NCAA Basketball: 3 thoughts on debut AP preseason top-25 poll for 2018-19

The first AP Top 25 poll of the year is here, meaning the NCAA Basketball regular season is just around the corner.

Let us all thank the AP Top 25 for its timely arrival here in the last days of October 2018.

See, there was a time when college basketball was about – wait for it – college basketball. Before the cheating and the scandals and the FBI and the trials. When we last saw our titans on the court, Villanova was easily wrapping up a second title in three years, earning the distinction of a dynasty.

Alas, it is a new season and the games must be played all over again.

There will be familiar names in new places – just look at Kansas’ transfer-laden squad. There will be less familiar names in new places as well, as the latest crop of freshmen rise through the ranks, mostly together in Durham, North Carolina.

Of course, there are also those who have departed from the college ranks since last year. Sensational freshmen Deandre Ayton, Trae Young, and Marvin Bagley III are plying their trade in the NBA. Legendary seniors Grayson Allen, Jevon Carter, and Devonte’ Graham are gone as well.

All that being said, there is a new pecking order in college basketball, framed by the first AP Poll of the season. Here are three thoughts on the first poll of the season.