📄 2044 EC Hood’s Pre-Season Top 25

We’re smack dab in the dog days of recruiting, naturally thinking about next year already, but before you know it a new CBGM season will tip off. How are everyone’s teams looking this year? The annual EC Hood CBGM Preseason Top 25 takes a preseason snapshot of the rosters of every top team and comes up with a simple formula to end up with a Top 25 ranking. Every team’s top eight players by star ratings are added up. That’s it. Your score determines your ranking.

Is this totally fair? Probably not. I fully expect Sam Moiso to go off on these rankings in his next rant. But I’m doing these dispassionately. They aren’t my predictions. If you don’t like them, blame the ratings.

Top-heavy teams generally won’t stand out because starters aren’t weighted more. We’re looking for balance, and a top eight feels like a good place to gauge how strong a team is AND how deep. With the amount of fouls in this game, depth does tend to matter.

There are some top-heavy squads that are worth noting. Teams with a few great players don’t need to be that deep to make a serious run to the Final Four. With that in mind, we’ve probably underrated teams like Missouri, Purdue, Saint Mary’s, NC State and Xavier. The programs with the deepest rosters – meaning their top three bench guys look the most like starters – might struggle to find the perfect lineups to maximize their depth; after all, there’s only one basketball and only so many possessions in a game.

Just a note: these rankings were based on player ratings before practices and the latest rerate in the game. Also, when teams are tied, I do take a closer look at the rosters and choose who I think might have the edge.

Without further ado…

The EC Hood 2043-44 Preseason Top 25

1. Notre Dame
2. VCU
3. Minnesota
4. Texas
5. Seton Hall
6. Butler
7. Baylor
8. Michigan
9. LSU
10. BYU
11. Tennessee
12. Maryland
13. Illinois
14. Florida State
15. Louisville
16. Stanford
17. Connecticut
18. Iowa
19. North Carolina
20. Michigan State
21. San Diego State
22. Murray State
23. Middle Tennessee
24. Miami (FL)
25. Colorado

Receiving Votes (just missed the Top 25): St. Bonaventure, Missouri, Indiana, Penn State, Oklahoma, Marquette, Rhode Island, Kansas State, Syracuse, Gonzaga, Indiana State, Akron, DePaul, Purdue, Saint Mary’s, La Salle, Washington State, Incarnate Word