salty that Fred and Ron were disrespected in the national awards). Grant did not score while Cotton guarded him, and ended with only 9 points on 3-8 shooting. Against KU Cotton matched up with Wayne Selden, who did not score a single point. He was arguably one of the best perimeter defenders in the country, maybe even THE best defender.

I fully believe Brown has the potential to bring more offensively, but Cotton's defense has been hugely important for us these past few seasons. If anything, we'll need improvements 1-5 just to make up for his absence. A good post defender could make up a lot of lost ground however.

[wufan]

Brown is also a pretty good defender with length, so that helps tremendously.

[Steeleshocker]

It was never what Cotton did, it was what his match up didn't do that mattered. For instance, against Notre Dame he faced off against Jerian Grant. A guy that supposedly is better than anyone on our roster, given that he was First Team All-American, ACC MVP (I'm still salty that Fred and Ron were disrespected in the national awards). Grant did not score while Cotton guarded him, and ended with only 9 points on 3-8 shooting. Against KU Cotton matched up with Wayne Selden, who did not score a single point. He was arguably one of the best perimeter defenders in the country, maybe even THE best defender.

I fully believe Brown has the potential to bring more offensively, but Cotton's defense has been hugely important for us these past few seasons. If anything, we'll need improvements 1-5 just to make up for his absence. A good post defender could make up a lot of lost ground however.

While i agree that Cotton was a lock down defender, the Notre Dame game is a bad example. Grant had something like 11 assists. Dude was penetrating and picking us apart.

[AZ Shocker]

I'm still salty that Fred and Ron were disrespected in the national awards.

Me too...but I'll choose the word "deselected". wth!!! How do you get "deselected" on a 30-5 team the made the Sweet-16??? Voters are lame.