Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: Updated way-too-early top 25 rankings for 2021-22 season

By Cody Mitchell

Apr 5, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Fans roam Georgia Street before the national championship game of the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Monday, April 5, 2021, in downtown Indianapolis. Mandatory Credit: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar via USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Fans roam Georgia Street before the national championship game of the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Monday, April 5, 2021, in downtown Indianapolis. Mandatory Credit: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar via USA TODAY Sports /
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NCAA Basketball
NCAA Basketball Nick Muszynski Belmont Bruins (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Others Receiving Votes

Belmont

The Bruins will be returning all five starters off of last year’s 26-4 team. After failing to take home the Ohio Valley’s at-large bid, head coach Casey Alexander should have one of the best mid-major teams in the country. Leading the way will be seniors Nick Muszynski, Grayson Murphy, and Luke Smith who combined for over 38 points per game last season.

Sophmore JaCobi Wood will be the player to watch entering his sophomore season after averaging double digits from a year ago. In all likelihood, Belmont won’t be cracking any top 25s to start the season but their name will be flirted with when 2021-2022 is all said and done.

Mississippi State

The loss of D.J. Stewart isn’t going to hurt the Bulldogs as much as it looked at the time. Head coach Ben Howland plucks two of the biggest names out of the transfer portal, North Carolina’s Garrison Brooks and Memphis Forward D.J. Jeffries. Brooks was the 2021 pre-season ACC player of the year but just never really seemed to get going last year.

Jeffries averaged a smidge under 10 points at Memphis and was one of the best perimeter defenders out in the American Conference. And with Iverson Molinar returning for his junior season, the Bulldogs will find themselves back towards the top of the SEC.

LSU

Head coach Will Wade really took advantage of the heaviest transfer portal we have seen to date. The Tigers will be losing their top 5 scorers from a year ago and will still find themselves in some preseason top 25s. Wade is bringing in Adam Miller from Illinois, Xavier Pinson from Missouri, Tari Eason from Cincinnati, and just landed five-star big man Efton Reid last week.

Obviously, chemistry might be an issue early on but as the year carries on and this “AAU” squad becomes more familiar with one another, I would expect the Tigers to be a dangerous team come March.

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