NCAA Basketball: Updated 2018-19 Preseason top-25 after first NBA deadline

Teams 5-1

5. North Carolina Tar Heels – Previous rank (6)

4. Villanova Wildcats – Previous rank (1)

3. Virginia Cavaliers – Previous rank (4)

2. Duke Blue Devils – Previous rank (3)

1. Kansas Jayhawks – Previous rank (2)

There’s not too much news when it comes to some of the top teams on this list. All five starters for Duke are officially gone, but they have the top recruiting class to replace them. That might change however, if Kansas gets the top remaining uncommitted prospect for 2018 in Romeo Langford, who has them as a finalist.

The Blue Devils also doesn’t have the claim of having the top three players in the class of 2018 anymore, with future Tar Heel Nassir Little climbing all the way to No. 3, according to 247sports.com.

Although somewhat expected, it’s nice for Virginia to get back DeAndre Hunter officially for next season. He was still recovering from an injury, but is highly regarded by scouts. A good campaign by him in 2019 and he’ll be a first-round pick.

The story ultimately is Villanova, who despite losing the team’s two best players (Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges) to the NBA Draft, they still have a championship caliber team returning.

That can change however, with both Omari Spellman and Donte DiVincenzo entering their names into the NBA Draft, without agents. They’re the most talented of the remaining players, and the Wildcats need them both to return to be the clear-cut favorite in the Big East.

Next: Way Too Early Rankings for 2018-19

We’re one deadline down, with nearly two months away from the time players will have to withdraw from the NBA Draft. Based on the decisions of who stays in or comes back, it will have a tremendous effect on the 2018-19 college basketball season. A lot more dominoes will be falling down soon.